"So here are the keys. Jimin has already arranged for the furniture while I have already shopped for your food. Sorry if this is the least that we could do but we hope that these will help you both get by."

 

Taehyung takes the car keys from his best friend Yoongi and nods. "Thank you so much, Yoongi hyung. Gukkie and I owe you and Jimin hyung so much for all of these."

 

Yoongi places his arms around his lover Jimin and smiles at Jeongguk and Taehyung. "No worries, Tae. We are glad to help. Seokjin hyung also says he’s got everything covered."

 

Jimin nods and smiles at his friends. "Yeah, what are friends for, right?" He stares at Jeongguk with a concerned look on his face because the other won’t stop weeping. He approaches his cousin and gently wipes away the tears. "Hey, don't worry, okay? I won't tell uncle your whereabouts." He takes out two brand new phones from his bag and hands each of them to Jeongguk and Taehyung. "I'll take care of the bills for these. Just have and use this to communicate with me and Yoongi anytime. Our numbers are already saved there."

 

Jeongguk wipes the tears off his eyes and tries his best to smile. "Thank you so much, Chim-chim and Yoongi hyungie."

 

Yoongi smiles at the younger couple. "You better go inside now and rest. Jimin and I will take our leave from the basement carpark. I'm sure we’ve already lost your father's people before we left Seoul." He pats Taehyung and Jeongguk’s shoulders. "The two of you should take your time and rest well. We know how stressful things have been for you lately."

 

Taehyung nods. "Take care and thank you once again!" He waits for the couple to leave and turns his attention to his somewhat sleepy lover. "Googie?"

 

Jeongguk turns to Taehyung and gives him a faint smile. "Yes?"

 

"Let's get in?"

 

Jeongguk nods as he waits for Taehyung to unlock the apartment. The older switches the lights on before leading his lover into it and proceeds to bring in all their luggage. They look around and admire how Jimin and Yoongi have arranged the furniture. They settled their luggage on the floor and sat on the couch. Jeongguk leans against Taehyung and the younger wraps his arms around the older’s waist.

 

"Taetae?"

 

"Yes, baby bun?"

 

Jeongguk takes a deep breath. "Everything will be alright, right?"

 

Taehyung half-smiles and kisses Jeongguk’s nape and nods. "Yes, Googie. I'll do what I can to make sure it will all work out."

 

Jeongguk smiles as he shifts a little bit to face Taehyung. "Thank you. I love you." He smiles as he gives his lover a peck on the lips.

 

Taehyung smiles and kisses back. He places his chin on top of Jeongguk’s shoulder. "Bun, just promise me one thing."

 

"What is it?"

 

"That no matter what happens," he whispers while taking Jeongguk’s left hand and intertwines it with his right one. "..you will stay by my side, believe me and love me."

 

Jeongguk giggles at that. "Is that even a question, Taetae? Of course I will!"

 

Taehyung hugs his lover even tighter. "I know and I trust that you will." He takes a deep breath. "I'm sure that your dad will be even more drastic. I'm just a bit scared that he will do something worse than the one he pulled months ago."

 

Jeongguk nods as he recalls the incident Taehyung was referring to.

 

An afternoon months ago, He was visiting his lover who was working as an office assistant for his father's company. He was there to bring him lunch when he saw the scene that nearly broke his heart.

 

He saw his father's secretary, Chaeyoung, sitting on his lover's lap. Her skirt was almost up, revealing her thighs, and the buttons of her top were opened, almost revealing her s. He turned to his lover who was equally shocked as he was. Taehyung’s hands were on her arms, blocking their faces and trying to push her away. His hair looked messy and the buttons of his white blouse were ripped off. The older man also had tears in his eyes, pleading for Jeongguk to trust him, that the woman is forcing herself upon him. However, Jeongguk couldn’t think straight. He cried at the sight and nearly walked away but then, he suddenly remembered how his father wanted to break them up. With that, he slapped and scratched the secretary's face and called her a "y " before driving her out of his office.

 

Jeongguk suddenly blushes, reminiscing how he shouted and demanded for Taehyung to make love to him inside the office so he can erase all the traces of the secretary even if the only ones he can see are faint scratches on the older’s arms when he tried to stop her. He didn’t care at that time if everyone outside Taehyung’s office or if they heard the lewd sounds they were making. President Jeon didn’t care for his own son’s feelings, he wouldn’t care about his father’s reputation either.

 

He also asked him to look for a new job, which the latter did.

 

The older raises their intertwined fingers and kisses them. "I know how much you love me, Taetae. And no stunt or anything from my dad can ever change that."

 

Taehyung smiles at his lover's words. "Thank you for trusting me, Googie."

 

"I trust you because I love you," the younger simply whispers, kissing their intertwined fingers one more time. 

 

The both smile at each other as they lean slowly and eventually exchange kisses while whispering their "I Love You's".

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

"I'm sorry Mr. Kim but we cannot accept you."

 

Taehyung tries to compose himself as he stares at the manager of the company where he applied for as an office assistant. "B-but why sir?"

 

The manager sighs. "Mr. Kim, you have all the qualities we need but.. It shows from some files that you have previously worked for the Jeon Enterprises.” He looks at the computer screen, as if reading some important information. “It turns out that you left that company with such a bad impression, and such a thing is an important factor before we hire an employee," he explains. He stares at Taehyung with sympathy.

 

Truth be told, if it was him, he would have hired the young man based on his credentials. But since he is just a general manager of a company who depends on larger companies like the Jeon Enterprises, who has already blacklisted Taehyung, he had no choice but to lie and tell him that he can't be hired. 

 

"I'm really sorry, Mr. Kim."

 

Taehyung half smiles and nods. "I understand, Manager Song. Thank you though for giving me the opportunity to present myself." He stands up, bows and leaves the office building. He walks around the streets with a heavy heart. He wanted to cry.

 

It has been a week since he and Jeongguk ran away from Seoul to live together in Gwangju and up until today, he still couldn't find a decent job. He wanted to curse Jeongguk’s father for blacklisting him from most of the companies that he has applied for. Although they didn't directly say it, he knew that it was Mr. Jeon who told them not to hire him and he is slowly losing hope.

 

He opens the door to the apartment and he finds his lover in the kitchen, cooking what smells like kimchi ramyun. He quietly closes the door and stares at his lover.

 

Bun.. Your father hates me so much.. He is doing what he can to make sure that I will suffer from taking you away from him..

 

Tears started to form in his eyes but he was careful not to make any sound. He doesn't want his lover to see him crying. He frowns as he notices that his lover is getting thinner.

 

It's not like they couldn't eat. They do. Jimin already bought them their groceries and they sometimes get food delivered for them. However, since Taehyung only saved up a little from his previous job, he insisted that they should consume a little of the groceries just until he finds a job to support them. Jeongguk insisted that they can use the money he kept on a secret bank account that he made but Taehyung was firm on his decision that he should be the one to do the spending for them. And he doesn’t want Jeongguk to spend the money for them, it’s his after all.

 

Taehyung carefully approaches Jeongguk and hugs him from behind, which makes the latter gasp but also smiles a little. He missed his lover after all.

 

"Hey, Tae," Jeongguk whispers with a smile while stirring the ramyun pot. "How's the job hunt?"

 

Taehyung only kisses Jeongguk’s somewhat fluffy cheeks softly and shook his head. "I'm.. I'm so sorry, Googie.."

 

Jeongguk understood what Taehyung meant. He turns around and cups his lover's face. "Taetae, are you okay?"

 

Taehyung only nods with a soft smile on his lips. "Don't worry about me." 

 

He places his hands on Jeongguk’s waist and frowns. "You've become thinner, baby. I'm.. I'm so sorry if I can't provide you anything yet or even give you the same life that you had with your father. I'm-"

 

"Ssshhhhhh.." Jeongguk shushes Taehyung with his finger. He smiles gently at him. "Don't you ever say that, baby. I don't care if I can't live the way that I used to. As long as I'm with you, I'll be happy, okay?"

 

Taehyung smiles faintly as he nods and hugs Jeongguk tightly. "Let's.. Let's eat now.."

 

The both set the table with 2 pairs of chopsticks, bowls, glasses, a pitcher with water and a pot of kimchi ramyun. Jeongguk stares at Taehyung as the latter starts eating his share. He actually cooked 3 packs of ramyun instead of the usual 2. He's very aware of how hungry Taehyung must have been lately from all the job hunting he did. Taehyung did not need to say anything as well about being unable to find a job. Somehow, he knows that his father is possible behind all these. He pities his lover so much.

 

Taehyung is smar