Living with Jungkook did not allow much room for sadness. He had a goofiness about him that was sometimes the complete opposite of his intent. He did strange things without being aware of it, like walking into the bathroom with a frying pan in his hand or rolling off the mattress in his sleep and waking up under Taehyung’s bed, he had a chill and positive attitude and his smile was pure cuteness.

All that, coupled with him being a kind person and a relatively decent cook, made Taehyung extremely grateful for his company at a time when he would have otherwise grown roots into his bed, refusing to leave it till at least some of the sadness subsided.

However, sadness did not completely elide Taehyung and he sometimes remained stuck, staring at his phone with a certain expression on his face, wondering if he should ignore Jimin’s request and call him even if just for a little bit. At times like those, if Jungkook was present, he’d envelope Taehyung into another tight back-hug and didn’t let go till Taehyung felt less bad.

It didn’t matter if Taehyung was staring at his phone or not, it didn’t matter how faint the emotion would appear on his face, it was as if Jungkook had a special radar for when Taehyung was feeling down and, since he wasn’t that good with words in general, he always used the same method to comfort him. As time went by, Taehyung feared he was starting to crave that comfort like an addict craved their fix.

Time went by because Taehyung assured Jungkook he was welcomed to stay there however long he needed and told him to start looking for another place to rent only after his midterm, so he wouldn’t have to concentrate on too many things at once. Seokjin wasn’t in a hurry to find a new place either, so things were settled like that for the first part. But they couldn’t stay like that forever and Jungkook was a bit worried.

One evening, sometime after Jungkook’s midterm, Taehyung asked him how he’s search for a new place was going and it was clear on Jungkook’s face that it wasn’t going that well.

T: “No luck?”

J: “There are so few options and they’re all so expensive…”

T: “Yeah, it’s not a good season for looking for rent. Let me see.” Taehyung said, sitting on the mattress next to Jungkook so he could see the laptop screen and the real estate information on it. “How come you’re looking for one-room apartments? You don’t wanna live with Seokjin anymore?”

J: “I do. But when I went to Namjoon’s place I noticed how happy they are living like that, so I gotta prepare for the case in which he decides to keep living there.”

T: “I see. Well, from my experience, one-room apartments are harder to find and the rent for them is usually higher than what you would pay if you lived with another person in a two-roomed apartment.”

J: “Yes, I’m currently getting a taste of that kind of experience myself.”

T: “Well you don’t have to rush. You can stay here for as long as you want, you know.”

J: “I know, you’ve told me that already but… Aren’t you sick of me by now?”

T: “On the contrary – I’d say you’re what’s preventing me from getting sick.”

J: “How? It can’t be cause of my cooking, cause you always give me sass for that.”

T: “Your cooking’s great, Jungkook, and I only give you sass when you have one of your epic fails.”

J: “I don’t have epic fails…”

T: “You managed to glue potatoes to a plate using only sauce and you made soup taste like coffee. I’d say those were pretty epic and sass-worthy.”

Jungkook shook his head and gave up on the discussion. Anyway, he had had fun returning that sass at the time. Taehyung, however, turned away and turned a bit more serious.

T: “Can I be honest?”

J: “Please do.”

T: “I got used to you being here and I came to enjoy it. When you’ll leave, this place’s gonna seem empty and boring.” Taehyung started, placing his back on the mattress, placing his crossed arms under his head and closing his eyes with a content expression. “That’s why I hope you won’t rush too much with your home-hunting. You did an awesome job at keeping my floor safe and I’ll miss you when you leave.”

A few seconds of silence later, Taehyung felt the mattress lowering a bit on the side opposite from where Jungkook was so he opened his eyes, but only in time to catch a glimpse of something vanishing from above him. At the same time he heard a loud bang from the side where Jungkook was and he turned to see Jungkook clenching his head between his palms after it had apparently hit the dresser.

T: “Jungkook! Are you alright?”

J: “Argh… yeah, I think so.”

T: “What the hell are you doing?! You already had a head injury not that long ago. Are you starting a collection of them? Be more careful, will’ya?! It’s dangerous.”

What was dangerous was the complete lack of control Jungkook sometimes had over his own actions. He couldn’t properly tell Taehyung what he was doing as, when he came to realize it, he was hovering over Taehyung with the intent to kiss him. So he panicked and tried swiftly jumping back to his original place, but the strong inertia caused his head to come in a not so gentle form of contact with the wooden dresser that was right near the matters.

What was also dangerous was Jungkook’s growing desire to get closer to Taehyung in a not so innocent manner and Jungkook was afraid of ending up doing something that would make Taehyung hate him.

So Jungkook took up an extra credit project, even though that was highly uncharacteristic of him, just so he could keep his mind occupied and focused on something that didn’t matter that much if he were to screw it up. What he didn’t expect, however, was for the project to take up so much of his time that he barely got any sleep.

When Taehyung came home one evening, he saw Jungkook passed out on the hallway floor and, given Jungkook’s history with head injuries, he instantly panicked. He hurried to him, calling out his name, then saw the small puddle of drool originating from his mouth and heard the soft snoring that indicated Jungkook’s comatose state was of the non-worrisome kind.

Not wanting to let Jungkook get a cold by sleeping on the floor, Taehyung attempted carrying him to the mattress but discovered that it was a nearly impossible task for him, so he painstakingly dragged him all the way there. However, when Jungkook’s head finally hit the mattress, an alarm went off in his head, instantly waking him up and making him say:

J: “Whoa-whoa! Wait. Wait. I can’t sleep. I still have so much to do.”

T: “You’re kidding me, right?” Taehyung asked annoyed as he wiped the sweat from his forehead. “After what a herculean task it was to drag you here, you decide to wake up NOW?”

J: “I’m sorry. But I really don’t have time to sleep. This was a slip up. The floor just suddenly came at me and knocked me out.”

Taehyung sighed as Jungkook frantically searched through his books and started typing away at his laptop. He sat on the corner of the mattress and grabbed one of the books Jungkook wasn’t using at that point and said:

T: “I took this course when I was in my first year too. I don’t remember much of it, but maybe I can still help you finish your project earlier.”

J: “Uhm, thanks, but you don’t have to go through the trouble.”

T: “Between this and dragging your sleeping, drooling form to… Scratch that. I just remembered I hated this subject.”

J: “Well then, like I said, don’t bother yourself with it.”

T: “Nah, I’ll help. Going through some trouble for you pays off well in the end.” Taehyung said, finishing his sentence by smiling and winking at Jungkook.

Jungkook giddily added another one to his mental collection of Taehyung’s expressions that he had seen. Winking wasn’t an expression per se, but he still loved discovering any new way Taehyung’s face could look and especially what made it look like that.

A while later, after Jungkook rubbed the sleepiness from his eyes and yawned, he looked towards Taehyung and saw him frowning as he read from Jungkook’s book. He kept looking for quite some time till his body started moving and he didn’t even want to stop it.

Taehyung was startled by the sudden back-hug. Jungkook had given him plenty of those, but it only happened when Taehyung needed comfort. Outside of those occasions, Jungkook was not even the slightest bit touchy, so this didn’t really make sense.

T: “Uhm, Jungkook?”

J: “Hm?”

T: “What’s wrong?”

J: “I hope I’ll never get to see you sad again. I like so many of your expressions, just not that one. Although it started all of this, it’s killing me when I see it.”

T: “Oh, but… but I’m not sad right now… I guess I must have been frowning or something. But, really, I’m just concentrating on understanding this chapter here and it’s late so it’s giving me a hard time. I’m not sad so you don’t have to worry. I think I haven’t even been sad at all in the last week or so.”

J: “Liar. You got sad yesterday when you looked at that fridge magnet with the boat.”

T: “But that… was only for like a second… Just how superhumanly observant can you be?”

J: “I’m not. Usually. Only when it comes to you. I can tell what you’re feeling even it only lasts a second, even if there’s just a faint indication on the outside, I can tell what you’re feeling. I’ve looked at you so much and I’ve learned how to tell. Even now I knew you weren’t sad and that you were just frustrated with what you were reading. It is a frustrating subject after all.”

T: “So then why?”

J: “Why what?”

T: “Why are you hugging me like you do when I need comfort if you know I don’t need comfort right now?”

J: “Oh, this?” Jungkook asked, squeezing Taehyung tighter and lifting his head to bring his mouth and his nose into the soft hair on the back of Taehyung’s head. “This is just cause I wanted to.”

With that, Taehyung felt the air around Jungkook change and it made his heart bump violently against his chest. When Jungkook kissed the back of his head, Taehyung nearly jumped out of his skin. When Jungkook descended and kissed the back of his neck softly, Taehyung felt goosebumps all over the muscles that had tensed up. Jungkook brought one hand up and trailed the tips of his fingers over Taehyung’s lips as he continued in an almost whispered but firm voice:

J: “I want to be closer. I want to see so much more. I want to never let you feel sad again and make you smile. I wanna prove that I can do all of that.”

Jungkook’s other hand went down and snuck under Taehyung’s shirt, giving him an even harder time with breathing. He wanted to tell Jungkook to stop, but he couldn’t hear his own thoughts over how loudly his heart seemed to be beating. When he felt a wetness at the junction between his left shoulder and neck he completely stopped breathing until, a few seconds later, he realized there was nothing else happening. Jungkook had fallen back asleep and was drooling over him.

Taehyung had never before thought he would be grateful to discover someone drooling over him. But he breathed out with relief. The whole thing had been so unexpected for him and Jungkook, somehow, seemed so intense, Taehyung felt like he came back after a near-death experience.

After he calmed down a bit, Taehyung tucked Jungkook into bed and remained still looking at him. He thought Jungkook was a weird, goofy, impulsive, kind and lovable guy. He hadn’t been wrong. He just didn’t think there’d be that kind of other side to him that apparently was brought out by exhaustion.

Taehyung’s mind started processing what had just happened, but he immediately stopped it from doing so because he didn’t want to deal with it for that night. So he kept his mind occupied by taking Jungkook’s laptop and working on his project for him, finishing and falling asleep right when the first ray of sunlight pierced the night sky.

The next day, Jungkook was well-rested, immensely grateful that Taehyung had finished his project for him and so giddy about showing his gratitude by making a fancy meal for him that he ended up making enough food to last two people for a whole week.

J: “Oops... I went a bit overboard.”

T: “That’s an understatement, don’t you think? My fridge’s not big enough for all of this.”

J: “I’ll take some over to Seokjin’s and Namjoon’s.”

T: “Even for four people it’s too much.”

J: “You don’t know how Seokjin eats. He’s gonna say I brought him a snack.”

Taehyung laughed and took out plates for them to eat. He wasn’t sure if he could read Jungkook yet as well as Jungkook claimed to be able to read him, but it seemed to Taehyung that Jungkook didn’t remember what had happened the night before. Apparently, exhaustion had the same effect on Jungkook as alcohol did for most people.

As they ate together, Taehyung was reminded of the first evening they did that. It had followed an eventful day and he realized he never would have thought back then that Jungkook would live there for so long or ever end up making Taehyung nervous through his presence. Then Taehyung thought about how Jungkook said to date him when they first talked, a statement Taehyung chalked up as a stupid and impulsive attempt at comforting him who had just been dumped. Since that day and until the night before, nothing indicated that desire to date Taehyung was real for Jungkook.

Frankly, Taehyung was a bit astonished at how that desire didn’t manifest despite the abundance of opportunities. All Jungkook did was silently back-hug Taehyung whenever missing Jimin became really painful and that’s it. No unnecessary touching, not even a high-five, no flirting, nothing. And Jungkook sat through Taehyung reminiscing everything about Jimin and didn’t say a word. He just seemed to put some effort into being funnier than usual throughout the following days and making Taehyung laugh.

As Taehyung’s mind was busy putting pieces together, he realized he saw Jungkook in a whole new light and it was highly unlikely that he could stay ignorant. Then he thought Jungkook had done the opposite, observing him attentively till he could read him through the smallest gesture and change in his facial expression, and Taehyung started feeling self-conscious enough to be on the verge of freaking out.

J: “You don’t have to eat if you don’t like it.”

T: “Huh?” Taehyung asked, snapping back to reality.

J: “You’re chewing with the speed of a snail.”

T: “Oh, no. I like it. It’s tasty. My mind just wandered off somewhere else.”

J: “Like towards uncovering some truth that had been under your nose the whole time?”

T: “Wha… How’d you…”

J: “That’s what it seemed like, but it was safer and less creepy to ask about the food.”

T: “…”

J: “But it seems you ended up getting creeped out anyway.”

T: “Okay, stop that! Don’t look into my soul anymore or read my mind or whatever you’re doing.”

J: “Okay.” Jungkook said plainly, lowering his gaze towards his plate.

T: “Okay? You’re just gonna simply agree to it?”

J: “I don’t wanna do things that bother you, not intentionally at least. And, after all, I’m a guest in your home. When we first talked, you said you didn’t want to wear your heart on your sleeve and give people easy access to your private world. You seem very open with me and by this point I instinctively notice what you’re feeling. So, to avoid making you uncomfortable, I’ll just avoid looking at you.”

T: “Uhm, isn’t that a bit too…”

Taehyung didn’t really know what point he wanted to make so he didn’t say anything else related to the subject. Since Taehyung didn’t say anything and Jungkook did his best at avoiding looking at him, Jungkook wasn’t aware that Taehyung wasn’t really happy with the turn of events either.

Over the following period, Jungkook kept his word and avoided looking at Taehyung or at least his face. It was very hard but he had the conviction to stick to it. Had he properly looked at Taehyung, he would have instantly noticed Taehyung growing more and more irritated, although he wouldn’t have been able to figure out the reason for it. Taehyung himself wasn’t sure of the reason. All he knew was that he didn’t like this situation, that he wanted Jungkook to look at him again, but didn’t know how to argue that or what to do when he would be seen.

However, one night when Taehyung came back home, things were a bit different from the recently established patterns. Jungkook had spent a few nearly sleepless nights lately and Taehyung could instantly tell he was exhausted like one could tell if a person was drunk or not. One of the very clear indicators for this was that, immediately after Taehyung had entered the room where Jungkook was sitting cross-legged on the edge of the mattress and fiddling with his phone, his eyes shot up towards Taehyung, a grin flashed across his face, his arms went up in the air and he said:

J: “Taehyung! Long time no see! Your face’s awesome as always, but your mood is definitely ty.”

After getting over the surprise of having Jungkook look at him again and realizing what Jungkook’s state was, Taehyung let out a heavy sigh, went over to Jungkook and lowered himself on one knee in front of him, said his name and remained staring into his eyes, trying to piece together what he wanted to say. Jungkook stared back, at one point squinting his eyes before shaking his head rapidly and getting up while saying:

J: “I gotta go to sleep. For a second there, it looked like you wanted to kiss me. I must be going crazy from the tiredness. Goodnight, Taehyung.”

Jungkook fell asleep in an instant after finding a good position on the mattress and covering himself up. Taehyung just stood there transfixed for a few seconds before he decided to forget the matter and go get himself some dinner. When he closed the fridge door, he realized with shock that he had indeed wanted to kiss Jungkook and a tired as hell Jungkook became aware of that faster and easier than Taehyung himself did.

He let his head fall forward and hit against the fridge door at the realization, making a few of the magnets on it fall off. After he took a deep breath to calm himself for the time being, he picked up the magnets to place them back on the fridge door. When he held the magnet with the boat in his hand, the one Jimin had given him after a trip with his family a few years ago, another realization hit Taehyung – When was the last time he thought about Jimin? Not recently in any case, because over the last couple of weeks all he thought about was Jungkook.

Taehyung didn’t feel like eating anymore and neither did he feel like placing the magnet with the boat back on the fridge door. He went back to his room squeezing it in his hand to place it in a box full of memorabilia. As he did that, Jungkook moved in his sleep and his fingertips brushed against Taehyung’s ankle, making shivers go up his body and making him gasp. Taehyung angrily looked at Jungkook after being done with the box and, on his way to his own bed, mentally said “ you” to the sleeping Jungkook, cursing himself afterwards for the images that had put in his mind, which didn’t allow him to get much sleep that night.

Throughout the following days, Jungkook once again seemed like he didn’t remember what had happened and he still kept not looking at Taehyung. Other than that, their interactions were the same as they always were, they talked and joked around a lot as they did ever since they’ve grown comfortable with each other, but Taehyung felt an unsettling feeling of impatience taking over him and thought that maybe he should have a serious and very open talk with Jungkook sometime soon.

He had mentally prepared himself to do so one late afternoon when he came home and found Jungkook sitting on the edge of his mattress, scrolling with a sour expression through whatever he was looking at on his laptop that was on the floor. Taehyung didn’t want to just jump into heavy topics, so he asked Jungkook what he was doing, to which the latter replied:

J: “It’s official – Seokjin decided to stay with Namjoon. He told me today and it was a wakeup call for me to get back to searching for a place. But I’ve been on real-estate sites for over 4 hours now and I can barely find anything that’s okay. The ones I did find that were okay have already been taken. It’s so frustrating…”

T: “Well, uhm, as I’ve said countless times before, there’s no rush for you to move out. Especially since you’ve been paying for half the rent and the bills, you’ve taken a huge burden off of me, so, uhm…” Taehyung paused as he sat down next to Jungkook and worked up the courage to continue. “I wouldn’t mind it at all if you continued to stay here officially.”

J: “Thanks, but I don’t think I can last much longer with this sort of deal.”

T: “Why?” Taehyung asked a bit worried.

J: “I can’t make a move on you if I stay here like this. I’m nervous about it anyway, but thinking that you might get annoyed by it enough to kick me out is making it worse. I don’t wanna be homeless again, it .”

Taehyung was stunned that Jungkook actually said that without being deadass tired, although he still wasn’t completely aware of what he was saying since he was focusing so much on the rental ads.

T: “So you’re afraid to take the risk, huh? I thought you were gonna show me that you’re a fish in the sea that’s more of a man than a mouse.”

Jungkook looked beyond confused about what Taehyung was saying but, as he remembered their first conversation and realized what he had just blurted out a minute ago, the increasing degree of freaking out became apparent on his face and he pushed his laptop aside as he said:

J: “I need to go, uhm, be somewhere…”

T: “Sit down, Jungkook.”

Jungkook had gotten up, intending to split without throwing one glance to Taehyung, but the latter grabbed onto the hem of his shirt and abruptly pulled him back, making Jungkook fall on his on the edge of the mattress.

T: “Here is where you should be the most. Now man up and make your move.”

J: “Tae…”

T: “Look at me.”

Jungkook gulped and slowly turned his head towards Taehyung who was also looking at him. In an instant, Jungkook’s nervousness dissipated as he properly saw Taehyung’s face after a long while and saw the eager and determined expression he had on, giving Jungkook insight into what Taehyung was feeling and on the fact that he wouldn’t get rejected if he tried making his move now. But Jungkook wasn’t consciously processing all of this, as he was overwhelmed with a feeling of being pulled, as if in a trance, towards Taehyung who was also coming closer to him.

They kissed.

And for a second there, the image of the apartment being on fire flashed through their minds as they felt sparks practically flying off of their bodies, the temperature of the air around them rising and something inside them igniting.

What started off as lips eagerly pressing against each other quickly intensified into mouths merging with each other in a way that made it hard to breathe. By that point they had both become aware and accepting of the fact that they were into the other, but it really hit them when they made this type of contact a reality.

Taehyung knew he wanted to kiss Jungkook, but actually kissing him made Taehyung want to kiss Jungkook even more, till all of their muscles were sore and even beyond that. Jungkook knew that he wanted to be closer with Taehyung, but after getting this close, probably not even being inside his body was not going to be close enough to satisfy Jungkook.

For the moment, he was on top of him, pressing Taehyung’s body into the mattress with his own, kissing fervently as Taehyung’s hands made their way through Jungkook’s hair and over his back.

Jungkook pulled back a bit to get air and another look at Taehyung face and seeing it flushed, with watery eyes half-closed and lips red from the heavy blood flow, made something in him snap. Taehyung could almost see it happening as Jungkook’s eyes went wide and he gulped before diving back down to bite Taehyung’s lower lip and sneak a hand under his blouse. Taehyung also snuck a hand in and trailed it over Jungkook’s back, making the skin it rub against shiver underneath it.

They were so captivated by each other and what they were doing, they only heard the doorbell ring when it did so for the third time. Jungkook pulled back again and with a fainted voice told Taehyung to go see what that was about.

T: “Whatever it is, it seriously doesn’t matter right now.”

J: “You don’t know that yet. Be more responsible, Taehyung. If it’s not important, you’ll come back to me soon enough.” Jungkook said, giving Taehyung a peck before getting up and helping Taehyung to do the same.

Taehyung sighed and tidied up his hair and clothes as he went to open the door without checking who it was beforehand. He should have done that because on the other side of the door was –

T: “Jimin?”

Ji: “Hey, Tae. Long time no see.”

T: “Yeah... By your request mostly.”

Ji: “About that, I wanted to talk to you. Can I come in?”

T: “Well, uhm…” Taehyung hesitated, glancing inside for a second, but enough to give Jimin an idea of the situation.

Ji: “Is there someone else here?”

T: “Uhm, it’s a…”

Taehyung stopped himself when he heard a sound that sounded very much like his balcony door being opened and made him go “Oh, !” before running back to his room.

Jimin hesitatingly entered the apartment and, when he got to Taehyung’s room, he saw Taehyung on the balcony, struggling to pull back another guy who had one foot and both hands on the railing of the balcony, seeming like he was intending to jump as he and Taehyung argued in a loud voice.

T: “Knock it off, Jungkook! What the hell do you think you’re doing?!”

J: “Letting you have a private conversation with your ex. What does it look like I’m doing?”

T: “It looks like you’ve gone insane and you’re trying to jump to your death.”

J: “It’s only the second floor, Taehyung. I can pull off this much without a scratch, so you don’t have to worry.”

T: “You don’t get to tell me what to not worry about when you have so many loose screws! I do NOT want to take you to the ER again!”

J: “You don’t have to!”

T: “What are you saying?!”

J: “Look – I said I don’t wanna let you feel sad ever again and if getting back together with Jimin’s gonna make you happy then I won’t stand in your way. But I don’t wanna have to SEE it! So I’m gonna split.”

T: “Like HELL you are and I’m NOT gonna do that when I’ve just fallen for YOUR crazy !”

They stopped struggling and just stared at each other a bit in shock over what Taehyung had just revealed. Jimin shyly came to the balcony door and broke the silence as he said:

Ji: “Uhm, I didn’t mean to cause such a disturbance by coming here, but that’s not the objective I came with. So you don’t have to worry, Jungkook.”

Jungkook now stared at Jimin until he heard Taehyung urge him to go inside and turned towards him to see him smiling peacefully. They went inside but Jungkook insisted on letting them talk in privacy, so he went to the kitchen after Taehyung made him promise he would not disappear or do anything else crazy. He promised that and also that he would not try to listen to their conversation through the paper-thin walls.

Ji: “He sure is interesting.”

T: “That’s an understatement.”

Ji: “But you don’t seem to mind it too much.”

T: “You don’t seem to mind it much either.”

Ji: “Mind what?”

T: “All of this.”

Ji: “Hm… I do mind a bit. No matter what, seeing the person you’ve loved and been together with for years have someone new in their life will always cause a bit of jealousy. But I really am happy it’s like this. If I had found you still depressed and lonely, my guilt would have skyrocketed.”

T: “Ah, so that IS what you came for. As soon as I got over the shock of finding you at my door I knew this would be what you wanted to talk about.”

Ji: “Really?”

T: “I’ve known you for quite a few years too, you know?”

Ji: “Then that makes this easier I guess. Tae… I’m really sorry I ended things so abruptly and in such a cowardly way. I told you not to contact me anymore, I didn’t give you a chance to say something back… It must have been really tough and lonely for you too the first couple of months.”

T: “It was.” Taehyung agreed, although he knew it would have been extremely tough and lonely had Jungkook not been around.

Ji: “But, you know, if we would’ve kept in contact, it would’ve been like nothing changed and we would’ve fallen back into our usual ways, still running in place.”

T: “So a clean and clear cut was needed, no matter how painful it was.”

Jimin nodded and Taehyung continued:

T: “Knowing you and how much it hurts you to make others hurt, I’m surprised you pulled it off.”

Ji: “Like I told you that last time we talked – It wasn’t doing us any good anymore. So I knew for sure this was the right thing to do for both of us and that was my motivation. After all, you’re never coming back home again, are you?”

T: “Never is a strong word… Do my parents ever greet your when they pass by you on the streets?”

Jimin didn’t answer. He only looked down and shook his head slightly.

T: “Then I don’t have a place to return to. And it’s fine cause I’m starting to find a place for myself here. You’ve made up your mind long ago that that’s where you should be, so the current situation was inevitable. Just so you know – I never blamed you for anything, so you’ve got nothing to feel guilty for.”

Ji: “That does take a big weight off my heart, you know…”

T: “Good. Cause it needs to be free to start beating for someone else. You mentioned meeting someone I think…”

Jimin looked down again, doing his best to keep a huge smile from splitting his face.

T: “Ah, I see… I do feel some jealousy but also a whole lot of happiness at that. What’s this person like?”

Jimin talked about his new special someone and some of the things that were going on back home. Taehyung told Jimin about what he has been up to, about Jungkook and how they met, and all sorts of other things. They reminisced about the past and decided they should contact each other in a month or two, then maybe more frequently, depending on how that would make them and their partners feel.

When Jimin left, they actually hugged and smiled to each other, and Jimin told Taehyung to give his regards to Jungkook and tell him he’d love to talk to him too the next time, if there was going to be one.

After closing the front door, Taehyung suddenly got nervous about whether he had been paying close enough attention to potential sounds indicating that Jungkook had left the apartment or not. He felt the need to knock on his own kitchen door, even though it wasn’t locked, and grew worried when no answer came. He was about to knock again when Jungkook opened the door but avoided looking at Taehyung.

J: “I didn’t eavesdrop. I wanted to and I could’ve cause the walls are so thin, but I promised I wouldn’t so I didn’t.”

T: “In a nutshell – Jimin felt bad about the way he ended things and wanted to apologize. I told him I understand and that it’s fine and we talked about what’s currently going on in our lives where we chose to live them.”

J: “I see…”

T: “Why aren’t you looking at me again?”

J: “By now it’s a formed habit and…” Jungkook started and turned with his back towards Taehyung before he continued. “I’m kinda scared of what I may see…”

Taehyung sighed and went over to give him a gentle back-hug.

T: “You seem to remember what you said to me that night before I finished your project.”

J: “I remembered. But I was so mortified that I tried fooling myself that it never happened.”

T: “Well let me remind you that you did this…” Taehyung started, kissing the back of Jungkook’s head, “…and this…” kissing the back of his neck and sliding one hand under his shirt, “…then you told me you never want to let me feel sad again and that you’ll make me smile.”

Taehyung brushed his fingertips over Jungkook’s lips and the latter snakingly grabbed that hand and gave it a prolonged kiss.

T: “I also want to do that. I also want to never let you feel sad and do my best to make you happy. So… please turn around.”

Jungkook slowly turned around and, again, gathering enough courage paid off because he saw Taehyung’s expression full of affection for him as he cradled Jungkook’s face between his hands and looked him in the eyes while saying:

T: “You’re my present and my future. That place is rightfully yours, so have more confidence. I want you to stop looking for another place, stay here, and I want to date you if that offer’s still standing.”

J: “I yes. Is do… I mean will yes. Arhg!”

T: “Awesome!”

Taehyung kissed Jungkook before he would start laughing and before Jungkook got too frustrated with not finding the simple words he needed. Tension visibly faded from Jungkook’s body as he kissed back and wrapped his arms around Taehyung. Unlike last time, their kiss did not rush anywhere. It took it’s time to convey the sincerity and depth of their feelings until Taehyung abruptly ended it by pulling back and saying almost panicked:

T: “Jungkook. What time is it?”

J: “Uhm, I don’t know… Past midnight I think.”

T: “Past mi… Alright, you’re going to bed. Now.”

J: “Mine or yours?”

T: “Whichever you want, but you’re going to sleep.”

J: “Wha…?! You know I’m not a child or Cinderella, right?”

T: “I know you’re Jungkook and you turn weird when you’re sleep-deprived. I’m not letting you have any more sleepless nights.”

J: “But… we were gonna…”

T: “We’ll do that tomorrow or whenever the time’s right for it. There’re no courses or work tomorrow for either of us, you’re not moving out and we’ve got all the time in the world. Besides, I’m looking forward to spending a night staring at your beautiful sleeping face. I’ve been wanting to do that for a while now, but I felt like a creep if I didn’t let you know in advance.”

J: “And I’ll surely be able to sleep now that you’ve told me that…”

T: “Do your best. Come on. Time to go beddy-bye.”

J: “Pff.”

Taehyung turned to go to the room and Jungkook followed after, but then he quickened his steps and stopped Taehyung with a back-hug and the words:

J: “One more thing.”

T: “Which is…”

J: “I love you, Taehyung.”

T: “I love you too, Jungkook.” Taehyung said smiling and squeezing one of the hands that warmly pressed against his chest.

J: “Whoa, really?! I mean… you kinda implied it earlier today, but how is this possible? There were no signs and I didn’t see it coming at all.”

T: “To be fair, you haven’t been looking at me lately, so that explains the not seeing it coming part. And also, I told you I don’t wear my heart on my sleeve or allow people into my private world that easily, but since you’ve secured yourself a solid spot in that world and you won my heart over, I’ll say it loud and clear to you and only for you – I love you! Very much! Thank you for coming into my life!”

J: “My pleasure. Thank you for having me.”

They kissed again, deeply but softly, until Taehyung remembered his resolve to not let Jungkook spend any further sleepless nights and hurried him to his bed where they took a good while to fall asleep because the temptation to keep staring at and kiss the other person was too strong.

To be fair, Taehyung did not stick to his word of only telling Jungkook that he loved him. He also had to say it loud and clear for Seokjin, who didn’t believe the two were dating no matter how many times Jungkook told him.