"We are Taekook.” A slight pause.

“Taehyung” Jeongguk pointed to the man on his left with his thumb.

“Jeongguk” He introduced himself.

“Taekook in a cute way, Taekook” Taehyung said, eyes shining brightly and showing the world his ever-famous box-shaped smile.

A light grin graced Taehyung’s luscious lips as his eyes trained on the small screen in his hands. He was currently watching Now 3 on his phone, specifically the part where he and Jeongguk were seated on the sofa and were forced to look at embarrassing photos of themselves (it was pure torture if you asked him, but it toned down a bit because he did it with Jeongguk wink wink). Taehyung patted himself on the back after he noticed how great his fashion looked that day. Soft maroon coat fitting his body perfectly and comfortably, a black turtle neck that made him exude a sultry masculine vibe, dark-washed jeans which were his favorite, and then some sneakers he found inside his shoe cabinet. The whole look was topped off with a white baseball cap perched comfily on his messy mop of brown hair.

Taehyung thought that he could be one of those bloggers or ulzzangs that took photos on street corners with these types of clothes on. Numerous hours wasted on Tumblr and Weheartit scrolling through photos of said people had took its effect on Taehyung which was why he had adapted to their fashion style.

“And Jeonggukie doesn’t look that bad too.” He said to himself. The younger was wearing a thick winter coat outside his plain white t-shirt, matched with ripped jeans because the lad was feeling quite rebellious that day and as expected he wore his Timberland boots which he never seemed to take off. It was actually pretty impossible to make Jeongguk look ugly, he could wear a trash bag and he’d pull it off as if Verrsace tailored it for him. He was like a piece of art given life (bless those Jeon genes) and Taehyung couldn’t help the blush spreading through his cheeks like wildfire at the thought of how fortunate he was to have someone the likes of Jeon Jeongguk as his boyfriend.

Jeongguk was more than someone he had a relationship with, he was his partner, his other half. He was the one who would hold out his hand so that Taehyung and him could reach the top and at the same time the one that would cradle the elder when he was glum or irate. He was soft and innocent but also mature and rugged at the right moments. Whilst Taehyung was the turbulent waves, Jeongguk was the slow-sailing boat. They were contrasts, polar opposites - but they matched.

Jeongguk was actually the first one to confess because Taehyung was much of a wimp to do so. But it was mostly due to his realistic fear of destroying his fragile friendship with Jeongguk. Because what if he got his heart broken? His feelings were cast aside? - How could he continue as BTS’s V? He couldn’t stand the thought of Jeongguk being awkward around him when his job was to make the maknae smile and laugh.

So as wussy as it may had been, Taehyung locked his heart up. He hid his feelings inside the deepest corner of himself and tried to tamp everything down. It could be his own little secret, nobody had to know, he could handle the ache.

But it was difficult.

He knew in himself that he was in love, and so so so whipped.

Taehyung relished in the moments when he could hold Jeongguk’s hand during their concerts because they were coincidentally standing next to each other, or when they’d goof off together and the younger would do his meme dance which was a favorite of the ARMYs. He’d actually get startled and almost start stuttering when Jeongguk would engulf him in a backhug out of the blue and it just felt so right that Taehyung almost believed Jeongguk felt the same way about him.

Taehyung loved those little things but at the same time those said little things made him cry into his pillow every night until his tears stained the cotton inside of it. Because “Jeongguk I want to be yours so bad, but in the place that you and I are in, it can’t be” he whispered that to himself often and stupidly it made his tears streak down his face faster.

It happened on a night that they did overtime to finish the tracks on the second mini-album for the Hwayangyeonhwa series and Taehyung was recording his lines for their title track “Run”. He was exasperated and exhausted, no matter how many times he tried, his voice would either come out too stiff or off-key. There was no feeling, no genuineness from him which made him feel useless and hate every single fiber of himself right now. He was holding the team back and he was letting the fans down, way to go Kim Taehyung.

“Taehyung, you’re probably really tired. We’ll continue tomorrow okay? Let your voice rest.” Namjoon said warmly to his dongsaeng after he could no longer stand seeing Taehyung beat himself up over and over again. Artists had setbacks and Taehyung wasn’t an exception.

“No hyung.” Taehyung denied, eyes downcast.

“But Taehyung -” Jin tried to help but Taehyung only shook his head several times.

“You guys go. I’ll be here.” Without waiting for their reply he went back inside the booth and stood in front of the microphone.

“Taehyung are you sure?” Namjoon said over the speaker. He only responded with barely a whisper of “ne” and the rest of Bangtan filed out of the studio back to go back to their dorm.

That was - except for one member

Taehyung breathed in through his nose, trying to calm himself and ease his nerves. Then he started singing, with eyes closed and lyrics flowing easily out of his mouth. With the amount of time he had repeated in recording his parts, he no longer needed a copy because the lyrics were practically ingrained in his mind now.

But even with him practicing right now, his voice still sounded the same - lifeless

He screamed in frustration and started punching the bright red walls of the recording room. Violence was the best form of outlet for him and because no one was there, no one would stop him. Profanities lingered in the air as Taehyung degraded himself for his own performance. Taehyung was being hard on himself, he knew that, but if it not him then who would do it? Being in the Kpop industry required you to reach the high standards and expectations of everyone so there simply had to be no excuses. Especially now that his group was at the peak of their career.

Suddenly a familiar voice resonated throughout the booth that made Taehyung’s ears perk up and stop whatever he was doing.

“Hyung”

His eyes met Jeongguk’s which were looking at him dopily through the glass window and he felt such a strange surge of feeling course through him. What was Jeongguk even doing here? Hadn’t he come home with the other members almost an hour ago? Taehyung’s mind was in overdrive because a. It was only Jeongguk and him in the studio, and b. How would he explain his recent actions to the younger?

“Why are you here?” He inquired warily, fingers fidgeting beneath him.

“I didn’t want to leave you.” Was his honest answer accompanied by a yawn.

“You should be getting some sleep right now.”

“So should you.”

“Jeongguk you know why I’m here.” Taehyung pleaded. As much as he loved Jeongguk he just wanted to be alone right now. His whole being was still heavy and the maknae standing in his line of vision added to it, being a constant reminder of his unrequited love.

“Hyung?”

As confused as Taehyung was he still had the courage to mutter a tiny “Huh?”

“I love you.”

Taehyung sputtered in incredulity not believing what he was hearing. Was this some sick joke that the universe was playing on him right now? What had he done in his past life to receive this torment today?

“Hyung sing” Jeongguk commanded and Taehyung looked at him as if he grew tentacles out of his ears.

“I mean - you just”

He didn’t let Taehyung finish his sentence because he played the instrumental to Run. “Sing”

And finally, Taehyung was able to sing his parts perfectly.

By the time he stepped out of the recording booth he still had no plan in mind on how t