Taehyung wouldn’t accept it.

He got a job and started working full time, invested himself more into school and his studies, just did everything he could to keep his mind busy and not make any room for distractions. There was no way he would accept it. He just had to pull through until the end of the year and he’d be free from whatever the hell was wrong with him.

There was no way he liked Jungkook Jeon.

It made him cringe thinking about it, it made him sick and itchy, he didn’t like him. That was gross, why the hell would he like him? Jungkook was gross, he kept telling himself over and over again. “He’s gross, he’s gross, he’s gross,” He muttered underneath his breath as he scrubbed tables hard, not even realizing how much denial he was in.

A few customers looked at him weirdly and he gave them an apologetic smile, wanting to seriously kill himself. He hadn’t had a decent sleep in what it felt like was a year. His job always required him to stay late, so by the time he went home to rest, he’d be up three hours later for school. Barely able to keep his eyes open in class.

Not to mention he was avoiding Jungkook like the plague. Except every once in awhile he’d come across Yuna when she was with him and was forced to say hi, then he'd make up some weird excuse just to leave quickly. He knew Yuna was getting suspicious about his behaviour, but there was no way in hell he’d say anything to her.

Jungkook belonged to Yuna. Taehyung was not going to hurt her by admitting-He stopped his thought quickly. “Admitting what huh? You do not like him!” He snapped to himself. A woman moved her child cautiously away from him, probably thinking he was crazy. He bowed quickly and then ushered off.

“Hey, Taehyung.” His boss, the owner of the noodle shop, Mr. Lee, called him over by the front counter and he walked over.

“Yeah?”

He wiped some sweat from his bald head with a cloth hanging off his shoulder. “I’m getting some complaints from the customers that you’re acting a bit, I don’t know, delirious? More than usual actually...Do you think you need to go home early tonight to get some rest?”

Taehyung shook his head quickly. “No sir, I’m fine.”

He gave him a long, knowing look then adjusted his apron. “Well you’re making my customers uncomfortable, so I’m only giving you thirty more minutes on your shift anyways. You need some sleep kid.”

“OK, I’m sorry.” Taehyung sighed.

“And you’re only in high school, shouldn’t you be out having fun? Not breaking your neck working like a pack animal?”

He thought back to Jungkook’s smile from the other day and he shook his head again. “No, I can’t have any distractions right now. This is what I want to do.”

Mr. Lee smiled. “It’s good that you’re hard working Taehyung, but you also need to live while you’re young. Experience life a little before you can’t, because trust me; you’ll end up regretting it when your time comes.”

Taehyung watched quietly as he went back into the kitchen, knowing he was right but not wanting to admit it for himself. He cursed underneath his breath and turned back around as soon as the door jingled open, and Jimin himself walked in.

Everyone’s eyes were immediately on him, taking in his beautiful and expensive aura. Taehyung wondered what the hell someone as wealthy as him was doing in a noodle shop, but then decided to push that stereotype into the water. Just because he was rich, didn’t mean he couldn’t eat normal people food.

Taehyung remembered then that he still had to thank Jimin for helping him that day in the washroom. He was so busy avoiding Jungkook that he didn’t get a chance to approach him yet. Jimin sat down slowly in the corner of the store, running a hand through his blonde hair as Taehyung approached him.

“Ah, hi.” He smiled awkwardly.

Jimin glanced up and gave a small smile in return. “Hey, I didn’t know you worked here.”

Taehyung felt his heart flutter, how could a man look that good just simply smiling? He cleared his throat. “Uh, yeah. I just got hired recently actually.”

“Oh, cool.”

“I’ve been meaning to thank you though,” Taehyung continued before it got awkwardly silent. “Thank you for helping me out in the washroom the other day.”

Jimin chuckled. “I thought you were still pretty pissed at me since then, considering it didn’t exactly look like you wanted anyone to know that you got beat up.”

Taehyung still felt embarrassed about that. “No, I was just feeling kind of pathetic and stressed out, but I shouldn’t have taken my anger out on you. I really apologize for that.”

“Hey, it’s no problem, don’t worry about it.” Jimin smiled, leaning against his hand thoughtfully.

“OK.” Taehyung handed him a menu.

He took it from him. “Mind if I wait a bit? I’m just waiting for Jin to come in.”

“Yeah, of course, order anytime you want-”

The door jingled suddenly again and Taehyung looked over, noticing Jin walk in as well. A few people started whispering and staring, probably wondering how two handsome guys like that just coincidentally ended up in the same boring place.

Jin gave Taehyung a smile as he sat down. “Hi, Taehyung right?” He shook his hand.

“Yeah,” He smiled shyly. “I’ll just leave you guys to decide what you want and then I’ll-”

“Did Yuna by any chance tell you about our trip yet?’ He asked randomly then, giving a mischievous smirk.

Taehyung frowned. “What?”

Jimin gave him a glare, motioning for him to zip his mouth. “Hey, what the hell? You know we’re not supposed to say anything.” He hissed.

“Yeah? Well maybe next time Jungkook wants to take my food again without asking, he’ll remember this day very, very clearly.” Jin pointed out, smiling evily.

“Oh my God.” Jimin put his hands on his face.

“Um, sorry, what trip are we exactly talking about here?” Taehyung pressed.

Jin shrugged. “We may or may not have made plans to go up to Jungkook’s vacation home in the country for the upcoming holiday, and Jungkook may or may not have invited Yuna to come with him. You know, to finally do the you know what with her.”

Taehyung felt his veins go cold. “And they just weren’t going to tell me?”

“Yep,” Jimin sighed. “Because they figured you’d get angry, which is exactly what’s happening right now.”

Jin started laughing uncontrollably and Jimin shoved him. “You’re such an idiot I swear.”

Taehyung turned away and stalked back towards the front counter, yanking off his apron. “Mr. Lee, I’m leaving twenty minutes earlier! I’ll see you tomorrow!” He called, blood boiling. He had all reason to be mad. Yuna was just going to go on an overnight trip with Jungkook and then not tell him? How the hell did she think she was going to get away with? By lying to his face?

It pissed him off and made him feel sick that he’d even trust Jungkook for five seconds too. He was just being nice to his face, but behind his back he was still trying to do dirty things with his sister? Taehyung knew they were in a relationship and people did like that, but when the hell would he understand that she was too young to be going face first into these kinds of things?

Taehyung slowed down his pace as he left the restaurant. No, he was the one in the wrong here. Jungkook had been with her for a long time now and other than that night on the couch, it did really seem like he was taking his time with her when it came to having . He was a good guy and he knew he wouldn’t try to hurt her. But even more so now, Taehyung just couldn’t handle the thought of them sleeping together. And it pissed him off that they would lie to him about it too.

But that pretty much solidified his place in things didn’t it? He was still just the stupid overprotective older brother trying to get in between his sister’s relationship. That’s all Jungkook saw him as and that’s probably all he would ever see him as.

Why did that make him so upset?

He groaned and screamed loudly. “I don’t like him!”

Taehyung stomped towards his car, his anger fuelling him all over again. He stepped on the gas and sped home, cursing angrily underneath his breath.

When he pulled up on their street, he saw Jungkook’s car immediately parked at the side of the road.

“Great, just great. So ing great.” He mumbled, parking quickly and climbing out. He stalked inside, ready to yell so loudly at him for causing so much unnecessary stress in his life, but he stopped in his tracks when he actually saw him.

Jungkook was standing by their stove, cooking something in a large pot. He had on sweats, looking like he just rolled out of bed. His hair was really messy and eyes looked tired, but he somehow still looked vulnerable and ethereal which made Taehyung’s heart explode in his chest.

He glanced at him and Taehyung froze.

“Hi.” He smiled.

Taehyung looked around cautiously. “Why are you here? Where’s Yuna?”

“She’s sleeping so lower your voice.” He hushed. “She called me about an hour ago saying she wasn’t feeling well and wanted me to come over. But she didn’t really last too long when I got here, just ended up crashing out on the couch so I brought her to her room. I thought I’d just cook something nice for her before she woke up.”

Taehyung’s heart dropped. He should have been the one here to take care of her but instead he was so busy at work trying to forget about his problems, that it had to be Jungkook instead. He walked quietly to her room and peeked inside, she was tucked carefully into bed, fast asleep. Every last thing hurt watching her.

When would someone ever take care of him like that?

He shook his head and turned away, walking back into the living room. “You can go home Jungkook, I can take over things from here.”

He looked at him again. “Yuna told me you’ve been working hard at your job recently and coming home late everyday. You should get some rest too.”

“Hey, I’m not some sort of invalid alright-”

“I never said that. I’m just trying to do a nice thing for you, that’s all.”

“A nice thing?” Taehyung’s anger boiled up again. “A nice thing would not be lying to me about taking my sister on an overnight trip! That would be a nice thing Jungkook!”

He sighed. “How did you even find out about that?”

“Does it really matter? Either way, you should be telling me these type of things!”

“How could I exactly tell you when it seems like you’ve been full on ignoring me these days?” He snapped back. “Not to mention Yuna was afraid you’d get mad and not let her go, which would just ruin the whole thing anyway.”

Taehyung clenched his teeth and stalked forward. “You know what, I’m not in the mood to argue with you right now. I’ll finish cooking this, so just go home!”

“Hey, stop! Why are you so pissed off?” Jungkook blocked him from coming towards the stove.

“I’m pissed off because of you, now move!” Taehyung grabbed for the handle of the pot and the metal singed his hand. “Agh, !”

“God, are you an idiot? Why the hell would you touch that without protection!” He hissed.

“Shut up, I’m not an idiot! It’s your fault!”

Jungkook groaned and moved passed him. “Where the hell do you keep your first aid supplies?”

“It doesn’t matter. I can do it myself, just get out of here already.” Taehyung tried to walk towards the washroom, but he stopped him.

“Can you just sit down? I’m doing it for you.” His eyes were hard and Taehyung glared back, but eventually succumb to him. He sat down angrily on the couch, holding his hand, looking down at the burn. It was throbbing and turning red.

Jungkook eventually crouched down in front of him, holding bandages, cotton swabs, and some rubbing alcohol. When he tried to reach for his hand, Taehyung tensed up. He sighed. “Can I please see your hand for a second?”

“I-I want to do it myself, it’s going to hurt too much.”

Jungkook just took his hand anyway. “It’s going to hurt whichever way you do it, so it’s better if someone just does it for you.”

He held his breath. Jungkook’s fingers felt warm just like last time, it made his skin tingle. Taehyung watched quietly as he put some alcohol into the cotton swab and dabbed some onto the burn. It stung immediately.

“Ow!” He hissed angrily and Jungkook just gave him a flat look.

“Can you calm down? It’s not going to hurt any less if you freak out.”

“Don’t tell me what to do.”

Jungkook gave his head a quick tilt, looking pissed off. Taehyung was glad, now he knew how he made him feel twenty four seven. But he studied him closely anyways as he wrapped his hand carefully. His presence was too intoxicating, Taehyung could barely breathe with him just sitting there. How did Yuna even handle being kissed and touched by him?

“Hey, can I ask you something?” Jungkook spoke up then.

“What.”

He looked up then and they made eye contact with each other. Taehyung quickly got lost in his eyes. “Did I by any chance do anything to you to make you mad at me? Like recently,”

“Um-”

“I just thought maybe we were on better terms since the other day, but now it just seems like you hate me all over again and I’m not really sure why.” He sounded conflicted as he wrapped the last of the bandage around his hand.

Taehyung didn’t really know what to say back, because he wasn’t exactly sure himself. He wasn’t about to admit how he’d been feeling, because it was wrong and he knew Jungkook didn’t feel the same way anyways. And he didn’t even like him, Jungkook was just, he was just someone that made him think too much. There was nothing else to it.

“I’m not mad at you.” Taehyung pulled his hand away.

Jungkook’s eyes searched him carefully. “Are you sure?”

His words made his skin burn even more, why was he being so serious about it?

“I’m not, but,” He looked down at his hand. “Next time, just don’t lie to me about that kind of stuff with my sister. I trust you obviously, more than from the first time we met. But this is my sister, the only true family I have left. If anything ever happened to her, I don’t know what I’d do.”

A look of confliction flickered across Jungkook’s face then and he dropped his head. “OK, yeah. I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine, just-”

“I’m really sorry Taehyung.” Jungkook whispered again, his jaw tense. Taehyung thought he understood what he was apologizing for, but now the way he said it made him feel otherwise. It was almost like there was another hidden intention behind his words that he couldn’t uncover.

“What are you apologizing so much for? I said it’s OK.” He replied, giving him a concerned look.

Jungkook looked like he was going to say something else, but he didn't, instead he just stood up slowly.

“If it makes you feel any better...You can come with us on the trip,” He spoke up after a long space of silence. “I know you trust me a bit more, but you’re still probably nervous about what will happen right? It’s inevitable for someone in your position and I’m not just going to pretend like I don’t understand. I just wanted to take her somewhere nice for the holiday, that’s it to be completely honest. But if you still need some sort of reassurance or just don’t believe me, you can come along for yourself to keep an eye on us. I know this is a random offer, but I feel like it’s necessary.”

Taehyung shook his head. “No, it’ll be awkward if I came-”

“But I want you to come.” He interrupted then and Taehyung looked at him in surprise. “You can even invite your friends too. I just, I feel like I owe you something for everything I’ve been putting you through, just taking away your little sister from you like that. From the start I just thought you were some overprotective who wouldn’t let her out of your reach, but I understand so much more now where you’re coming from. She’s really the only thing you have.”

He felt a lump rise in his throat.

“And you deserve a break for once too, you look like you’ve been through hell and back.” Jungkook chuckled. “Just let yourself relax for a little, it’s on me OK? Don’t even look at it as a favour, just something nice I want to do for my girlfriend’s hardworking brother.”

Taehyung felt warm tears run down his cheeks. He couldn’t stop himself from crying at his words. He'd never felt more grateful for something so small in his life before. It wasn’t even the trip that made him happy, it was just the fact that he cared enough to invite him in the first place. Someone could see how much weight was on his shoulders and wanted to relieve him from it for once. Jungkook knew he was alone, working so hard by himself; and he wanted to help him.

He didn’t understand why his emotions were so overwhelming, but it was obvious. No matter how hard he tried to deny it, his growing feelings had already broken through and there was no way of stopping them anymore.

Jungkook gave him a soft look. It almost felt like he was watching himself when he saw Taehyung cry. Someone that was alone, trapped inside himself and his twisted life with no way out. He always wished someone would help him, but they never did.

They just abandoned him. So he had to fend for himself.

“Thank you.” Taehyung whispered.

Jungkook nodded; he wished someone would give him the smallest, most irrelevant thing too. Something that would just make him happier even for a little bit.

But what exactly was it that he wanted?

He looked down at Taehyung again who was still wiping away his tears and brushed a piece of hair carefully out of his eye.

Taehyung looked up at him and the same moment they experienced in his room came back to light at full force.

What kind of emotion was it? He didn’t understand-

“Jungkook?”

He snapped his hand away from him.

Yuna was standing in the doorway.