“What are you even talking about, Jiminie?”

Yoongi rolls over onto his other side; tiny stings shooting over his body as pins and needles greets him.

“What?” There’s a pause as Taehyung’s laughs sings its way through his closed door. “Did he know who you were?”

Yoongi pulls his pillow over his head, trying to stop the racket from reaching him. It’s too early for that loud voice to sound so cheerful.

“No, I didn’t tell him.” He laughs again, and Yoongi presses the pillow down harder against his head. “Because, isn’t it more fun this way?”

What the hell is Tae even talking about?”

There’s a crashing of plates banging together as he imagines Tae riffling through the cupboards. The crackle of a speaker follows, a voice shining through that he just manages to decipher.

“What if he doesn’t even like me? How are you so confident?”

Yoongi’s sure he’s heard that voice before, but through the wall and the crackle of the speaker he can’t put his finger on where. He sighs, pushing the thought from his mind and glancing over to his clock, surprised when the green numbers display 9:16am, guess it’s not as early as he had expected.

He throws his covers off, his bare feet hitting the wooden floor of his bedroom with a thud. He’s thankful for the heating in the apartment otherwise the coolness of the wood leeching into his skin would cause him to crawl back into bed. He rubs his eyes tiredly, getting up with a yawn and walking to the door.

“It will work, trust me. And when it does you owe me big time, Jiminie.”

He can imagine the grin on Tae’s face as he says the words and finds himself smiling at the thought. Realising it he slaps his face lightly, there’s no point in him thinking like that, not now. So with a sigh he turns the doorknob and walks into the kitchen, following the sound of laughter once again.

“It’ll be fine.” He finds Tae seated at the kitchen bench with a bowl in front of him and his phone tucked under his ear. He hears the muffled voice of the person on the other end, now taken off speaker, but cannot make out what they’re saying. Tae nods along slowly, Yoongi thinks how stupid the action is when it’s obvious the person on the other end can’t see.

Tae looks up them, catching his eyes and he averts his to the ground, walking around him to the fridge.

”Yeah, great. Okay, I promise.” He looks up at Yoongi once again as he continues. “Yeah, I’ll make sure. Bye Jiminie.” He hangs up with a grin, immediately lifting his spoon to his mouth.

Yoongi raises his eyebrow as he sets about getting himself a coffee, his day starting too early though he’s already missed his morning class.

“Did I wake you?” Tae asks around a mouthful of food, his eyes glistening with mischief that Yoongi has no desire to delve into.

He hums in response, making his way to the couch to watch the news, eager to find out if the grey clouds that have been hanging around all week have finally decided to leave. It’s been just under a week since he told Tae of his feelings and he’s only just finding it bearable to be in the same room as him. He doubts Tae notices anything of the sort, choosing to take Yoongi at his small smile and indifferent attitude, which the elder is thankful for.

It’s too soon for anything else.

He feels a presence to his right as Tae joins him on the other end of the couch, sitting down uncaring if he jostles Yoongi. Same as always. As if nothing has changed between them. But Tae might act as though everything is the same, and Yoongi might go along with it. But he’s sure that they both know that something is different. That something has changed.

And by something he means everything.

He keeps his eyes trained on the tv in an effort to ignore Tae for as long as possible, the younger sitting there staring at him as if he has something to say. Yoongi doesn’t care enough to ask him to speak, so he leaves it up to Tae who looks like he’s about to burst any second anyway.

“So…” He begins prompting Yoongi to glance at him from the corner of his eye.

“So…” He repeats, trying to prompt Tae to get on with it so he will leave him alone. He’s put off by the fact that Tae suddenly looks uncomfortable; he’s unsure how he should react as he’s never seen him like that before.

 “You got any plans tonight?”

Yoongi makes a show of thinking for a few seconds before he looks back at him with a bored expression. “That depends. Why are you asking?”

“I’m meeting some friends at the club on fifth if you want to come.”

Yoongi could think of nothing better than downing a few shots right now, but the fact that Tae is finally asking him to meet his friends feels wrong. “What?” Is the only word he can get to leave his mouth.

“Come on, it’ll be fun. You know how I still owe you for covering me in class that one time.” There was more than one time. “Well I think I’ve finally come up with a way to repay you.”

The grin stretched across Tae’s face is off putting and Yoongi doesn’t know whether he should be more thankful or scared that the younger is finally coming through on at least one of his ownings. The whole situation feels wrong as he tries to mumble out an excuse to get out of it.

Tae is having none of it as he puts his hand in the air, palm facing Yoongi and effectively silencing him.

“You’re going and you will have a good time.”

Tae stands up then ending the conversation as Yoongi sits flabbergasted staring at the space next to him that is now empty.

He still doesn’t know how Tae managed to get him out of the apartment and into the packed nightclub, but he hates himself for allowing the guy to have so much influence over him. Namjoon nudges his side, asking if he wants to go to the bar. He nods, following behind his taller friend through the crowd of people. Perhaps Namjoon is the only reason he’s standing here, Tae said afterwards that he could bring a friend of his own if he thought it would be uncomfortable. Yoongi didn’t think that it would be, he’s known Tae for long enough and his friends shouldn’t be that hard to deal with. But it’s always good to have a backup in case he needs to leave without questions.

Namjoon’s always been good for that.

He glances through the crowd, spotting Tae sitting at a booth a few meters away that looks like an ocean with all the people between them. He’s talking to some guy with tan skin and black hair, Yoongi feels as though he’s seen him somewhere, but shakes his head figuring he’s in one of his classes that he hardly turns up for.  There are two others that he can’t make out from the distance and push out of his mind, he assumes their just Tae’s friends that he wants Yoongi to meet.

Namjoon taps him on the shoulder as he hands him his drink. He takes a sip immediately having always found a weird kind of comfort with alcohol.

“So, who are we meeting?” He asks looking around the room.

He doesn’t answer, instead walking over to the booth expecting Namjoon to follow him.

He approaches the table, drink already three quarters gone as four sets of eyes turn to look at him. He ignores three only having his own eyes for one. Tae stares at him obviously already drunk if the slight dusting of prink across his cheekbones in anything to go by. He gets up pulling Yoongi into a hug that immediately has the elder tensing. He gently eases Tae off him, telling him he’ll spill his drink though both glasses are empty.

“You actually came,” Tae says lowly, his voice deep and eyes glazed as he looks at him with a grin.

Yoongi shrugs. “I had no better offers tonight.”

Tae’s grin remains in place, Yoongi figures he has no idea what he’s even saying to him. He manages to get Tae to sit again before sitting down beside him and watching Namjoon seat himself next to the guy with light brown hair. They smile and introduce themselves to each other but Yoongi isn’t paying attention. He feels someone watching him and shifts his gaze to the last guy sitting at the table. A flash of red is all he can see for a second before he gets the feeling that he’s seen him before, but much like the one of the other side of Tae he can’t put his finger on where.

The red head gives him a small smile before staring into the drink in his hand, rolling it back and forth between his palms. Yoongi looks at his own drink before remembering it was empty and gets up to grab another.

He watches the table from the bar as he downs his shots. He’s certain that the one sitting with Tae is Jungkook, if the hands gliding all over each other are anything to go by. He tries not to let it bother him. He’s been doing such a good job at remaining neutral around Tae since the incident, and the younger has done well to not bring it up again. But it seems that the alcohol in his system has made everything else a little, uncontrolled. He thinks about asking Namjoon to come up with an excuse so they can both leave, but he finds his friend deeply engrossed in something that the brunette is telling him and figures it would be rude if he took him away.

With a sigh he downs another shot and picks his full glass up and heads back to the table. Tae stares up at him as if he were a friend that he hadn’t seen for years and engulfs him in another hug that is too fleeting for Yoongi’s liking. He catches the eye of Jungkook over Tae’s shoulder who is watching the exchange silently with a small smile on his lips. Tae pulls Yoongi back down into the booth causing his drink to spill all over his hand.

“Sorry,” Tae sings cheerfully but does nothing to aid in the clean-up.

Yoongi sits awkwardly on the end of the booth too close to Tae for his liking knowing that neither of them have the best control when they’re drunk. They learned that the hard way.

None of them really say anything as the alcohol does its best to kick start them. Namjoon and the other guy who Yoongi still doesn’t have a name for are the only ones talking and the only ones who seem to feel comfortable in the situation. The red head continues to stare into his drink as if he were trying to will himself to disappear. Even Jungkook and Tae who Yoongi is positive are dating seem to be acting strange.

Eventually Tae begins talking, nothing of importance from what Yoongi can gather as he looks off into the bodies at the bar pretending to listen. Jungkook seems more engrossed in the boys ramblings than anyone but Yoongi’s sure it’s just so he can get brownie points.

“!” Taehyung suddenly announces, startling Yoongi enough to get him to turn back and look at him. “I haven’t even introduced any of you yet.”

Yoongi rolls his eyes, if he’s only just realising now the boy’s more stupid than he originally thought.

The red head gets up suddenly, mumbling about needing to use the rest room before he’s through the bodies and out of sight. Yoongi thinks about how strange the action was, but does not dwell on it. Maybe the guys just weird or awkward in these kinds of situations. Tae’s eyes follow him before he shakes his head with a small smile and turns to Yoongi.

“Yoongi, Jungkook.”

He turns to Jungkook, Yoongi nods his head glad he was right.

“Jungkook, Yoongi.”

Tae’s grin is so wide Yoongi is convinced his cheeks will split at any second. How he’s finding himself to be comfortable in this situation Yoongi will never know.

Jungkook stares at him with a hard glare that Yoongi’s sure would have anybody else shrinking back, but not him. Yoongi is quite accustomed to giving and receiving the same glare. So he glares back watching how a smile slowly makes its way onto Jungkook’s lips.

“So you’re the guy that tried to steal Taehyung away from me, huh?” He says with the same small smile and hard eyes as he looks Yoongi up and down.

Yoongi stares at him, fighting to keep his face neutral, knows that the slightest reaction will give him away. Because as innocent as the words are anyone could make out the underlying claim being staked on Tae.

Tae laughs, slapping Jungkook’s chest in a playful manner. “Don’t be stupid, Kookie. No one’s trying to steal me away from you.”

Either Tae missed the way Jungkook was looking at Yoongi or he was just trying to diffuse the situation, Yoongi didn’t know. But he was thankful for it. Yet he remains silent his eyes shifting to the side as the red head sits back down in his seat, he stares at the three of them obviously sensing the change in atmosphere. He lifts his eyebrow and Yoongi stands up, walking back towards the bar as Tae yells at him to sit back down. He will, just not until he’s had a few more drinks.

He leans against the bar, thinking about Jungkook’s words. He hates it but the guy isn’t wrong. In a way Yoongi did try and steal Tae away from him, but it’s not as if he knew that his roommate was taken. He never even meant to act on his feelings, but the alcohol in his system had him feeling daring.

If he closes his eyes he can still taste Taehyung on his tongue.

He watches as they laugh at something the red head said and Yoongi is still annoyed that he doesn’t have a name. He’s never really liked the colour red and the fact that he can’t think of anything else to call the guy irritates him. Almost as much as his shyness does.

He sees the way that Jungkook has his arm slung over Tae’s shoulders and the way they lean in towards each other. He knows that Tae is the touchy feely type, while he himself is not. And the thought of acting so affectionate in public would irk at him. There is no way he would be able to do that.

And that thought makes him realise that from this distance Jungkook and Tae look so much more suited to each other than Tae and himself will ever be. Still he can’t help the stabbing in his heart the longer he looks at them together.

He takes another shot.