Jeongguk sleeps like the dead. Anyone who has ever lived with him knows this. Or anyone who is friends with Taehyung on snapchat (Jeongguk doesn’t even want to know how many videos of the older boy screwing with him while he’s sleeping are on there).

But a loud crash from the kitchen does manage to wake him up at 3am.

He almost just says ‘ it’ and goes back to sleep, but the part of his brain that is functioning in his half-asleep state knows it’s probably Taehyung, considering the other boy isn’t in bed with him and latched onto him like an octopus as per usual. And soon enough, he’s conjuring up all sorts of crazy scenarios that only Taehyung could get himself into, so he decides to get up and go check in fear of his boyfriend accidentally hurting himself with a ladle or getting stuck in the fridge.

He stumbles out of bed and drags himself to the kitchen in only his boxers, thanking the gods that he doesn’t have class tomorrow. He sees Taehyung as soon as he steps into the doorway. Granted, it isn’t hard, considering the older boy is sitting in the middle of the kitchen floor, surrounded by what Jeongguk presumes is a shattered jelly jar. There’s broken glass and jam all over the floor, and Taehyung, clad in only his sailor moon boxers and a tank top that’s slipping off one shoulder, is clutching a spoon in his right hand and full on sobbing - his face a mess of tears and snot.

Jeongguk rubs the sleep from his eyes and sighs. “Tae,” he calls gently.

Taehyung looks up, and Jeongguk thinks it’s ridiculous that he still finds Taehyung cute even when he’s a sobbing mess. “K- Kookie,” he hiccups. “I- I just wanted some jelly.” And then he slumps and falls right back into sobbing.

In all honesty, Jeongguk is surprised that something like this hasn’t happened earlier. As a fourth year biochem major nearing finals, Taehyung has been on the verge of snapping for weeks. He was a ticking time bomb, and Jeongguk is now witnessing the aftermath of an explosion (which happens to be in the form of strawberry jelly).

He shuffles into the kitchen and crouches down in front of Taehyung, as close as he can without stepping on shards of glass. “Why were you trying to eat jelly at 3am, Tae?”

“I was studying and took a break because I was hungry, and I wanted strawberries, but we don’t have any damn strawberries, so I had to settle for stupid strawberry jelly and then this happened-” Taehyung makes a dramatic gesture to the jelly all over the floor. “-and my life is a mess and I can’t do anything right and I’m going to fail-”

“Taehyung,” He reaches forward, while still trying to keep his feet away from any glass, and takes Taehyung’s face in his hand, squishing his cheeks until his lips are pushed into a pout. The action effectively silences Taehyung and the other boy stares at him pitifully. “You’re not going to fail. You’re going to ace it like you do every exam. You’re also going to take a break from studying tomorrow and watch mindless anime with me, before you drive yourself even more insane than you already are. Okay?” Jeongguk waits as Taehyung stares, keeping a hold on Taehyung’s face despite his fingers getting sticky from the tears on the other boy’s cheeks. Finally, Taehyung nods just slightly, his face going slack in Jeongguk’s hold. “Now, we’re going to clean this up, and then-” Jeongguk released his hold on Taehyung’s face. “we’re going to bake a cake.”

“A- A cake?” Taehyung sputters, confused. Jeongguk hauls him up by the armpits and helps him maneuver his way away from the glass. He’s still covered in jelly, but at least he seems unharmed by the incident. Taehyung allows the manhandling, having grown used to it after Jeongguk quite literally has to pick him up and carry him out of a room when he goes on one of his science spiels and annoys the out of their friends (or complete strangers, no one is exempt from it).

When they’re safely away from the mess, Taehyung leans on him and stares at him curiously with red-rimmed eyes. “Yes, a cake.” There’s some jelly on Taehyung’s forehead, and he can’t hold back the amused smile as he wipes it away.

“Why?”

“Why not? You’re hungry, right?”

And that’s all it takes for Taehyung’s lips to finally stretch into a small smile. The clouds are gone, sunshine is returning, and Jeongguk feels an immense amount of relief. He’s never liked seeing a Kim Taehyung that isn’t smiling.

They clean up the mess together and Jeongguk hopes they have all the ingredients they need for a cake, because he isn’t in any mood to put on clothes and go anywhere.

Out of sheer luck, they do manage to scrounge enough to make a chocolate cake (who is he kidding, he knows they only have this because Seokjin likes to grocery shop for them because they apparently don’t keep “real food” in the apartment).

They end up making another mess, but Jeongguk isn’t surprised. There’s cake mix all over the counter, in Taehyung’s hair, and some in the shape of a handprint on the back of Jeongguk’s black boxers. Taehyung scolds him for eating too much of the mix before they even have the chance to put it into a pan, but at least lets him the the bowl. And then he accuses Taehyung of being a hypocrite when the older boy ends up eating way too much of the chocolate frosting. He isn’t sure why they ever bother making the cake when Taehyung only ever wants the frosting anyways.

Jeongguk has to confiscate the frosting at least 3 times while the cake is baking, and when he turns his back, Taehyung is once again trying to sneak a taste of it. But Jeongguk whirls back around and catches him by the waist just as he sticks his finger in the can.

“Jeongguk, wait- wait! No, please!” Taehyung begs, surprised laughter slipping out in between his words. He turns Taehyung around, lifts him onto the counter, and settles in between his legs. He holds Taehyung’s wrists together with one of his hands, and the older boy tries to wriggle away, but is unsuccessful in his attempts. When Jeongguk slips Taehyung’s slender finger into his mouth, and steals the dollop of frosting, Taehyung finally stops fighting him. “Now that was just cruel,” he huffs.

“I warned you,” Jeongguk smirks. “If you keep eating it, there won’t be enough left for the cake.”

Taehyung pouts for dramatic effect, and pulls his wrists out of Jeongguk’s hold to wrap his arms around his shoulders.

Jeongguk wraps his arms around Taehyung’s waist and leans in as Taehyung’s nuzzles his nose into his neck. A peaceful silence settles between them, and Jeongguk closes his eyes as he rests his chin on Taehyung’s shoulder.

Taehyung nibbles gently at his neck, and he smiles as the sensation sends a shiver down his spine. “Thank you, Kookie,” Taehyung sighs into his neck.

He slips the strap of Taehyung’s tank top down and lowers his head to place a kiss on his shoulder. “Anytime,” he whispers. He shifts up, trailing his nose along the side of Taehyung’s neck and jaw, until he reaches his lips, and then kisses him. Taehyung, unsurprisingly, tastes like a mixture of strawberry jam and chocolate, and Jeongguk finds that he likes the strange combination when he’s getting a taste of it from Taehyung’s lips.

They pull away, and Taehyung presses their foreheads together, bumping their noses playfully. “What would I do without you?”

“You’d have to find a way out of all the ridiculous situations you get yourself into,” Jeongguk teases.

Taehyung rolls his eyes. “They’re not all that ridiculous-”

“I had to help you get out of the cupboard last week after you glued the door shut - while you were still inside.”

“Hey, that was for an experiment! I do these things for science, Kookie! Science!”