Archive of Our Own ^beta

As far as apartments go, Taehyung’s is pretty fucking cool considering how much he pays for rent. It’s not crazy expensive and he has the three things he’s always dreamed of: a balcony, a windowsill and enough light to pour inside that he doesn’t need to turn a single light on until the sun has dipped low enough in the horizon to stain the sky a bloody orange. His friends are all incredibly jealous and thus his apartment has become the main meeting spot during the weekends. His neighbors are also pretty okay—there is that old man at the end of the hallway that Taehyung is positive hates him but that’s kinda about it. 

Or at least, it’s been that way for long enough that he’s gotten used to the quietness and only slightly depressing and liminal lobby.

And so he also forgets the apartment next to his has been vacant for as long as he can remember. 

“You guys can come whenever, but I did just get here so I haven’t had any time to clean,” Taehyung is saying on the phone as he rushes up the stairs. He’s lucky his floor is only the second one considering he doesn’t work out to save his life and the elevator scares the shit out of him.

“Since when do you clean for us?” Hoseok’s voice yells as Jimin starts laughing. 

“I usually don’t need to because I’m pretty clean but it’s been uh…a while,” he says as he reaches his door and struggles to get the keys out of his pocket with a single hand. “But you know what? I’m leaving it like that since you guys don’t care—ugh, fuck,” he curses as his keys predictably fall to the floor. He shouldn’t be surprised. His hands are slippery and he’s lost count of the amount of times his phone slips out of them on a daily basis. It’s a miracle it’s still working.

He crunches down to pick them up, but he misses the next words Jimin says from the other side of the line as the door next to his apartment suddenly bursts open—the one he hasn’t seen open ever since he moved in, a full year ago.

He stands back up at the sight of a pair of black combat boots, keys now safely back in his hands. The person he finds eyeing him funnily, amusement pouring out of his dark eyes, is a complete stranger. 

“You okay over there?” 

He blinks, trying to come up with a reply that isn’t a sound very close to a whine. The guy is hot, fine, he’ll admit that. And he’ll also admit he hasn’t dated or slept with anyone in an embarrassingly long time—five months, but he isn’t counting, he’s too busy for a relationship and too lazy to go out with the sole purpose of finding someone to take to bed. 

He blinks. 

“Uh, yeah—just dropped my keys. But here they are,” he jiggles them around his fingers and almost drops them again. He’s always been incredibly clumsy but he wishes he wasn’t embarrassing himself in front of potentially the hottest person he’s ever seen. The guy laughs. At least Taehyung is entertaining him. “Um. Did you just move in?”

“Yep, just last night,” he says, leaning against the door in a way that exudes confidence. He’s too well dressed for his age—he looks as if he’s around his early twenties and yet is wearing black slacks and a shirt that definitely reads gucci. He can tell he’s rich, and not just by his clothes. He used to work for a rich family when he was younger and they all walked a certain…way. It’s in their stance and the way they look at things. It’s hard to explain, but Taehyung can usually read people pretty well.

It begs the question though, why would a rich person be living here?

“Cool. Well. I live just here so…I’m available if you need—assistance,” he says, to which the guy laughs again. It’s a pretty contagious sound, the corners of Taehyung’s mouth begging to curl upwards. Despite being strangers the guy looks pretty comfortable as he eyes Taehyung up skeptically. 

“Assistance. What would that entail?”

“Like—repairing stuff.”

“Oh, you do that often?”

He gulps. He wasn’t expecting these many questions. He’s actually useless in most areas but he already offered so—“No. But. I could…try?”

The stranger laughs again, and his gaze seems to soften before he says, “You’re so cute.”

Huh.

“What?” he blinks. He’s been flirted with before, certainly, but he can’t remember the last time someone was this forward with him in broad daylight. It’s never been someone this hot, either. Is this how people introduce themselves nowadays? Has he been spending too much time locked inside his apartment? “I—I mean, thanks? I’m uh, Taehyung.”

The guy’s smile immediately drops at that, and Taehyung would be a bit offended by that reaction if the stranger didn’t immediately say, “Wait. You…don’t remember me?”

He feels heat rise to his cheeks as his neighbor runs a hand through his hair. It shines under the hallway lights, a few rings on his fingers catching the light as well. Are those real diamonds? 

“Oh? Have we… met before?” he mumbles out. Surely he’d remember a guy like this, but maybe it was during one of those nights his friends always insist on dragging him to—where the lights were dimmed and the alcohol very much present. He still can’t believe he’d forget a face like that, though. 

“Yes, we have. Several times, actually,” he replies, eyes swimming in disbelief. He sounds a tiny bit upset by this realization, if not even disappointed. “You really don’t…know who I am?”

Taehyung flinches. “I’m sorry, I’m bad with faces—”

“ Jungkook . You uh…used to stay over when my parents were out.”

“You—” he gapes, taking a step away from him and feeling his back meet his door. Jungkook. “Wait. No way. Jeon Jungkook ? Sixteen, cute hair…” he shakes his head, trying to make sense of what he’s saying. 

Yes, he remembers. Of course, it was his first job when he was fresh out of high school. The Jeons were his parent’s old friends. Well, sort of. Jungkook’s father was technically his father’s boss, but they had been friends for years before that. They were kind enough to pay him rather generously for staying with Jungkook during a few weekends when they were out at some galas. It was easy money considering Jungkook was already sixteen and very much capable of taking care of himself. He was fun, though. They used to play video games together and order good food. He had the best sushi in his entire life once…and well, his house was immense. Taehyung had a king sized bed all to himself every night. 

“I’m twenty-three now,” Jungkook scoffs, bringing him back to the present. “But yes. Me.”

“Oh my god,” he gasps. He literally was about to flirt back with this guy. “Jungkookie, you’ve grown so much! Oh. Oh god, sorry for…that,” he coughs. “I didn’t know it was you.”

Jungkook’s lips part, and Taehyung can’t believe he didn’t recognize those doe eyes. Despite how much he’s changed and grown, he still has the same pretty eyes he had when he was younger. He used to be so shy, too. He remembers him stuttering whenever he got nervous…he definitely doesn’t seem to have that problem anymore. 

“Wait, but—what does that mean,” Jungkook says but before Taehyung gets to ask him what he means his phone starts ringing and he picks up, suddenly remembering the call he ended with his friends. 

“Sorry, I need to take this but. We’ll catch up soon, yeah? Welcome to the building,” he says with a wavy smile as he finally unlocks his door the second Jimin’s voice asks him what happened.

Taehyung shuts the door behind him and slides almost all the way to the floor. 

Well. That was embarrassing beyond measure.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

“So what you’re saying is the kid you used to babysit is hot now and lives next door,” Hoseok claims while popping another grape into his mouth. He’s laying upside down on Taehyung’s couch and he struggles to meet his eyes from the opposite loveseat, his legs hanging by the edge.

“Will you keep your voice down?” he hisses, glancing at the door as if he could see Jungkook through it. 

“We’re literally whispering,” Jimin laughs, but Taehyung is too distracted to pay attention to them.

“Why is he even living here? His family is filthy rich. Last I heard he went to study abroad to like Cambridge or something like that,” he mumbles to himself. Is it really such a small world, that Jungkook would end up moving into the apartment next door to him? There are hundreds of apartment buildings in Seoul, and as satisfied as he is with his own, he’s pretty sure Jungkook could afford something a dozen times better.

“Mm, well. You never know. Maybe he wants to be humbled,” Hoseok says, making Taehyung snort at the idea. He can think a hundred better ways to be humbled than this. 

“I would live my filthy rich life in a huge penthouse in New York,” Jimin sighs, dreamfully staring up at the ceiling. “Now my only hope is to marry rich. Wait,” he does a double take. “Is he single?”

“I don’t know,” he shrugs. With the way he looks if he’s single it’s most definitely out of his own choice—he can’t imagine anyone saying no to him. “And also, no way I’m letting you get anywhere near him.”

“Come on, you babysat him. You can’t date the guy now,” Jimin says, scrunching up his nose in disgust. Taehyung blushes. He hasn’t mentioned the fact that Jungkook is the most attractive person he has ever interacted with—let alone that he unknowingly flirted with him. He’s embarrassed beyond belief, even if he’s nothing like the version he used to know. It’s like a completely different person has taken over him…he’s taken the term glow up to a whole different level. 

“I’m not planning on dating him. But neither are you,” he tells him. “You’d break his heart,” he adds in a mumble, but it’s loud enough for his friends to hear and laugh. Jimin agrees—it’s not like he can deny it, after all his reputation precedes him. He has a thing for chasing after people and then getting bored the minute they want him back. Taehyung is pretty sure that’s because he’s never fallen in love before, but to be completely honest, neither has he. 

“Anyway, are we smoking weed or not?” Hoseok asks then, and the conversation is soon to drift very far away from his new neighbor. Taehyung’s mind is still lingering on him though, on their brief exchange and the fact that even if he didn’t know who Jungkook was, the younger did remember him—and he decided to flirt with him all the same.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

His mother calls him the following morning, and the second she hears Taehyung mention Jungkook’s name, she gasps into the phone as if he’d just told her he has won the lottery— he wishes.

“Oh god, I completely forgot about that,” she says, and Taehyung frowns as he leans against his fridge. He was hoping to muster up enough energy to make himself an omelet for breakfast, but he’s dreading the idea of cracking eggs itself by now. 

“About what?”

“His parents told us Jungkook was coming back to Korea. They asked about you, you know how much they adored you,” she says and Taehyung nods, because Jungkook’s parents were always lovely with him, although he attributes that mostly to their connection to his parents rather than his own charm. “I told them you were living in Gangwon and they thought Jungkook could live nearby. He’s new in the city, we thought it’d be nice if you could show him around.”

Taehyung’s jaw almost falls to the ground at that. “So he moved to my apartment building on purpose ?”

“Don’t be like that, it was his parent’s idea. And either way, he’s not a kid anymore. He’s a very lovely, handsome man and you guys could get along well—” she insists, using rather flattering words to describe a boy she hasn’t seen in even longer than Taehyung has…which means these are words probably said by his parents themselves.

He sighs, staring at the clock on his microwave. It’s a little past ten a.m. Maybe he should forget about breakfast entirely and skip right to lunch. 

“You’re not trying to set me up, are you?”

His mother is quiet for a moment, long enough for Taehyung to know the answer to his question before she is replying, “I won’t lie and say the idea of you two dating isn’t… exciting , but that’s not at all what I was referring to.”

He shakes his head. This is the last thing he needs. He has his life mostly figured out by now—he’s twenty-six, has a degree in computer science and works from home. He’s more than able to afford rent, has a very nice apartment, good friends and great health. Sure, he’s single but that’s hardly ever been an issue for him. He hasn’t dated anyone since he was in college and frankly, he’s okay with that. He isn’t lonely or in need of a pair of arms to wrap around him during the night. A relationship, if anything, would just keep him too busy.

“You’d better not. I’m not even looking for a relationship and besides, I haven’t seen him since he was sixteen. He’s hardly the person he used to be,” he reminds her. Hell, even he isn’t the person he used to be back then…thank god for that.

“Of course, he’s all grown up now. He went abroad to study, did you know? He went to Law school in Cambridge and was a valedictorian at that,” she tells him, making sure to put great emphasis on the word as if it meant anything to Taehyung. Sure, it’s impressive but it’s not exactly the sort of thing he looks for in guys he wants to date—it’s the kind of thing parents look for. “Just be nice and guide him around a bit.”

Taehyung shakes his head as he pinches the bridge of his nose, hunger now forgotten about completely. “I still can’t believe you forgot to mention he was moving in yesterday.”

His mother exhales. “I’m sorry, darling, we’ve been busy with the new house.”

He nods as he decides to cut her some slack, asking her about the furniture they got and promising to visit soon. He bids her goodbye minutes later, his mind drifting inevitably back to Jungkook. 

So that’s why he knew who Taehyung was and wasn’t the slightest bit surprised to see him. He was supposed to show him around…and what he did was flirt with him before leaving out of nowhere. 

Awesome.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

The following day Taehyung tells himself to make a better first impression and gets him a potted plant—he isn’t great with gifts, and it’s particularly harder to buy something to someone you barely know anything about…and who is rich enough to get whatever they may want. Still, it feels wrong to show up empty-handed and he’s given plants to new neighbors before. It’s a nice gesture.

The thing is—it’s been two days since he first and last saw Jungkook, and between those days he’s sort of forgotten about the incredibly hard to ignore attraction he feels at the sight of him. The moment he opens the door after Taehyung’s knocking though, he’s immediately reminded and finds his mouth going dry at the sight. 

Jungkook has clearly just returned from the gym judging by the white tank top he’s wearing and the very thin, short gym shorts that leave little to the imagination. He’s even more buff than he imagined—he can see the blue green veins running down his arms, the golden skin glistening with sweat, his thighs are a sight to behold on themselves. Taehyung has to force his eyes upwards, finding Jungkook staring at him with that same barely held amusement as when he saw him dropping his keys.

“Hi. I—I got you this, as a moving in present,” he says, pushing the plant his way. 

“Oh wow, thank you. I love plants.”

Taehyung’s face lights up as he feels a bit better about his present.

“Really? That’s great. I—I’m sorry, my mom forgot to mention you were…moving in. But I’m free today if you want me to uh show you around the area?” he asks, and he isn’t even sure why he sounds so nervous. It’s Jungkook, the kid he used to fucking babysit. How come he’s the one stuttering now? He clears his throat. 

“I was raised in Seoul too, remember?” Jungkook chuckles, but he must see the way Taehyung’s face falls in embarrassment because he quickly adds, “I would love to, though. I haven’t been here in half a decade, after all.”

The older sighs in relief, leaning a bit against the threshold as he tries very, very hard to keep his eyes trained on the other’s and not let them wander around. 

“Well, I’ve been told I’m a great guide.”

Jungkook leans a bit closer, and he can see the smugness pouring out of him in waves as he says, “I bet you are.”

Taehyung coughs, taking a tiny step back as he laughs, suddenly very aware of the closeness between them. “Yeah, well. We can go in a bit if you want?”

If Jungkook notices the sudden distance or Taehyung’s obvious discomfort, he doesn’t comment on it. He nods instead, pointing at his apartment with his free hand, “Yeah sure, I just need to shower and I’ll be done. I’ll ring your bell?”

“Great, I’ll wait,” he smiles, and with that he turns and gets back inside his own apartment, definitely not feeling his face heat up in flames.

As they make their way downstairs half an hour later, Taehyung tries extremely hard not to stare at his expensive outfit or the way even his walk exudes confidence. He smells good too—like fresh soap and after-shave cologne, the sort of scent that is half flowers half fruits half musk half things in french Taehyung probably can’t even pronounce. 

He used to be a sixteen year old kid but in his head Taehyung can’t possibly connect this Jungkook to the young one he once knew. He’s taller than even Taehyung himself—and judging by the glimpse he caught of strong thighs and muscled biceps, he can tell he hits the gym rather frequently. These are all things he wishes he wouldn’t notice, but he does and he has to live with that as Jungkook opens the door for him and lets him walk out first.

“Where to?”

“There’s a cronut place just around the corner. Have you ever been?” 

Jungkook shakes his head. “I can’t say I have. I’m guessing they’re good?”

Taehyung eagerly nods.

“They’re to die for.”

And they are. A flaky, fatty, delicious gooey goodness that makes Taehyung so stupidly happy he can’t stop grinning as they wait in line. Despite being within walking distance from his apartment, he doesn’t usually have enough time to wait for them. He says this to Jungkook as they stand there, and the younger nods before saying, “Yeah the line in New York was insane to get one.”

Taehyung blinks. “Oh. You’ve had uh…the original ones?”

Jungkook shrugs as if it isn’t a big deal—to be fair, it probably isn’t to him. “Yeah, a long time ago. I was like fifteen. Trip with my parents.”

“Right.”

“I’m sure these will be great, though.”

“Yeah. They are,” he nods confidently, but still feels himself deflate ever so slightly. How is he supposed to show Jungkook cool stuff when he’s probably seen it all? Well, it doesn’t matter. He’s doing this for his parents, after all. Who cares if Jungkook is impressed or not? “So mom said you majored in Law? Valedictorian? I guess me forcing you to study for exams paid off,” he jokes, to which Jungkook throws his head back in laughter and the sound is as lovely as it is contagious. Taehyung does not stare.

“You didn’t force me . I did it out of my own free will,” Jungkook states.

“Your own will? I had to threaten you,” Taehyung reminds him as they both move forward on the line. It’s a bit cold to queue outside, but he feels rather warm in his jacket and Jungkook is definitely warm in his own burgundy coat. The fabric looks so thick and soft he kind of wants to run his fingers down the clothing.

“Please, I just wanted to impress you.”

Taehyung’s lips part at the words. “Impress me ?”

“Well yeah. Surely you knew I had a huge crush on you,” Jungkook says, and he says it so easily, as if they were discussing the weather and fine, maybe he shouldn’t be embarrassed considering it’s been seven years since then, but then he’s quick to add, “I know you didn’t see me that way, I was a sixteen year old loser.”

Taehyung rushes to shake his head. “You weren’t a loser. You were actually very cool for your age.”

“I didn’t have many friends,” he shrugs. Taehyung doesn’t remember having seen Jungkook hanging out with people his age that often back then, but he never thought he was lacking in friends. Maybe he wasn’t paying that much attention. Now that he thinks about it, Jungkook was probably a lonely kid considering his parents were away from home quite often and he had no siblings. “I think I’m much cooler now,” he hears him add with a smug smile that evokes a fond chuckle out of him.

“Well yeah, definitely. Was it Cambridge’s doing?”

“Mm, maybe. Getting homeschooled for half of my life definitely made it harder to learn how to socialize,” he admits. “It was tough at first, but I do have friends now.”

Taehyung grins, raising an eyebrow in mocking approval. “ Very impressive,” he says, but his tone comes out a bit breathy and…definitely flirtatious. Jungkook eyes him in surprise, but quickly parts his lips to say something that will probably be hard to ignore, so Taehyung cuts him off as he takes a step back, “Oh look, it’s almost our turn.”

There shouldn’t be any tension between them whatsoever. It’s wrong, it’s wrong, it’s wrong, he keeps telling himself, but there is undeniable tension lingering in the air and Taehyung can’t entirely wrap his head as to why. Is Jungkook’s teenage crush on him not gone? Or is he some sort of bucket list item that was left lingering after years? Jungkook must simply be naturally flirtatious and a tease. He’s a menace. Some things don’t change even with age, right?

They eat their cronuts—Taehyung orders strawberry jam for his filling and the pink glaze with sprinkles sort of makes his day. Jungkook goes for a pure chocolate, nutella goodness that has Taehyung almost regretting his own choice. 

“God, this is insanely good,” the younger moans around his first bite as they lean against the  brick wall outside. Taehyung feels the rush of wind almost knock the cronut out of his cold hands and sighs in relief when it remains intact between his fingers.

“Not better than the original, I’m guessing?” he asks, but Jungkook shrugs as he takes another bite.

“Hard to compare. Different.”

Taehyung hides his smile as he continues eating the pastry until only the crumbs are left. He knows Jungkook is just being nice and there’s no way this is better than the one in New York, but he takes it all the same.

After they’re done, Taehyung takes them to the Seoraksan National Park where they get burning hot coffee and Jungkook tells him about his life in England. “It was insanely rainy. like, people say that a lot but you don’t really know until you’re living there and it’s been raining every day for two weeks. The rare glimpse of the sun was the only thing keeping me going.” And then they head to Gangneung Jungang Market, where they get to by the time the sun has begun to set and they’re both already hungry enough to get fried squids and incredibly spicy tteokbokki.

Jungkook asks him all sorts of questions—about his own major, the friends he made in his first job and how it feels to work from home. “Isn’t it a bit annoying to be locked inside all day?” but he asks it kindly, with genuine curiosity, nothing like when his mother chastises him for never leaving his apartment and talking to real people. Taehyung shakes his head after almost burning his tongue with a piece of steaming tteok before telling him, “I’m an introvert. Staying home all day is the best. Besides, I do get to go out after I’m done with work. And I get free weekends, too. It pays well and I don’t hate it. I couldn’t ask for more.”

It’s stupidly easy to talk to Jungkook. His mom, like most times, was right. They get along more than well. By the end of the day Taehyung knows everything that happened from when Jungkook was eighteen and fresh out of high school to now and they even have one or two inside jokes that make his stomach stir. 

It feels like a date, is the thought he has as they walk back home together. 

It can’t feel like a date.

“This was nice,” he says once they reach their floor. Jungkook’s cheeks are flushed a pretty crimson too, the cold having numbed both of their faces. He’s so pretty Taehyung has to step away until his back hits his door again. 

“It was. Thank you for showing me around,” he smiles. “I gotta see the bridge next. You sold it pretty well for me to miss it.”

He’s talking about the suspension bridge that overlooks a huge, beautiful valley. It’s the longest pedestrian bridge in the country, but that wasn’t what really interested Jungkook when he told him about it.

“You only wanna go there because you liked that drama that filmed there,” Taehyung grins knowingly. Jungkook laughs, not at all ashamed.

“Well, excuse me for wanting to be where Moon-young and Gang-tae had a very iconic moment.”

Taehyung scoffs. “It was just a piggyback ride.”

Jungkook shakes his head in disbelief. “It was romantic. I loved it. We should go there next, yeah?”

Taehyung tells himself he’s still cold and his skin hasn’t gotten the memo they’re inside and warm now, and that’s the only reason he’s flushing. 

He definitely shouldn’t be going to romantic places with Jungkook. Show him around the city , his mother said. Did she mean once, at first, like a good neighbor? Or did she mean go on romantic, pretty spots with him and laugh at his jokes and enjoy his company enough to spend an entire day with him?

He exhales.

“Fine, we’ll go.”

“Great. Thank you, Taehyung. I mean it. It’s nice to know someone around here.”

He nods. “Of course, anything for Jungkookie,” he laughs, but Jungkook doesn’t seem to entirely like his old nickname as he scrunches up his nose. They linger there then, both staring at each other as if either waiting for something to happen— nothing can —or not wanting to leave…and it’s a bit foolish, a bit absurd that he would want to stretch time around them so he can keep talking to someone who is pretty much a stranger to him. 

Taehyung wraps his fingers around the doorknob and says, “Goodnight, rest well.”

He can’t see Jungkook’s face when the younger says, “You too, Tae.”

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

He doesn’t tell his friends, because he’s embarrassed and a terrible liar and knows they’d be able to tell the minute he as much as told them about their little date day. It wasn’t a date. His mother calls him the next day, thanking him profusely for having been such a good friend and asking him if they got along as she predicted. 

Mothers shouldn’t be allowed to be right nearly as often as they are.

“Yes, mom. He’s very charming,” he says, and he means it despite the fake forced tone he uses. His mother seems to be more than satisfied. She doesn’t ask if he’ll see him again—but Taehyung will. He knows it for sure the very next day, when he comes out to get some groceries and Jungkook is just returning from a walk with his dog. Taehyung is in love with dogs. 

“Oh my god, who is this baby?” is the first thing he asks as he kneels down and starts petting the big, fluffy samoyed. Jungkook grins down at them, leaning back with a hand wrapped around the leash.

“This is Osamu. I’m actually just taking care of him for a while until my friend comes back from his trip.”

Taehyung pouts. “How will you be able to say goodbye to this sunshine?” he asks. He has wanted to own a dog for a very, very long time but living in an apartment isn’t as easy. He doesn’t have enough time to walk one either, but as he continues petting Jungkook’s dog and Osamu leans into his touch, he thinks a part of his heart begins healing in unknown ways.

“Honestly, I’m not sure,” the younger sighs, and that’s when Taehyung finally looks up at him, their eyes meeting in a clash that has him struggling to regain his breath. His hair is messy, probably due to the wind that has picked up outside and his cheeks and nose are flushed. He’s wearing casual clothes today, a big supreme hoodie and sweatpants—the softness of his look might be even more deadly than anything else.

Taehyung forces himself to glance back down at the dog. 

“I’d love to stay petting you but I’m afraid I have to go before the market closes,” he whispers to Osamu, the dog breathing heavily as he stares back at him in wonder.

“He likes you. He has good taste,” Jungkook chuckles, and Taehyung smiles before clearing his throat as he stands back up, not quite sure how to answer that.

“It was good to see you.”

“You too. You can come by whenever to play with Osamu. He loves the attention.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” he grins, and the way that Jungkook’s gaze seems to soften as it lands back on him makes him want to stay forever just standing right there in the middle of the hallway. But he can’t. And so he walks all the way down the stairs and sighs the minute he reaches the lobby.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

He tries to stay away after that but he did promise Jungkook to take him to the suspension bridge and also the promise to play with a huge samoyed isn’t something you easily pass on. He tells himself he’s being dumb—he’s more than capable of sharing a room with him and only remain friends. He might be a flirt and an absolute beautiful menace, but Taehyung is a grown ass adult and has spent the most part of his life by himself. It’s just a dumb crush, after all. He barely knows Jungkook as is.

Of course, it ends up being a test of self-restraint as he knocks on Jungkook’s door two days later with a fresh batch of chocolate chip cookies and a racing heartbeat. He tried very hard not to get too well dressed for this—he’s just visiting a neighbor after all, and he isn’t even entirely sure Jungkook is home or is available or whatever. But he still showered and combed his hair and put on cologne, because he likes being well presented, sue him.

Jungkook opens the door only seconds later and he is quick to smile the second he sees him. “You came,” he says, and Taehyung lets out a laugh as he shrugs.

“Well, traffic was fine,” he jokes, and it’s a very stupid joke but Jungkook laughs with his entire body as he opens the door wider and lets him walk in. 

“Sorry if it’s a mess, I wasn’t expecting anyone—” he hears him say from behind, but Taehyung looks around with wide eyes. The place is spotless and even smells of some sort of scented candle. 

“You mean—this isn’t neat enough for you?”

Jungkook looks around. “I mean, I did leave my shirt on the couch.”

“Right, what a disaster,” he deadpans before remembering the plate he’s still holding. “Oh wait, I made these.”

The younger’s eyes widen at the sight of the cookies. “Wow, a plant and now cookies? Not sure I’ll be able to repay all of these gifts.”

“I’m sure you can think of something,” Taehyung replies, but he soon realizes the way that may come off and rushes to clarify, “Like, playing with Osamu. Where is he?”

“Right, the whole reason you’re here,” Jungkook sighs, but he can see the amusement in his eyes as he walks to his bedroom.

The dog comes running in and Taehyung doesn’t waste a second before kneeling down and wrapping his arms around him. “I adore him,” he mumbles against his soft fur, but it’s loud enough that Jungkook hears perfectly well. 

“He’s extremely hard not to love. Although, he has ruined most of my clothes with all his hair.”

Taehyung laughs at that.

“To be fair, he has beautiful hair.”

“He does, doesn’t he?” Jungkook purses his lips as he dreamily nods. “You want something to drink? I got coffee, tea, milk, juice—”

“Coffee is fine, thank you.”

Coffee ends up being way more than fine considering Jungkook owns a coffee machine two sizes his own—it looks like the ones you’d see at a coffee shop. Taehyung watches him expertly use the machine as he sits on his sofa with Osamu on his lap. This might be heaven, a part of him thinks. 

Truth be told, he doesn’t remember ever making friends. He met Hoseok and Jimin back in high school, when he was fourteen. And then there’s Seokjin, who was his neighbor growing up and whom he sees every so often—it’s unfair how difficult it is to make ends meet when you’re an adult.

He works from home, and although he has a great relationship with his coworkers, it’s strictly professional and he’s never even considered inviting them to hang out outside of the zoom calls they share nearly every day. So yes. Friendships are rather foreign to him, but he realizes as Jungkook gently pushes a steaming cup of coffee his way that it’s not as hard as he thought it was—or maybe it’s just Jungkook and his easy laughter; his witty humor and his contagious smile; maybe it’s the way he makes him feel so comfortable that Taehyung ends up almost dozing off on his couch as they talk.

Jungkook is looking at him at some point when he’s struggling to keep his eyes open. Even Osamu has fallen asleep by his side.

“You know, I didn’t think I’d get to see you again.”

“Mm? What you mean?”

“I mean, after my parents moved me away to study abroad—I didn’t think we’d meet again. But then when dad mentioned you living here and, well I don’t know,” he shrugs. “I know we haven’t seen each other in a long time and I was…” he flinches. “Sixteen at the time, but it’s nice getting to know you again. As adults.”

Taehyung smiles at that, his fingers burying themselves in the fur of Osamu’s back. “Yeah, it’s nice. You’ve changed a lot.”

Jungkook leans forward on his seat, coffee long forgotten on the table between them.

“Yeah, I’m older now. You look similar, though. Maybe even prettier.”

His eyes widen, exhaustion long forgotten as the younger’s words immediately wake him up. Even if Jungkook is a natural flirt, even if he might do this with lots of other people, Taehyung can’t deny the attraction he feels as the tension builds between them yet again—will it ever not?

He averts his gaze, afraid he might get lost in the other’s dark eyes once again.

“Thanks. I moisturize.”

Jungkook laughs.

“I don’t think that’s it,” he says, and Taehyung’s eyes return to his because his voice might end up becoming his favorite sound if he keeps saying all these things. They’re way closer than he anticipated and did he move himself, has he been scooting closer without even realizing it or has Jungkook?

They’re all alone—he could just lean forward a tiny bit and he’s positive Jungkook would follow suit. He can almost feel his lingering, burning gaze sliding down his mouth. Will he kiss him just as boldly as he speaks?

He blushes, mortified by the thoughts that invade his mind before standing up in shaky legs.

“I should go. It’s getting late.”

Jungkook’s face visibly falls, but he forces a smile on his face all the same and Taehyung suddenly feels like the biggest idiot on the planet. God, he needs to talk to someone before he loses his mind.

“Of course. Thanks for coming by at all. You’re always welcome,” he says as he walks him to the door. “I’m sure Osamu agrees. He’s never fallen asleep that easily before.“

Taehyung schools his expression as he turns back around, hoping he can’t see the nerves in his eyes as he smiles in return.

“He’s the best. Thanks for having me, Jungkookie.”

Jungkook nods, and as Taehyung opens the door of his own apartment and promptly falls into his own couch, he realizes with a sad pang in his chest that he has never felt this desired and attracted to someone else—and yet, he can’t let himself have this. 

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

When Taehyung wakes up the next day though, it’s to a knock on his door and freshly baked cronuts picked up from the bakery around the corner. They have breakfast together and Taehyung forgets about his dilemma from the night before. Jungkook is too easy to talk to, so he lets himself talk.

“I’m sorry for having come announced—I realize now you actually have a job to get to,” he says at one point, and Taehyung has to force himself not to make an obvious display of his excitement from even having him around. He thinks he could get used to the sight of Jungkook first thing in the morning—early enough that his eyes are still bright with sleep and his words are soft around the edges.

“I do but it’s all good. I have like half an hour left. I take it you’re not working yet?”

Jungkook purses his lips as he takes another sip from his coffee. “No, not really. I’ve been taking some time off after college…it was just a lot for a few years.”

Taehyung laughs in agreement. “I’d imagine being valedictorian in one of the most prestigious universities in the world would do that to you.”

“Yeah, honestly,” he snorts. “That’s also part of why I wanted to move to a place less…” he shrugs, unsure as to how to finish that sentence.

“You can say it’s not the most luxurious apartment, it’s okay. I like it.”

“It’s nice, it is. But my parents offered to pay for like—” he rolls his eyes, waving a hand around. “This huge penthouse in Gangnam. The last thing I want is them spending more money on me.”

Taehyung nods, but he can’t exactly relate to that idea considering he’s never had enough wealth thrown around him for him to reject it. 

“Well, I’m sure they wouldn't mind it if they offered.”

“Yeah, I know. And I also know it wouldn’t even make a dent on dad’s bank account,” he admits, and for a moment he looks almost ashamed by this. Taehyung never considered Jungkook’s wealth to be a burden upon his shoulders, but maybe in a way, it is. After all, it was the reason his parents were too busy to be around him and why he was home-schooled half of his life. His resentment for it is justified. “Anyway, I’m fine here. I’ll start working soon.”

“There’s no rush,” he reassures him, and then he isn’t sure why he says this next but as their coffee mugs run empty and the cronuts are reduced to nothing but crumbs on the table he finds himself not wanting Jungkook to leave. “Also, you can hang around here with Osamu if you want. I’m working most of the day but the company is nice.”

The younger seems to like that suggestion as he grins. “Really? I don’t want to intrude—”

“Seriously. You’re not that bad, I guess.”

“You’re not that bad yourself. Not at all, really,” he says and Taehyung hopes he isn’t blushing once more as he laughs it off—Jungkook didn’t sound like he was joking, if anything he always sounds incredibly serious when he’s flirting with him. His voice goes lower in pitch so naturally he never sees it coming. 

Taehyung didn’t even know before Jungkook how desperate he was for compliments. Feeling wanted is addicting, and he can’t help but want more of it despite still feeling guilty for wanting it in the first place.

“So you’re staying?”

Jungkook licks his lips as he leans back on his seat, arms crossed over his chest. He is so pretty Taehyung can’t look away even when he tries his hardest to do exactly that.

“Sure. I’d love to stay.”

And so he does.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

“Let me get this straight. You like the guy and he clearly likes you, too—”

“I mean, yes but…it’s just. Just attraction. For now. I can control that. I can ignore that.”

It’s a Sunday and the brunch spread around the table isn’t looking as enticing as it did when the waitress first came around with their order. Taehyung stares pointedly at the french toast, the whipped cream on top slowly melting on top. 

He wasn’t planning on telling his friends about this, but he can only go so long with Jungkook spending entire days in his apartment without him going a tiny bit insane. He was the one who suggested it—in an embarrassing moment of weakness and an incredible lack of self-preservation—but as the days went by he started to realize just how terrible of an idea it really was.

How is he supposed to move on from his crush when Jungkook is inches away from him on the couch or making them both lunch in his kitchen or playing with his dog as Taehyung codes on his laptop, close enough to hear every giggle that leaves the younger’s lips? The fact that he’s gotten anything done at all is a miracle on itself.

“Why would you do that, though?”

“Because! He’s twenty-three—”

Hoseok snorts. “You’re twenty-six?”

“Yes but, I,” he sighs. “I babysat him. This is messed up.”

Jimin raises his eyebrows as he takes a bite of his fluffy pancakes. “Okay, well. I was joking when I said that, Tae. You were fresh out of high school, doing your parent’s friends a favor. During a few weekends. Almost a decade ago. Come on.”

“It wasn’t a favor, I was getting paid. And what will his parents even think? It’s wrong,” he says, and he knows he’s probably blowing this whole thing out of proportion—but he can’t help it. The Jeons have been really close to his family and if anything, he’s the one who owes them . If it wasn’t for Jungkook’s father, his own dad wouldn’t have had a job considering he didn’t have any experience in the field before working at his company. 

Hoseok scoffs as he leans back on his seat, dropping his fork back on his plate. “Taehyung, come on. His parents won’t think anything. You’re both adults now. You barely knew him for a few months when he was younger.”

Jimin nods in agreement as he butts in, “You even said your own mother tried to set you two up—”

Taehyung sighs, regretting having shared that piece of information. He isn’t even sure that was what his mother was implying, after all she did say she didn’t mean it that way. “Yes but still. I don’t know. I’d feel weird.”

Hoseok exhales as he leans into Jimin’s space. “Well then…you could try to take some distance.”

“But he’s my neighbor…what am I supposed to do?”

“Come on, you aren’t one to leave that often anyway…I think you just don’t want to stay away.” 

Taehyung looks down at his pumpkin latte, the foam thick just the way he likes it and yet he hasn’t taken a single sip. He hasn’t told his friends that he’s been spending every single day with Jungkook for the last two weeks. 

“I like him. And it’s nice. That feeling of—of liking someone. It’s addicting. It’s not my fault—” he shakes his head, words failing him as he tries to explain, “I guess I hadn’t realized I was that lonely.”

Jimin reaches with a hand across the table, reassuringly squeezing his fingers. He’s glad neither of them call him out for saying he likes him after spending ten minutes trying to convince them it was nothing but physical attraction. 

“That’s normal, and okay. I think it’s good that he—”

“Maybe that’s it,” he suddenly says, perking up slightly. “Maybe I don’t like him, I just like the company.”

Hoseok scrunches up his nose, face unsure. “I mean, it’s a possibility but—”

“Yeah. Okay,” he nods to himself, relief washing down his body as he finally takes a bite from his french toast. “That’s…I can work with that.”

His friends don’t say anything else, but the look they share is more than obvious enough; neither of them believe Taehyung is just lonely. 

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Turns out working with that means accepting Jungkook’s constant presence in his life—and his apartment—with open arms and telling himself it’s okay to feel heat rise all the way to his cheeks whenever he calls him pretty names, because he is just lonely and Jungkook is more than easy company. 

Somewhere deep inside his chest he still wonders if that’s entirely it, if he can fool himself into believing there isn’t much more to the way Jungkook makes even a rainy day worth something pure and abstract like a promise. 

After all, wouldn’t he have felt this way with anyone who came to his life if that was the case?

“I won’t be able to say goodbye to him, you know?” Taehyung whispers one afternoon as Jungkook lies on his sofa with Osamu perched on his chest. He isn’t sure he’s talking about the dog, but the younger doesn’t seem to read into it as he laughs good-naturedly.

“Well, me neither. Maybe we should get a pet once he’s gone.”

He says we and Taehyung blinks in confusion before laughing it off as well and mumbling out, “Mm, maybe,” as he focuses back on his computer screen. 

Do friends get pets together? Do they spend enough time on each other’s apartments to confuse which is which?

Whenever his mother calls and asks about Jungkook, Taehyung simply replies in a few words that are too vague to mean anything even to the woman who has brought him to this world— yes, we got food together last week. Yeah, I think he’s adapting well. Mm yes, he is definitely as funny as Mr. Jeon .

Sometimes he wishes he could tell her the truth— I haven’t spent a single day without him either in my apartment or both of us on his own. I often forget to refrain myself from allowing him to make me this happy. I think he makes me too happy, mom. Is that a thing, is that something that someone can do? Is there such a thing as being too happy? 

The main problem with being a good liar on the phone arises when one day his mother comments, “Yeah, they’re trying to set him up with some rich kid.”

Taehyung only ever calls his mom after Jungkook has left his place, and for a good reason. His name is always brought up in conversation, ever since he moved next door. He’s more than relieved now, because he doesn’t think he’d be good at putting on a fake smile at the sound of her news.

“What? As in…a blind date?”

“Of sorts, yes. I told Haneul that I thought it wasn’t the greatest idea to set him up against his will but well,” she exhales. “They might be our friends but their ideas of an ideal partner for Jungkook are entirely wrong in my eyes.”

Taehyung purses his lips before sitting down on the edge of his bed, bracing himself as he asks, “What…they only care about money?”

“Not only, but they want the family to be…well, well-off,” she says, and Taehyung shouldn’t be shocked by this but he kind of is. He’s always held the Jeons in great regard. They’ve never treated him or his parents any differently despite being a normal, middle-class family. But is this what they think of them? How is Jungkook’s mother okay with telling his own mom how they only want someone wealthy to marry their son, as if—as if someone like Taehyung was worth much less… 

“Anyway, are you coming over this weekend?” she then asks after his silence, and Taehyung has to pretend to actually pay attention to the rest of the conversation.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Jungkook doesn’t mention any setting up or blind dates—and Taehyung is left wondering if that’s because he doesn’t know himself or something else. They don’t tend to talk about stuff like that, but isn’t that what friends usually do? He’d definitely complain about his mom to Jimin and Hoseok if she was trying to set him up with strangers. But then again, he’s a fool if he’s trying to compare his friendship with them to…whatever has been going on with Jungkook for the last two months.

“I think I should throw a party,” Jungkook comments over dinner one night. 

Taehyung frowns.

“Like…here?”

“Yeah, why not? I mean, I know it’s not really big but I wouldn’t invite that many people,” he says as he looks around his own apartment. “Just a couple of friends.”

“Right, I forgot you’re very popular now,” he laughs, to which Jungkook shrugs with a very self-satisfied grin. “Well, I’ll definitely be there. I can ask my friends too, if you’d like.”

“Oh yes, I want to get to know Jimin after you’ve been bragging about his mario kart skills.”

Taehyung laughs. “Are you going to play mario kart at your own party? That’s kinda lame.”

Jungkook scrunches up his nose. 

“I’m the opposite of lame.”

The older simply rolls his eyes in what he knows exudes an exorbitant amount of fondness. He agrees though, he definitely agrees.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Jungkook’s party is fun . Maybe because he has a literal dj spinning amazing records and melting them into each other seamlessly—or perhaps it is the expensive bottles of alcohol littering the table or maybe the fact that most of his friends are genuinely nice and fun to be around. Maybe it’s a combination of everything. Or it could be just the way he looks with his sleeves rolled up to his elbows as he makes Taehyung a cocktail he claims to be his best one. 

“I didn’t know you even made drinks,” Taehyung says as he leans over the counter to watch him squeeze the juice out of a lime into a very tall glass. He’s already a bit buzzed himself but he’s not going to reject something that looks taken out of a professional bartender’s book—if those are even a thing.

Jungkook’s smile is all things smug as he looks up at him, his bicep flexing as he continues squeezing the fruit. Jesus.

“Yeah well. I do a lot of things really well.”

That’s another thing that hasn’t stopped, or if anything it has gotten increasingly worse for him—Jungkook’s confident flirting that makes him melt against whichever surface his body might be leaning on. He’s never been more attracted to anyone else in his entire life, and Jungkook’s clear attraction towards him as well—even if sometimes he may wonder if he means all this teasing or if it’s just a game to him—doesn’t make his moral dilemma any easier to deal with. 

Taehyung feels his knees tremble as he nods. 

“I’m sure you do,” he mumbles out in a trance, eyes following his hand’s expert movements.

“What was that?”

He looks up to find Jungkook raising an eyebrow his way. It’s unfair that he’s wearing another pristine, designer button down that seems to tighten around all the right places—his chest and biceps and back. 

“Mm?”

The younger is smiling when he looks at him, and the confidence that radiates out of him makes Taehyung even dizzier. 

“I didn’t quite catch what you just said.”

He waves his comment off, although judging by Jungkook’s self-satisfied grin he’s pretty sure he heard him quite perfectly.

“Is this what they teach kids in Cambridge?” he asks as he watches him pour vodka down his glass alongside another thin bottle he can’t read the label from.

“It’s what they teach kids to impress their crushes,” a voice suddenly says from his left. Taehyung turns to find a guy staring between the two of them in what he can only describe as boredom. 

“Shut up, dude.”

The guy doesn’t shut up though, if anything his lips curl into a smirk before he leans by Taehyung’s side. “Hello, name’s Yoongi. You must be Taehyung.”

“Oh, hi. Yes, that’s me. Do I know—”

“Mm, I was Jungkook’s classmate back in high school,” he says. “I think we met once or twice?”

Taehyung blinks as he tries to remember and suddenly the smaller guy with dark eyes and even darker hair starts ringing a few bells inside his head. “Oh! Yes, you had longer hair and a huge attitude,” he laughs, snapping his fingers as the image appears inside his head. He probably saw him two or three times at most, but he remembers his rare appearance around the house. 

Jungkook covers his mouth as he laughs. “He still does. Cambridge did not humble him.”

“Fuck off, it certaintly didn’t humble you,” he sneers.

Taehyung laughs at the exchange before taking a tentative sip from his now finished drink. “Wow, this tastes great.”

Jungkook’s smile grows in size, cocking his head Yoongi’s way. “Guess I didn’t need the humbling after all.”

“More like a reality check.”

“Shut up. Go find Namjoon or something.”

“Will do. At least my crush can tell when I’m flirting with him,” he snorts before walking away. Taehyung raises an eyebrow at that, not entirely sure he heard those last few words correctly considering the music is kinda loud as it echoes around the apartment and Yoongi’s voice is pretty soft. 

Did he just call him his crush?

“Ignore him,” is all Jungkook says with an eye roll, and Taehyung is too happy with his cocktail and his head too heavy to fight him. 

The taste is the perfect combination between sour and sweet and despite having seen the amount of vodka in the glass, he certainly cannot taste it. He feels the younger’s eyes on him as Taehyung continues drinking from the straw and fights back the blood rushing to his head. 

He likes the attention—likes that despite having an apartment full of richer, cooler people that Jungkook has known for way longer than Taehyung, he’s still right here, gazing at him in silence.

“Am I not boring you?” he asks him after they’ve been stealing glances at each other for far too long—long enough that his drink is almost finished. Jungkook scoffs as if the idea is absolutely ridiculous.

“Please. Watching you drink one of my cocktails so happily might be one of my newly found favorite pastimes.”

Taehyung laughs at that.

“You’re crazy,” he replies in such a low voice that he isn’t sure Jungkook hears him. Someone comes over yelling his name then, and despite not moving from behind the bar, Jungkook’s attention is momentarily diverted as he talks to a girl with bright pink hair and glossy lips. Taehyung stares at her profile in admiration, briefly wondering if she’s a famous celebrity or simply rich enough to look like one.

A pair of arms wrap around his neck from behind before he gets to come to a conclusion though, and he doesn’t need to turn to know it’s Jimin.

“You look drunk,” he says when their eyes meet. Jimin hides a giggle on his neck before shrugging.

“So do you.”

“I might be a bit tipsy, yeah. Jungkook makes killer drinks,” he whines, stealing another glance over his shoulder. He’s thankfully still distracted.

“Poor you, fighting off the perfect guy that is clearly interested in you,” Jimin rolls his eyes, although he still pats his head in reassurance.

“I know, what a nightmare,” he sighs, although he’s pretty sure he means it. He wants nothing more than to sit on this rather uncomfortable barstool for the rest of the night if it means he’ll get Jungkook looking at him like that. And yet. “Let’s go find Hoseok, I think he might be trying to convince someone to pay for his new playstation,” he tells Jimin, who sends a surprised look at him but accepts his hand nonetheless.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

He doesn’t see Jungkook again for another hour—which seems ridiculous considering they’re in his pretty average-sized apartment. When he does see him again though, he’s talking to other people on the balcony. Taehyung leaves his friends the minute his eyes train on him, telling them he’s going to get some fresh air as his feet take him there out of their own volition. 

Jimin and Hoseok barely pay any attention to him anyway, too entertained by an apparently popular tiktoker who’s good friends with Jungkook’s friend, Yoongi.

As he approaches the balcony the music starts to fade into a soft hum in the background…or at least, that’s how it feels. It should be criminal—the way Jungkook’s eyes soften considerably the moment they land on him. The way he tells the person he’s talking to that he needs to excuse himself in order for him to talk to Taehyung instead. The way he comes to lean against the baluster of the emergency stairs Taehyung has found to be a perfect spot to sit on.

“Fancy meeting you here,” Jungkook says. He looks slightly high judging by the redness in his bright eyes. “I lost you there for a minute.”

“More like an hour,” Taehyung chuckles.

The younger grins. “Oh, you missed me that much? Could’ve just said.”

“Of course I did,” he blurts out, and he’s pretty sure the alcohol has now definitely thrown all his caution and inhibitions down the rail. Jungkook seems taken aback by his reply as well, but his eyes visibly lit up at his boldness.

“I missed you, too. I’ve also never seen you drunk before and I was afraid I’d miss out.”

“Hope I don’t embarrass myself,” he chuckles, although he’s positive he’s already on his way to doing just that.

“You’re too cute to be embarrassing.”

Taehyung feels the want growing inside him as he scoots closer to Jungook, watching as the younger moves away from the side of the stairs to properly face him on the steps. “Am I?”

Jungkook licks his lips and Taehyung watches his pink tongue, wondering what his mouth must taste like.

“Yeah. Really fucking cute, actually.”

His own mouth tastes like limes and vodka and he wants so badly to give in. He can smell his perfume, permeating the air he breathes in. His eyelids feel heavy as he watches Jungkook’s every movement—he catches sight of the tiny glance he steals to his own lips and melts against the steps. All he does is want, want, want.

They’re both too tipsy and a tiny voice inside his head is telling him this is a terrible idea, but how can such an awful idea look as enticing as Jungkook does right now, towering over him in all his beautiful desire? Taehyung watches as a hand cups the side of his face, angling his chin upwards to meet Jungkook’s own face.

No one has ever looked at him with as much want before. Taehyung feels his heart climb all the way to his throat, a pulsing thing that takes his breath away the longer Jungkook just holds him there. He’s pliant on his hands, and he realizes he would do anything he wanted if he just as much as asked—the idea doesn’t scare him in the slightest. Excitement pools increasingly in his lower stomach as he chews on his lower lip, rejoicing in the tiny take of breath he feels Jungkook steal at the sight.

“Do you have any idea what you’re doing to me right now?” Jungkook asks in that voice of his that threatens to intoxicate him. Taehyung feels his fingers clutch around thin air as he blinks back, waiting.

Jungkook finally surges forward then, but the second their lips brush against one another Taehyung is hit with a heavy wave of guilt as he curses at himself and forces him to move away. He can hear his mother’s voice they want to set him up with someone rich, you know how these families are. There’s no way Jungkook’s family would accept him, not only because he has no economic prospects to offer their son, but because he was the guy who used to take care of their kid. They would hate the idea and Taehyung wouldn’t even be able to defend himself.

He can’t let it happen. He can’t threaten to even ruin Jungkook’s relationship with their parents—it’s already fragile as it is. He isn’t even sure he wants a relationship right now. 

“I’m sorry. I can’t,” he mumbles out. Jungkook immediately steps back, his hand dropping away from Taehyung’s face.

“Oh.”

“It’s just—” he tries to explain, because he wants to. Jungkook deserves an explanation. But what is he supposed to say? He doesn’t want to lie, but he knows the younger wouldn’t understand if he were to actually tell him the truth. And if he knew about his own parent’s wishes…

“It’s okay. You don’t need to explain yourself,” he reassures him with a soft smile that doesn’t reach his eyes. Taehyung never thought he’d be on the receiving end of a fake smile coming from the younger and it hurts more than he would’ve predicted. 

“No but—”

Jungkook takes another step back, so far from him now that he can no longer get a taste of his cologne. He wants to tug him back in, to pull him so close he can feel the warmth from his skin, to have him grip him hard enough to bruise—

 “I’m sorry if I…made you uncomfortable?”

Taehyung shakes his head, desperate to make him understand that none of this is his fault, because it isn’t, but Jungkook looks half defeated, half ashamed and Taehyung isn’t sure what to say anymore.

“You didn’t.”

“Okay. That’s good. I uh, I’ll go check on the drinks,” he says, and he’s gone back inside before he gets to utter a single word.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Once you get used to someone spending every waking moment with you, it’s definitely odd when they’re suddenly gone. Taehyung realizes with a terrible pang in his heart that his apartment is incredibly empty now—and that he hasn’t been living by himself for over a month now.

He should’ve never left his guard down around the younger, should’ve never allowed their lives to get so tangled up that he’d be finding some of his clothes around his own apartment—he knows he should return them, but after he puts on Jungkook’s balenciaga hoodie and finds his perfume through the threads, it’s hard to bring himself to let go of it—and he should’ve definitely not allowed himself to be drunk in front of him. He should’ve known better and now he’s ruined it and it’s too late to fix it.

Jungkook hasn’t said a single word to him since the party and it’s been three awful, lonely days. He hasn’t seen him at all either, but then again that’s not surprising considering he has yet to leave his own apartment. He’s simply too embarrassed to risk facing the younger—he was supposed to be better than this. The idea that he led Jungkook on for weeks, blushing to his compliments and asking him to stay in his apartment day after day, only to reject him when he finally made a real move on him, makes him want to rip his hair out. 

Maybe his friends were right, maybe he’s overcomplicating things but what can he possibly offer Jungkook? Even if his parents don’t hate the idea of Jungkook dating him, they would hate him dating someone three years older living on barely above minimum wage. He’s been fine being single for so long, too. He’s used to the freedom of not having to tell anyone anything he’s doing or with whom, of the idea that he can simply do as he pleases and not care about the consequences—but now that idea has shifted slightly after getting a taste of something much better and warmer. 

Now, the idea of being single is immediately connected to empty hands and an apartment that looks too big for him and the lack of noise and cold, quiet walls.

He realizes that the life he’s been living for the past twenty-six years has been a very lonely one. His only relationship lasted about a year and didn’t even feel like an actual commitment considering his boyfriend cheated on him two months in and he was dumb enough to forgive him. He was young and wanted to experiment true love—he didn’t. And maybe that felt like enough of a sign to scrap love as a concept from his life, to try and convince himself he doesn’t need it. 

Perhaps he truly doesn’t. But he does need Jungkook, so where does that leave him?

Next time he sees Jungkook though, four days after the party—he almost wishes he didn’t. Almost, because even in this context the sight of him still brings such thick relief to him that it makes even breathing feel easier.

He’s walking out of his apartment the second that Jungkook and a stranger are about to get into his. Taehyung immediately regrets his impeccable timing as the younger’s eyes zero in on him. Sadly, he doesn’t have enough time to get back inside and never leave again. 

“Hey,” he stupidly says when Jungkook keeps staring at him in silence. 

“Hi. Um, you go ahead. I’ll join you soon,” Jungkook tells the guy, who simply smiles a bright, whitened smile before doing as told. Taehyung stares until the door is shut behind him and the idea of that stranger playing with Osamu has him sulking in what hopes is a very subtle way. “I…I actually have been meaning to talk to you. About the party.”

All hopes of them never mentioning that little incident crumble down in front of his eyes. 

“It’s okay—”

“It’s not. I’ve been thinking and…I really can’t believe how I’ve been behaving around you for so long,” Jungkook says, his eyes void of that familiar mirth. 

“What…what do you mean?”

“I mean, flirting with you so shamelessly and—and then making a move on you when you’re drunk—”

Taehyung frowns as he points out, “You were drunk, too.”

“Still. It’s awful,” he whispers, shame contorting his face into an expression Taehyung never wants to see again. “The last thing I wanted was to take advantage of you.”

“You didn’t, Jungkook. I promise,” he says, hoping to convey the honesty and genuinity through his words. The very, very last thing he wants is Jungkook not only blaming himself but thinking even for a second that he did something as terrible as taking advantage of him. 

“I’m still sorry. For misreading your friendship,” he mumbles out. “I’d love to be friends again.”

“You didn’t—” he takes a deep breath, thinking of the guy currently inside Jungkook’s apartment. Telling him the truth would not only be fruitless but selfish now, too. Maybe Jungkook actually likes whoever that guy is—maybe he is that blind date his parents want for him. Maybe Taehyung is meant to ruin this and remain Jungkook’s good, older friend. And maybe—he’s scared shitless and embarrassed and horrible with both words and feelings. Maybe all of the above. “I’d love to be friends again, too. I’ve missed you,” is all he finally says.

Jungkook’s expression softens with relief. “I’ve missed you, too.”

Taehyung smiles back but then he clears his throat and sends a questioning glance at the shut door. Friends ask about these things, surely. 

“Is that guy—I don’t mean to intrude…”

“Ah, he’s my date. I actually should be going back inside before he starts wondering where I am,” he chuckles. “But come by tomorrow, yeah? We can have lunch.”

He nods, but his face hurts from trying to keep his expression neutral.

“Sure, I will. Have a good night.”

He might not be entirely sure about Jungkook’s feelings for him—after all, he didn’t explicitly claim to have them at all, even if his attraction is now undeniable—but he’s sure about his own; he likes him so much that the idea of him dating other people makes something unbearable burn behind his eyelids. 

Great.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

He intends to talk himself out of visiting him. There’s no way to move on from Jungkook if he’s going to spend as much time around him as he used to. He walks to his door and walks back to his bed three times in a row. And then a fourth one for good measure. 

But temptation is deadly and Taehyung isn’t very strong. He thinks of calling his friends over to spend the time instead but as he stares at the ceiling in his bedroom he exhales a heavy thing from his chest and truly admits it—it wasn’t just loneliness, was it? It wasn’t just the need for a body by his side or the sound of someone else’s voice. It wasn’t anyone . It was Jungkook with his beautiful smile and that constant laughter trapped within his eyes that makes his knees weaken on the spot. 

This admission should have him locking himself in his apartment even more, but it doesn’t. Taehyung is just as weak as his knees as he stands back up and walks all the way to Jungkook’s apartment, knocking twice and feeling his heart speeding up until the younger opens the door with Osamu between his legs and suddenly his heart goes quiet.

“Hi. Are you uh busy? I can just—”

Jungkook shakes his head, and as he opens his door a little bit wider and the scent of candles and coffee finds Taehyung like a lost lover, the yearning hits him like a building-tall wave.

They order thai food and Taehyung buries his fingers in Osamu’s fur. It’s a bit awkward—the way it ought to be after he rejected Jungkook’s mouth back at the party. After the resounding radio silence between them during the days that followed. After having seen someone else walk into this very apartment with hopeful, excited eyes.

He glances at the balcony and blinks at the sight of the stairs. If he could go back in time, he wouldn’t push him away. But he can’t go back in time, and he shouldn’t even want to.

When he turns back towards Jungkook, the younger is already looking at him, having found him staring outside—he probably knows exactly what he’s thinking about. He doesn’t comment on it though. If anything, he pulls on another smile that stays only in half of his face and refuses to reach his eyes. Taehyung can’t bear the look of it and is spared as the delivery boy rings his doorbell.

“How was your date?” he asks him the moment Jungkook returns with the food. He seems taken aback by the question, but he answers all the same while he spreads their food on the table.

“It was fun. Yugyeom and I have a lot in common, his dad owns a big franchise.”

“Ah. That’s…” he nods. He should’ve expected that considering what his mother told him. “A good thing to talk about, I guess.”

“Yeah, I guess,” Jungkook snorts. “I don’t know, I’ll be seeing him again this weekend.”

Taehyung caresses the back of Osamu’s ears and nods. “That’s great. I’m glad.”

“Yeah, me too. I guess I needed to get out there.”

Taehyung pulls on a fake smile. He’s positive it doesn’t reach his eyes either as he stands from the couch and joins Jungkook at the table.

He thinks of being his friend—what will that entail if he starts actually dating someone else? Would they be okay with him spending so much time in Jungkook’s apartment? Would Jungkook? Will he have to go back to being by himself most of the day? He tried that for less than a week and it was miserable.

“Are you okay, Tae?”

He fakes a yawn. “Yeah, just tired. Didn’t get much sleep.”

“Oh. Any uh, particular reason?”

Taehyung feels the cold metal of his chopsticks freeze in his hold as he focuses on the food still on his plate. 

“Not really.”

He expects Jungkook to drop the subject—he’s never been one to push when things don’t go his way, but he can still feel his eyes burning their way across the table and isn’t sure which is worse; if to be burnt by his words or his gaze. 

“Wait. Is that…is that my hoodie?”

Taehyung’s eyes widen as he looks down at himself. Oh my god. He completely forgot he was wearing it when he knocked on Jungkook’s door. He feels his face burn now in embarrassment. He can’t possibly lie his way out of this one, but he will still try.

“No.”

“...no?”

“No. I shop at Balenciaga often,” he lies. He has never stepped foot in a luxury clothing store in his life. He could potentially afford a few items a year but he isn’t one to splurge on expensive things for no reason. This hoodie is his favorite all the same—thick black fabric and Jungkook’s perfume clinging to the threads like a lifeline. He’s not letting go of it.

Jungkook raises a skeptical eyebrow, but he looks amused and maybe even, if Taehyung lets himself have this, endeared . He hasn’t seen him look at him this way in days and it physically hurts. 

“Mm, since when?”

“Since forever. Anyway—”

Jungkook’s chuckle is all things good, the sound dripping down Taehyung’s spine like liquid sunlight. 

“It’s fine. It looks good on you, you can keep it,” he tells him. 

Can I keep you, too?

“Of course I’ll keep it, it’s mine,” he says, because even if they both know he’s lying, he can’t possibly admit to it now.

Things get less tense after that and talking to Jungkook is suddenly easyeasyeasy again—it’s both a blessing and a curse. Taehyung can’t help but not only adore Jungkook but also who he is with him. 

It’s with a saddening pang in his stomach that he comes to a frightening realization as they finish their food; that he has never been more himself than he is right now, with Jungkook’s eyes on him igniting him from the inside out.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

The next time he sees him is thankfully the following day, when the younger knocks on his door a little after ten p.m. Taehyung is surprised to find him there, leaning against the threshold with a bottle of wine in his hands—but his eyes are hopeful and he smiles the second their gazes clash. 

“I was going to drink it by myself but then I realized I probably should ask if you wanted to share?” he says, and it sounds simple and maybe it would be if nothing had happened to make everything stupidly complicated between them. Taehyung has the urge to pull him inside his apartment and wrap his arms around him in ways he hasn’t allowed himself to do—but doesn’t.

“Glad that drinking wine makes you think of me,” he laughs instead. Jungkook chuckles but he seems a bit self-conscious as he stands there.

“I know you aren’t a huge fan but this one is a very old bottle.”

Taehyung tilts his head. “Is that rich talk for good wine?”

“It’s rich talk for, can I come in?”

The older’s big smile makes his cheeks hurt as he opens the door wider and nods. “Of course.”

The wine ends up tasting rich but not in ways Taehyung can put into words. Jungkook explains it to him all the same, using such sophisticated terms that Taehyung finds himself nodding as he takes tiny sips and feels the alcohol run down his throat. It’s a lazy night as they lie on his sofa, and he’s always been a bit of a lightweight which is a problem considering what happened last time he was drunk with Jungkook. This time he measures his sips though, and he stops drinking the second he starts to get the tiniest bit tipsy. 

He still notices the distance between their bodies—and it’s with disappointment that he realizes it’s intentional. Even if Jungkook came here with a wine bottle very late at night, he did so as a friend. He hasn’t made any advances on him ever since that night, hasn’t flirted with him or touched him at all. It’s the right thing to do after someone pushes you away when you try to kiss them—but Taehyung hates it. He hates the distance from his thigh to Jungkook’s, despises the inches away from his hands, misses the lingering gazes and flirtatious comments that would bring a blush on his face. He’s an idiot. He has no right to miss things he pushed away himself.

“You alright?”

“You ask me that a lot lately,” he says.

Jungkook purses his lips. “I wish I didn’t have to.”

He sighs as he meets his eyes.

“I’m alright.” 

Jungkook nods but he can tell he doesn’t fully believe him. As usual though, he doesn’t push for an answer. Instead he reaches through the distance between them as if he knew exactly what’s making Taehyung ache in places he cannot bring himself to name—and holds his hand. The older watches him in silence as he plays with his fingers, as he runs a warm pad down the middle of his palm and presses. It’s a game of patience and self-restraint, he realizes as a single finger threatens to unearth him. Do you know what you’re doing to me now? he wonders, but Jungkook probably has no idea.

Is this what friends do? Hold each other’s hands and weep in silence at the prospect of not holding anything else?

I love you , he lets his fingers mumble out as they tug Jungkook’s own hand closer, willing his touch to stay. The younger looks up at him in poorly masked surprise. He must like what he sees in Taehyung’s face, because his expression melts into something soft and gentle and the older wonders if his own eyes might be mumbling the words out as well. 

Is it okay to love you?

Jungkook intertwines their fingers and Taehyung squeezes. He stays and neither of them utter a single word. And that’s good enough for tonight.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

The touching doesn’t return after that night, if anything Jungkook seems to steer farther away as the days drag by—and he doesn’t blame him. A part of him thinks of apologizing, but he isn’t even sure how that would go about. Sorry for still wearing your clothes and being clingy and wanting to hold your hand and kiss you —but also I can’t really date you, I don’t want your parents to hate me, I don’t want you to hate me —

“Yes, apparently they’ve introduced him to some boy. Yugyeom, I believe. Have you seen him around?” his mother asks him a couple days later, and Taehyung clings to the phone as he pretends to be too entertained folding his laundry one-handed.

“Yes. I have.”

“Mm, is he cute? Haneul said he was.”

“I don’t know. I didn’t really get to see him that well.”

“I see,” she muses, maybe reading into the edge of his words. “Well, I guess if Jungkook is happy too then his parents didn’t do too terribly with the matching.”

Taehyung drops the shirt he was just folding and scoffs. “I find it really dumb that they only care about money. They have plenty themselves. Who cares if Jungkook likes someone who isn’t that well-off?”

“I agree, darling but you know how they are—”

“I don’t. I thought they weren’t like that,” he bites back before hearing his own tone and clearing his throat. He knows he shouldn’t let it get to him—and he likes to think he’s been doing an okay job at it but clearly he’s wrong. “Whatever, it’s none of my business.”

His mother hums under his breath as she points out, “You sound really worked up about this.”

“I’m not. I’m sure they make a great couple,” he says, although he can’t think of anyone who would believe him if they were to hear him right now. He squeezes a pair of warm socks between his hands and asks, “Is that what he said, though? Did Jungkook say he was happy?” 

There’s silence from the other side of the line before his mother replies with yet another question in an unreadable tone, “Why don’t you ask him? Aren’t you two good friends?”

The idea of asking him about that guy again makes me feel sick in the stomach and if I have to see them together I might move out altogether and I can’t believe you’d bring him back into my life only to take him away this quickly —

“Yeah. We are.”

“Mm,” she exhales. “You always make things so complicated.”

Taehyung scoffs at the sudden jab at him. “What? Where is that coming from?”

“Nothing, Tae. Just ask him yourself, yes? I have to go now, your father is waiting for me to get dinner.”

They bid farewells and Taehyung frowns as he unfolds another one of Jungkook’s hoodies. He isn’t even sure how this one made it to his pile of dirty clothes considering he hasn’t seen it around here before. He exhales. Maybe he should be doing something about this like returning the clothes to him. 

He slides it on instead and wears it for the rest of the day. He kind of forgets to slip it off when he walks out hours later to take out the trash, though. It’s a lazy weekend and it’s not like his hallway is ever too crowded, which is why he often walks out in pajamas or even barefoot. Who cares, right? 

Well, he should’ve at least made sure he was wearing his own clothes, considering the owner of the ones he’s wearing is walking up the stairs the minute he’s about to open his door again. 

He turns around before Jungkook sees him, wondering how the hell he managed not to stumble upon him outside. He’s a nervous mess though, so it’s no surprise that his keys fall to the ground and he has to scramble to get them.

“Your hands really are slippery, huh?”

Taehyung feels his face warm up in mortification as he laughs and stands back up, hoping Jungkook doesn’t recognize the very obvious supreme hoodie he has on. He crosses his arms over his chest, attempting to cover the logo with them. “Yeah, what can I say?”

Jungkook leans back and nods. “You know, I might start calling the cops soon.”

“What, did something happen?” he asks, looking around them in fear someone might jump at them, even though it’s a fairly safe neighborhood and nothing like that has ever happened before.

“Yeah, my neighbor keeps somehow stealing my clothes.”

Taehyung’s eyes slowly slide back to Jungkook’s very entertained ones. He drops his arms in defeat and takes a step forward, ready to defend himself. “I—okay look, I don’t even know how this one made it in my apartment and if anything it’s your own fault for—for leaving your clothes discarded everywhere .”

Jungkook regards him with a soft smile drawn on his face.  “Everywhere, is it?”

Taehyung refuses to let himself get distracted by him, but it’s proving to be increasingly difficult when he hasn’t touched him in days and misses him an absurd amount. 

“Yes. It was in my clean laundry basket.”

Jungkook hums. “Maybe I should buy you some clothes.”

“I’ll just wear these ones, thanks.”

Jungkook is about to reply when suddenly Taehyung hears footsteps coming from the stairs and his eyes find that very same guy again—Yugyeom, was it? He can see him properly now and his mother was right yet again . He’s cute. He’s really cute, actually. And he dresses great, too. Perfect.

“Ah, Tae this is Yug. Yug, my neighbor Tae.”

Taehyung feels his jaw tighten as he pulls on a smile. Neighbor? Really? And what’s with that nickname, Yug. It doesn’t even make any sense.

“Hey, nice to meet you.”

“Hi, you too! Oh is that the new supreme hoodie that came out last month? I’ve been trying my hardest to get my hands on that baby—”

“Yes, I bought it a few weeks ago,” he easily lies.

Jungkook snorts but Yugyeom either doesn’t hear him or pretends not to as he grins. “I’m so jealous,” and then immediately wraps an arm around Jungkook’s waist.

Believe me, me too.

He forces himself not to stare too pointedly at the gesture, the grip around his keys tightening to a painful degree. 

“I should get going. It was nice talking to you. See you, Jungkook,” he says, smiling only enough to hide the irritation bursting out of him. He’s both upset at this entire situation and himself for having put his stupid heart through it. 

He doesn’t hear Jungkook’s soft-spoken goodbye, nor does he notice the way his eyes linger on his door, long after he has shut it closed behind him.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Breaking points are funny. In that, you wouldn’t expect someone to wait till they reach it to finally fix the things that need to be fixed, but that’s exactly what Taehyung did. It was childish and immature and foolish of him to even hope that his feelings would simply disappear when every time he saw Jungkook he wanted to melt down into the floor and scream. 

He’d tell himself he was doing the right thing, after all Jungkook is dating someone else and he’s happy—he can’t bring himself to ask him if he really is, though. No answer would make him happy—but he’s definitely positive about one thing; he would be feeling better if Jungkook wasn’t across the hallway but inside his apartment instead. He misses his touches and his warm skin and his voice. He regrets that night every single time he wakes up in the morning.

Breaking point comes a full week later, one in which Taehyung talks to Jungkook only two times and both feel agonizingly short, leaving him hesitating at his own door, debating whether to go after him or not. He doesn’t. It’s Jungkook himself who eventually puts them both out of their own misery and comes by on a Friday night with very sad eyes and messy hair.

“What happened?” Taehyung immediately asks, the sight making his chest hurt. 

“My friend came to pick Osamu up a few hours ago,” he says, voice small. He hasn’t seen the dog in days and the idea that he won’t be seeing him any time soon—if ever at all—kind of hurts.

“He’s gone?”

“Yeah. I miss him already,” he chuckles, but it’s a sad sound and Taehyung doesn’t think twice before wrapping his arms around him. “Sorry you couldn’t say goodbye—”

“It’s fine. Maybe you should get a pet yourself,” he whispers, as the awful realization that this is the first time they’re hugging, sinks in. People don’t talk about this enough, he thinks. They don’t tell you how hugging someone can make you both fall apart and come together at once. Taehyung wasn’t ready, he didn’t know.

“Not sure the place I’m moving to is okay with pets,” Jungkook says in a low voice, and suddenly Taehyung freezes, not even the younger’s familiar perfume able to make him relax after hearing those words.

He unwraps his arms from around Jungkook, taking a step back. “You—you’re moving out?”

“Yeah, it’s—wait, are you…crying?” Jungkook asks, and Taehyung is mortified to find that he is, fingers rushing to wipe at the dampness in his eyes. When did it even start? Maybe it was the hug. Maybe it was the words. Maybe it’s the fact that all of his feelings are suddenly coming to the surface, threatening to burst.

“What? N-no, of course not.”

The younger reaches towards him, cupping his face and catching a tear sliding down his cheek. “Tae, you are,” he softly murmurs, voice tender with sympathy.

“I’m not crying.”

“I’m moving super close from here, too,” he continues, his hand still running up and down his damp skin. Taehyung leans into the touch, unable to help himself. “It’s just a bit bigger and Yug found this—”

The older shivers as a sob abandons his mouth against his will. “Y-you’re moving in with him already?”

Jungkook’s eyes widen at his reaction. 

“Okay seriously, what’s going on Tae?” he asks, cupping both his cheeks now as he tips Taehyung’s head upwards, forcing their eyes to meet. He wonders how he must look —wide red eyes, swollen lips, crimson cheeks. “Talk to me?”

“Look. I—fine,” he exhales, now more than defeated. He can’t keep it in any longer, and what would the point be if Jungkook is moving out anyway? He might never even see him again. “The night at your apartment…I didn’t, I—”

Jungkook winces. “We don’t have to talk about that.”

“No, we do. Because I didn’t push you away because I wanted to and, and now you’re dating someone else and moving out and it’s all wrong—”

“I’m not dating someone else,” he says. 

“But you said—”

“My parents set me up with him, yes. But we’re just friends now. Besides, I’m not even sure mom liked him,” he says, scratching the back of his neck in what can only be described as embarrassment as he adds, “She kept going on about you even though I told her you clearly weren’t interested—”

“I was! I am ,” he insists. Can’t he see how he’s breaking at the thought of him with anyone else? “Wait, your mom was okay with us dating?”

Jungkook sends him a look as he drops his hands. Taehyung resists the urge to beg him to touch him again.

“Why wouldn’t she be?”

“I thought—” he clears his throat, his reasons suddenly looking a little bit ridiculous to be said out loud. “Because I’m not rich and…and I babysat you when you were younger.”

“Can we agree that the term babysat is a stretch?” he asks, rolling his eyes. “No one cares about either of those things. My parents love you.”

“Oh,” he says. He remembers hearing that coming from his mother as well, how he was quick to dismiss the idea even though they’ve always been lovely to him. “I…I didn’t know that. My mom said you were dating him—”

Jungkook licks his lips and Taehyung wonders how he’s supposed to pay full attention to the conversation they’re having when he effortlessly looks like that. “I uh, think your mom wanted us to date just as much…if not more,” he laughs, the sound almost enough to wipe away all of the tears in his face. “She was probably in on it, too.”

Taehyung presses his hands against his face and whines into them. “I can’t believe her.”

He hears him chuckle before there are hands gently pulling his own away, uncovering his embarrassed face. “Please just don’t cry anymore. I don’t like it,” he tells him, and Taehyung wants to laugh because truly, he doesn’t like it either. He can’t even remember the last time he felt this hopeless.

“Well I don’t like anything I’ve been doing since that party so we’re even.”

There’s silence then and when their eyes meet, time seems to freeze. Taehyung swears he doesn’t think he’ll ever find someone who looks at him with this much love again. How didn’t he see it sooner? Was he so blind that he ignored the blatant adoration pouring out of Jungkook’s gaze whenever it would land on him?

“Will you push me away if I kiss you now?” Jungkook whispers out but Taehyung surges forward instead of replying and presses a lingering, heated kiss against his mouth.

It’s a gentle thing that almost makes him tear up again, the younger cupping his face again while tenderly kissing him back. He hasn’t kissed someone in a very long time, but he’s pretty sure he’s never enjoyed it as much as this. 

He hears the door shutting and realizes Jungkook must’ve kicked it closed before wrapping both arms around his waist and pulling him closer to his chest. It shouldn’t be as hot as it is and yet Taehyung whines against his lips, Jungkook instantly sucking on his lower lip and increasing the needy, desperate sounds before slowly pushing his tongue inside his mouth, the heat between them growing at an alarming speed. 

“ Jungkook ,” he says, his voice like a quiet plea even though he isn’t entirely sure what he’s asking for. The younger seems to know though, his smile all-knowing before he presses him against the marble counter, its pristine, cold stone digging against his tailbone. He doesn’t even know when they moved around his apartment, if Jungkook has been blindly guiding him as they kissed. 

He gasps at the icy sensation on his skin as his shirt rides up. He can feel his gaze, trained on every single, tiny sound that his mouth evokes; every tremor that runs down his spine, every telltale that Jungkook holds enough power in his hands to render him speechless. Truth be told, he doesn’t even have to touch him.

“You’re so pretty,” he hears him say, his voice lower than he’s ever heard it before. He feels his fingers run circles down his hip bones and instinctively pushes his hips forward, seeking more of his touch. He knows he’s moving a bit fast and he’s probably coming off way too desperate but he’s been waiting for so long— months of pent up tension and mutual attraction finally bursting around them both. 

“Please,” he begs as Jungkook, instead of granting him his wish, lets go of him completely. 

Jungkook’s expression turns slightly mean as he cocks his head to the side and says, “You know, I think you’re even prettier when you beg.” Taehyung whimpers, but a quick glance his way shows that Jungkook is still expectantly staring at him, smug smile still strained on his lips. “So? Go on.”

Taehyung gulps, pushed against the marble even if there’s no one physically keeping him there anymore. He should’ve predicted Jungkook would also be a bit of a menace in bed but—he didn’t, and the sight of it threatens to bring him to his actual knees. 

Jungkook braces himself with each arm around Taehyung, caging him in and regarding him over his eyelashes before whispering in his ear. “I said, go on. ”

He thinks this night, this moment right here, might be his undoing. His downfall is in the way he looks at him—as if both studying and committing him to memory. It’s in his lips and the gentle, confident curve of his mouth. It’s in his voice and the way it drops one, two, three octaves as he orders him around. It’s in the tip of his tongue, the one he wants to taste so badly he isn’t sure he’ll be able to wait any longer.

He meets his dark gaze, now so close to him that he can feel his expensive cologne in his own skin, as if he were the one wearing it.

“ Please touch me,” he says, the words coming out in a slow tandem, dripping with a desire to both get his way and be unforgettably good to him.

He watches as his irises expand and Jungkook’s hands return to his body, this time touching more skin than before as his fingers dig beneath the fabric.

“Good,” he hears right before he latches his tantalizing mouth against the side of his neck and Taehyung loses the last thread of sanity he had left. He pulls him closer, wrapping his arms around him and pulling until there’s not a single inch of space between their bodies. All he can feel is the heat, pooling endlessly on his lower stomach and spreading like wildfire to all of his limbs. Jungkook’s mouth is a wet, pulsing thing as he sucks bruise after bruise, sealing his own name against his skin. The sting of his bite has him arching his back off the counter, thighs spreading out of their own volition. He’s never wanted something as much as he wants Jungkook to ruin him right now.

He gasps in surprise when the younger suddenly slides his hands to his thighs and pulls him up, effortlessly setting him on the counter and settling in the spot between his legs. 

He’s never been wanted this badly before. It’s intoxicating.

He thinks Jungkook will certainly ruin him for everyone else—and that’s a great plan considering he doesn’t think it’d be possible to ever want someone as much as he wants him.

“What do you want?” he asks him, and the question would make him laugh if he wasn’t so aroused.

“What do you think?” he asks back. Jungkook doesn’t seem to fully enjoy his attitude as one hand suddenly pushes between his legs, making Taehyung gasp in pleasure at the pressure against his already hard cock.

“Mm, I don’t know. Maybe if you tell me, I can give it to you.”

“I want everything.”

“Everything?”

Taehyung meets his heated gaze and nods. Jungkook finally seems to take pity on him as he takes a step back and assesses him. 

He doesn’t expect the next words that boldly come out of his mouth. They’ve just kissed for the very first time minutes ago and yet he wants this just as bad as Jungkook the second he asks—

“Mm…can I eat you out?”

He shuts his eyes, almost sliding all the way down the counter. He briefly nods again, or he thinks he does—he isn’t entirely sure, but whatever Jungkook might see must be enough confirmation because he hears a breathy chuckle, enjoying breaking Taehyung apart. Soon there are hands back on him—skin finally meeting skin as Jungkook helps him remove his shirt and pants, his fingers working so quickly that Taehyung kind of just lies there, pliant.

He isn’t as embarrassed as he thought he’d be at being watched by Jungkook—he’s too gone to care, even though the way the younger calls him pretty names and wraps his lips around one of his nipples is already more than enough to make him feel more confident than he’s ever felt before. Taehyung buries one of his trembling hands on his dark, soft hair, pushing him closer to his chest, moans and gasps leaving him at the pleasure.

“Please, please—”

“So impatient,” Jungkook scoffs, but the way he’s looking at him he can tell the desperation is mutual. He’s being picked up instantly, and Taehyung would scream in startelement if he didn’t feel so safe in his arms. Jungkook is still wearing too many clothes, and he tells him as much in a whisper to his neck before he’s being dropped on his bed. “Like I said, impatient,” he repeats in reply, but he still takes his shirt off. All Taehyung can see is endless, tanned skin and muscles—he wants to kiss every inch of him, but Jungkook has other ideas in mind as he says, “Turn around.”

He’ll take it slow another night, he’ll let himself savor him completely. Neither of them can wait tonight, though.

Taehyung is only wearing his underwear, but he rushes to slide it down his thighs before doing as told. He hears an intake of breath and even though he wishes he could see him right now, he likes the suddenness of hands cupping his ass, fingers digging into the meaty flesh and spreading him wide open.

“ J-Jungkook .”

“I’ve thought about this so many times,” Jungkook mumbles against his skin, his lips caressing his hip bone.

“Y-you have?”

“Every time I touched myself.”

“ Fuck. ”

Jungkook takes his time breaking him apart—takes his time watching and gazing and whispering a perfect balance of sweet nothings and filthy words, takes his time breathing into him, something warm and intimate before he finally starts kissing all the way down his back. Taehyung is already clutching at the sheets by the time he reaches his tailbone, eyes shut closed, thighs spreading in open invitation.

“Have you thought about this, too?” Jungkook whispers, only loud enough for him to hear, as if telling a secret to his skin.

He nods—he’s imagined everything with Jungkook; him kissing down his body, pushing moans out of him, drinking each sound out of his mouth, burying himself inside him until his eyes can’t see past the white ecstasy. He’s unable to put it into proper words though, as the younger chooses that exact moment to finally lick inside. 

The whine that comes out of him is high in pitch and dripping with a neediness that desserts him. He feels a gentle bite on one of his cheeks, his hand massaging the other one before he continues licking up and down his rim. His cock is so hard as it presses against the bedspread that he doesn’t think he’ll make it for too long, the impulse to chase after his release almost unbearable to fight against. 

He can feel his orgasm approaching embarrassingly quick, knows he’d be coming if Jungkook were to just as much as touch his cock—he holds the impulses in, chewing on his lower lip and melting down to a puddle of need and desire the second Jungkook starts sucking without remorse, the speed and depth of the thrusts of his tongue almost enough to bring tears to his eyes. 

“ So, so good ,” Taehyung mumbles, because it is and he can’t believe he didn’t let himself have this before. Jungkook knows exactly what he’s doing to him, kissing his entrance with open lips, eating him as if he was just as desperate for it as Taehyung is. 

“Your ass, fuck—” Jungkook curses, voice breathy.

“I’m c-close. Can you—” he gasps as the younger bites him once more, this time a bit harder, enough to leave a mark behind. The sting feels so good his feet curl and his hands tremble around the sheets, weakly begging for release. “Can I—suck you off?”

Jungkook’s mouth abandons him as he asks, “What did you say?”

Taehyung feels his entire face and body heat up as he unsurely says, “W-while you…do that—so we can come…together?”

He’s silent for a moment and Taehyung is about to backtrack when suddenly he hears, “Fuck, you’re going to drive me insane.”

He exhales in quiet relief.

“Is that…a yes?”

Instead of replying Jungkook flips him around, and the sight of him has Taehyung instantly pulling him to him, pressing a kiss to his lips and his cheeks and his neck—he never wants to stop kissing him. He looks ruined himself. He never imagined sex could look so exquisite on someone else.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, please—”

Jungkook doesn’t need to be told twice as he takes the rest of his clothes off, Taehyung relieved he gets to watch the whole thing unfolding in front of his eyes. His thighs are even meatier and stronger than he predicted, and the moment he slides his underwear off, Taehyung stares at his hard cock for about a full minute, mouth watering until Jungkook positions himself on top of him. 

The older doesn’t hesitate in wrapping a hand around his shaft, and Jungkook gasps before telling him to go slow. Taehyung doesn’t think he’ll be able to, not when the moment he wraps his lips around the red, beautiful head, Jungkook goes down on him once more. His position now helps his tongue go even deeper, Taehyung’s knees bend to expose himself once again.

He’s never done anything like this with anyone before and he can hardly believe it’s their first time—they seem to know each other’s bodies so well, Taehyung feeling Jungkook’s cock twitch as he slides his tongue up and down the vein running down his length, Taehyung moaning around him while the younger starts pushing his own tongue past his tight walls. He’s never been this vulnerable before. 

The sounds that echo around his bedroom will remain forever locked in repetition inside his head—hot, aroused gasps and moans that make his cock curve even harder against his lower stomach, begging desperately for the release he’s been keeping from it for so long. He can’t keep it in much longer though, so he rushes to pleasure Jungkook, using his hands to fondle with his balls as he bobs his head and shuts his eyes. He’s always been good at blowjobs, but Jungkook makes him feel like he might be the best he’s ever had with the sounds he keeps on making against him—guttural, throaty groans combined with cracked moans. 

“Are you close?” the younger asks, voice strained.

“Y-yes, yes. ”

“Good, shit. Come for me, baby, come with me,” he says, hands spreading him even wider yet, the pleasure so intense that Taehyung lets himself come fully undone the exact instant he feels Jungkook start to come down his throat. 

He swallows it all up, Jungkook making his own orgasm have him whimpering all over as he wraps a hand around Taehyung’s cock, the oversensitivity making him dizzy in the head. The relief that washes down his body is a thick, living thing. It’s the best, most intense orgasm he’s ever had—he thinks he goes a bit numb after it, eyes shutting as Jungkook slides out of his mouth. He sees him face him, feels a kiss on the corner of his mouth and hears steps in and out of his bedroom.

When he comes back to himself, he isn’t sure how much time has passed. Jungkook is wrapped around him, nose buried on his neck and sunlight filtering through the window. He feels his face flush as he recalls the events of the previous night—they feel like a fever dream, something taken out of a movie or a very filthy novel. He can’t believe it happened to him…that he gets to have this again and again.

Jungkook looks so beautiful in the morning, strands of dark hair falling on his forehead, gentle, warm breathing hitting Taehyung’s collarbones. It takes everything within him to slide out of his grasp, but he does so gently, making sure not to wake him before heading to his shower. 

He feels a bit gross, embarrassed that he fell asleep before cleaning himself properly, although he can tell by the lack of come on him that Jungkook took good care of him after.

 He takes the best shower he’s taken in years—his body relaxed in a way he hasn’t allowed himself to be in so long it almost feels foreign. The water is hot as he scrubs thoroughly all over, applying a lotion he hardly ever uses once he’s done and brushing his teeth while his hair drips down his back. The sight that he finds in his mirror is unknown—bruises down his neck, a shine to his eyes that he hasn’t seen in a very long time, lips still a bit swollen from last night. He loves it.

He thinks of Jungkook sleeping on his bed and smiles as he walks out, the sight of the younger still peacefully asleep making his chest burn in fondness. His eyes catch sight of his phone and he rushes to get it as he remembers a particular detail about the conversation they had the previous night. He’s still wearing his bathrobe as he walks to the kitchen, calling his mother up and grinning the second she picks up.

“Darling, isn’t it too early for you on a weekend?” 

“Hello to you too,” he says, leaning against the counter and blushing as he remembers what he did in this very spot only hours ago. “I talked to Jungkook. He had a few interesting details to share.”

His mother laughs. “Mm, I bet he did.”

He rolls his eyes. A part of him is upset that she lied and knowingly told him about Jungkook and Yugyeom’s apparent relationship, but he can’t bring himself to be actually mad at her.

“Why didn’t you say something?”

“Because I know you and you didn’t like that I wanted you two to date,” she replies, voice soft. “Look, it was Haneul’s idea to set him up with someone else to make you jealous—” she defends, making him audibly scoff. He suspected something like that had happened but he still finds it hard to believe that they would come up with such an elaborate plan to get their kids to date. She giggles. “It worked, didn’t it?”

“I can’t believe you two,” he says as he turns towards the fridge, scrunching up his nose when he opens it to remember he doesn’t have much to work with at all. 

“Well, believe it. We’re very smart women. I take it all went well?”

“Yes. It did—” he feels a pair of arms wrap around his waist the moment he shuts the fridge and smiles, hands coming up to caress Jungkook’s fingers.  “I have to go now but I’ll be over tomorrow. Maybe call Haneul over, too.”

“Oh, I will,” she laughs, probably suspecting the reason for his sudden departure, judging by how pleased she sounds. “Have a good day.”

He turns around the moment he hangs up, Jungkook’s sleepy face smiling down at the phone. “Was that your mom?”

“Yes. I can’t believe they really had a whole plan to get us together,” he scoffs.

“Well, it did work.”

“That makes it even worse,” he groans, but Jungkook is still smiling before kissing him and everything feels right in the world again. He can’t possibly complain about anything when he has this right here.

“Good morning,” he says, holding his free hand on his own. Taehyung squeezes, his heart doing a somersault at the gesture. It’s something so tiny in comparison to everything they did last night and yet he can feel goosebumps grow in his arms.

“Please don’t move out.”

Jungkook chuckles, shaking his head. “I already signed the lease. Don’t look at me like that, it’ll be fine. It’s closeby. You can stay for as long as you want, every day, even.”

Taehyung raises an eyebrow at that. “That sounds like you asking me to move in with you.”

“I totally would, don’t tempt me,” Jungkook says, sounding so serious that Taehyung laughs even though the idea isn’t at all unappealing. They’ve basically been living together for the past few months.

“Shut up.”

“Seriously though, don’t worry about it,” he reassures him, eyes fond. “I’m—I’m serious about this, Tae. Us. Being a few blocks away won’t ruin this.”

He’s been sure about his feelings for the younger for a while now, but he wasn’t aware of the depth of them until now, standing with him in the middle of his kitchen, with the sun barely peeking through the sky and sleepiness crawling down their bodies.

“I know. I’m serious about you, too,” he whispers. “I’m pretty sure I’m—falling in love with you.”

Jungkook smiles, leaning in so close that their noses brush. “I’m pretty sure I’ve been in love with you since I was sixteen.”

Taehyung blinks, letting out a laugh before he realizes he isn’t joking. 

“That’s—there’s no way.”

“Mm, but there is.”

He shakes his head in disbelief, but his heart grows in size with every word, every look Jungkook sends him. He doesn’t think he’s ever been this happy before. This might be his favorite day just yet, and it’s barely eight in the morning. Will every day be like this now? He’s giddy as he puts his phone away and wraps his arms around Jungkook, glad that he’s still not wearing a shirt. “Will you make me breakfast, then? If you love me so much?”

Jungkook laughs. “Of course. And I’ll get a dog, too.”

“You said you weren’t sure they—”

“I will talk to the landlord. That way you’ll visit often,” he explains, to which Taehyung huffs as he lets go of him.

“You think I won’t visit often if you don’t get a dog?”

“Can’t take my chances,” he shrugs. 

“You’re an idiot.”

Jungkook’s grin is intoxicating as he walks around him and gets a pan from the cupboard. “An idiot that’s making you breakfast.”

“That’s true. Keep going,” he smiles, the sight of Jungkook’s back making him want to do unspeakable things to him. He looks like he belongs here. “Mm, where’s your hoodie?”

Jungkook cracks a smile as he sends him a glance over his shoulder and points to the right. “In the bedroom.”

“Be right back, then,” he says, already walking away to Jungkook’s contagious laughter ringing through his apartment. 

He never wants silence in here again.

The end.