Jeongguk sighed in relief as Jimin left. Slight apprehension still lingered, but for now he was safe from prying eyes. It was hard enough questioning yourself. Adding other people into the mix never boded well. Jeongguk followed Jimin out of the door and down the hall. The other members were gathered in the living room around the small tv sitting against the wall. Namjoon and Yoongi were sitting on the couch. Seokjin was resting on the floor beside a pouting Taehyung. Hoseok was lying a little bit away from them on the floor. He was leaning against his hand, while lying on his side.

Jimin saw him first, considered sitting next to him for all of three seconds, then decided he would much rather chance it with one of the elder hyungs. Hoseok was not someone he wanted to be around right now. Jimin starts to step over him, but he feels his knees give and he falls onto the ground in front on Hoseok.

“Yah! What was that-get off me...” Jimin whines as Hoseok’s arms wrap around his waist and pulls him closer.

“I’m cold, keep me warm.” Hoseok replied. Jimin struggles against his hold.

“Then get a blanket.Why do you-hyuuunnngggg.” Jimin whined. Jimin turned his head to face Seokjin, begging with his eyes for help. Seokjin smiled and shrugged his shoulders, gesturing to Taehyung who was lying beside him. Taehyung had his head propped up by Seokjin’s shoulder and was hugging his arm closer to his chest, still pouting. When he caught Taehyung’s gaze, Taehyung huffed and turned away, gripping onto Seokjin’s arm even harder. Jimin scoffed and turned back around, letting his back lean against Hoseok’s stomach. When Hoseok doesn’t detect a struggle, he resumed his previous position on his side, with Jimin’s back resting upright against his stomach. Jimin breathed deeply and allowed his anxieties to disappear with his sigh. He just had to bear with it for a little bit. Hoseok was being touchy again, but he could sit through one hour of it right? No big deal.

Hoseok sighed silently in relief. He was nervous that Jimin would reject him again. He was being so distant. Hoseok’s mind wandered back to “incident” from earlier. The others might have let it go, but Hoseok wasn’t about to. He had a bad feeling, and the scared look Jimin tried to cover up when he left the elevator did nothing to dispel those feelings. The mark on his head was now a dark red, angry mark. Thank God there was no bruising, but running into an elevator door seems a little too...convenient. Jimin was flustered as soon as they left, and he tried very quickly to change the subject when Hoseok mentioned something about another person being in there with him. This nearly confirmed Hoseok’s fears. The only other indication that something was up was the heavy perspiration along his face, neck, and arms. Either Jimin ran for a mile and a half before coming up that elevator, or Jimin was nervous. Anxious, or Fearful? Hoseok wondered.

It was that roommate. Hoseok was sure of it. He wanted to jump up right now and go find the bastard. But he had to wait. He texted Manager Hobum about a personal and private meeting next week after their dance rehearsal. He hasn’t responded yet, but Hoseok wouldn’t expect him to. The man was probably beyond busy with all of the finalizing work he has to do with his group and the new bout of trainees they brought in. Hoseok just hoped no more new instances would develop. Hoseok glanced up from his spot to look at Jimin. He wore a bored expression, staring emptily at the TV screen. It looks like they both couldn’t be bothered to focus on the movie at the moment. Hoseok turned back to a more comfortable angle for his head, and spotted a pair of feet out of the corner of his eyes. Craning his head, he looked up and saw Jeongguk standing beside him. Hoseok coughed in surprise, eyes widening. Had he been there the entire time? Hoseok thought.

“Jungkook-ah, how long have you been there?” Hoseok said, drawing attention from the others to a lost looking Jeongguk. It was as if he was in a trance. Hoseok’s words went in one ear and out the other. He didn’t respond, just kept staring at...

“Kookie? Are you okay?” Taehyung asked. That seemed to do the trick. Jeongguk’s pupils dilated and his mouth dropped. For a beat, he was flustered and flushed red. He stuttered some small response and stumbled over to sit next to Taehyung. He made sure to tuck his feet in and wrap his arms around his knees so he wasn’t touching anyone, but the consciousness of his actions only worried Taehyung more.

“Are you all down with making a fuss? Can I start the movie again?” Yoongi said, annoyance clearly evident in his voice. Seokjin blinked in surprise. He hadn’t even realized the movie had stopped.

“Kookie-ah, are you o-” Jeongguk shrugged off the hand Taehyung had put on him. Or at least tried to put on.

“I’m fine...” Jeongguk muttered. Taehyung sighed and let it go, snuggling more into Seokjin’s side. He didn’t see Jeongguk grit his teeth, or tense his body. Jeongguk didn’t want him to, didn’t want anyone to notice his odd behavior. The less attention he drew to himself, the better. They didn’t know anything. He wanted it that way. He didn’t need them knowing the way his skin colored when Taehyung looked at him. They didn’t see the way his breath stopped as soon as he saw the elder, or the way Jeongguk’s mind fogged over when the soft glow of the TV seemed to warm all of Taehyung’s features. They didn’t know Jeongguk’s heart sped up when Taehyung’s soft eyes moved from the TV to meet his, or the little chill that ran down Jeongguk’s back when Taehyung wore that cute little pout. They didn’t know what kind of effect the elder had on him, and he needed to keep it that way.

He didn’t really want to tell Jimin, but he was the only other member he could trust. Afterall, they were trainees together. And Jimin was too nice of a person to betray his feelings. He’d be safe, at least until the rest of the group finds out about his leaving. Then that would be another problem altogether. But Jeongguk would deal with that issue when it came about. For now, he would use the month or two to try and figure out just what he felt for Taehyung. He needed to sort his feelings. He knew that the elder had some kind of physical effect on him, that much was evident. Why did his heart beat faster when he was a little too close. Why did his chest feel lighter whenever he heard him laugh? Why did he feel so warm whenever Taehyung would latch onto him? Was it like Jimin said? He’d been so used to being alone and isolated. Was Taehyung’s unusually warm nature just confusing Jeongguk because he was naive with these types of things? He wanted answers. He wanted explanations and reasons why....

Jeongguk looked up at Taehyung again. He was leaning comfortably against Seokjin’s side. Seokjin was carding his fingers through his hair. You could see the relaxed rise and fall of their chests in sync, completely absorbed in the movie. Jeongguk felt a prick of envy along his back.The funniest part about the whole situation? If Jeongguk wanted it, he could easily talk his way into getting Taehyung to lean against him. All he would have to do is complain about being cold and yank Taehyung over to him and he would have his way. He would complain for a bit, but nestle right back into his side. That’s just the way Taehyung is. Always to nice for his own good, and willing to please anyone that needed it. Jeongguk sighed, rethinking his previous belief. Actually, he just wanted more time. More time to resolve whatever these feelings inside him. More time to get closer to Taehyung. More time to make good memories, ones that Taehyung can go back to when Jeongguk was gone. More time for Jeongguk to make memories for himself, ones that he can look back on fondly when his loneliness gets to him and he misses everyone.

Jeongguk was struck with a bout of anxiety right then. Even in the presence of all s, he felt so alone. No one was going through what he was. Nobody was being shipped off to a whole new country simply because they lacked personality. Nobody was being reprimanded by their superiors because they didn’t socialize. The band members barely even cared if Jeongguk talked to them or not. They carried on with their lives, so why couldn’t Jeongguk? Sighing, Jeongguk hugged his knees closer to his body. He started settling back against the leg of the couch and attempted to watch the movie. He’d missed a good chunk of the beginning as indicated by the protagonist running through downtown Seoul with urgent music playing in the background. Or at least, Jeongguk assumed the thirty-year-old male was the protagonist. He hadn’t left the frame yet, and he was currently stranded in the middle of a rooftop. His face looked crushed and he wandered around in confusion. Whatever just happened, it was not something the protagonist was in on.

Jeongguk wondered if this movie would have a happy or a sad ending. It was Seokjin’s no doubt, he looked entirely to calm, as if he knew everything that was about to happen. Everyone else, even the usually disinterested and lethargic Yoongi was sitting upright and at full attention to the little tv screen. Obviously no one else has seen this thing before besides Seokjin. But the movie seemed too depressive and intense to have a happy ending. Plus, Seokjin didn’t strike Jeongguk as the type to enjoy movies that didn’t have some kind of happy ending. He was too positive of a person. It would go against his beliefs. Jeongguk sighed again, rubbing his legs. He just hoped the movie would be good enough not to put him asleep. He already felt the lull of tiredness and exhaustion creeping up his limbs. The dark room and soft glow of the TV didn’t help either. Give it ten minutes, and Jeongguk would be fast asleep on the floor.

Jimin was paying close attention to the TV, wondering why the man who’d spent years in a cube and all of a sudden got tossed onto some random rooftop and now all of these weird things keep happening to him with no explanation of what exactly was going on. Jimin felt a headache throb. He’d be so confused before this movie was even finished. As Jimin was readjusting his back to lay more comfortably on Hoseok-he was surprised to find that the elder was quite comfortable-he felt his front pocket vibrate. Jimin rolled his eyes. Whatever it was, it could wait. The only people he’d answer a text message from this time of night would be the managers, or the people he was currently in the room with. Since all of s were wrapped up in the movie, none of them would have texted him. If it was the managers, they would have called at least three times before texting him. He’d felt no calls since the movie started, so it was definitely not the managers, which meant whoever it was would have to wait. The man just entered a restaurant and some girl kept looking at him.

Jimin tried to settle back again but another vibration from his phone distracted him. He was growing more annoyed by the second. What could they possibly want this late at night? Jimin shrugged it off. He started to get back into the movie when his phone buzzed for the third time. Disgruntled, Jimin stood up.

“Restroom.” He whispered his one word reply to Hoseok, who was looking at him curiously. He was missing a really intense scene. Whoever had interrupted him better be important. Jimin walked into his room and shut the door quietly before pulling his phone out and examining the notification. He was shown a set of digits he did not recognize. Jimin unlocked his phone and clicked on his messaging app, pulling open the message from the unknown sender. As Jimin read the text, his chest constricted and his breathing intensified. His hand trembled as he clicked the reply button. He read and reread the message over and over again.

“Call me now.”

“Call me now.”

“Did you forget about our deal