"God damn- Taehyung! Where did you put the milk?"

Jungkook yelled as loudly as he could, making sure that the older man would be able to hear him. He ran around the counter in the middle of their kitchen, hurriedly trying to tie his tie at the same time. He was frantically searching for the milk, not wanting to drink his coffee black. There were only a few more minutes before he had to leave to go to work, and there was no way that he, Jeon Jungkook, was going to be late. He swore on his grave that he would get there on time whether the heavens were against him or on his side.

His toast popped up and the raven haired man grabbed it, shoving it into his mouth. He chewed it quickly, just wanting to get it down and over with. That was when he felt a hand on his shoulder, gently turning him around. 

Taehyung started fixing his tie, chastising him all the while.

"Jungkookie, what would you do if I weren't here, hmm? Look at you, you can't even tie your own tie, let alone find the milk. It's right in the fridge where it always is. You're just always too rushed, Kookie dear. Come now, let's get your milk for your coffee and then you need to go, alright? I know how important being on time is to you, so let's get to it."

Jungkook took the toast out of his mouth, smiling at his wonderful husband. He gave the man a quick peck on the cheek, letting the brunet pour milk into his cooling cup of coffee.

The younger drank only a sip or two, but that was a sip or two drunk too quickly, the man choking almost immediately. Giving the cup back to Taehyung, Jungkook slipped on his shoes right afterwards. He gave Taehyung a final kiss, waving goodbye and driving off to work. The older just watched him pull out of the driveway, disappearing from his line of sight rather quickly. He then sighed, returning from the window and taking a seat at the table.

The brunet drank the rest of Jungkook's coffee, mulling about, not really doing anything. He read a book, dusted the shelf, had lunch. He wanted to do something, something that he hadn't done in a while.

The man got slightly dressed up, heading into town after.

He was meeting up with some old friends.

As soon as Taehyung stepped into the restaurant, he was hit with a wave of smells, most, if not all, bringing him a sense of nostalgia. He couldn't help but think of the nights when Seokjin would come over to his house just to make some pasta. Sometimes he would bring Jimin with him, other times Namjoon would be dawdling along, but most of the time it was just the two of them.

Seokjin would listen to the troubles he had, give him advice, call him out on his mistakes. Taehyung would do his best to give the older the same treatment, and then they would laugh about it all over a glass of wine. 

What is he saying? He hates wine.

Taehyung looked around the restaurant, smiling as he saw the pictures of their small group of friends hung up on the walls. The further he walked in, the more and more recent the photos got. That was until they abruptly stopped, no photos old or new hung up. The brunet just accounted that to the fact that they hadn't gotten together in a while.

It was really overdue.

Walking to the counter, the man sat down, waiting to have his order taken. A small but fiery boy with bright orange hair was messing around behind the counter, putting plates with meals prepared up and taking dirty dishes back down. Without even glancing up, he let the robotic words slip from his mouth.

"What can I get you?"

Taehyung smiled again, leaning his face onto the palm of his hand. He rested on the top of the counter, watching the boy's movements.

"Hey, Jiminnie, can you get me Seokjin?"

Jimin looked up, surprise evident in his eyes. After verifying that yes, it was indeed actually Kim Taehyung in the flesh, he covered his mouth with both his hands, tears quickly filling his eyes. He shakily reached out a hand, Taehyung laughing and grasping it within his own.

"T-Tae?"

Taehyung smiled once more, nodding just once. It was more than enough to make Jimin jump over the counter, engulfing the younger in a hug.

"Taehyungie!"

Taehyung returned the hug, melodious laughter filling the air. He grabbed onto Jimin tightly, not wanting to let go. He heard Jimin lightly sniffling, pretending to not cry even though everyone around knew that there were indeed tears flowing freely. The boy then let go, staring Taehyung head on.

"Where did you go, Tae?"

The brunet grimaced, drawing a circle on the countertop. He shamefully looked at the older boy, biting his bottom lip. 

"That's why I was wondering if you could get Seokjin for me?"

The orange haired male nodded a few times, returning to the employee break room to get the older man. 

They were going to be having a very, very long talk.

"Kim Taehyung, you bastard!"

After Seokjin had also confirmed that it was Taehyung, he apologetically sent everyone out of the restaurant, closing shop for the rest of the day. He ran up to the brunet, screaming, and slapped him. Then, he hugged Taehyung, squeezing the young man tightly.

"Taehyung, Tae, where did you go? What happened? We haven't met up for such a long time, are you okay? You've been eating properly, yeah?"

Seokjin was a fluffy ball of worries, examining the young man from head to toe. Taehyung just grabbed onto his hands, removing them from roaming his body.

"Seokjin, I'm perfectly fine. Some things just happened, and Jungkook and I had to leave for a while. We're fine. Nothing's wrong. Now, will you please let me sit down and explain? Or are you going to keep trying to feel me up?"

The oldest man clicked his tongue, hitting Taehyung over the head with a cloth. He motioned them towards a table, urging the two of them to sit down. Then, he ran back to the break room to get Hoseok.

"Taehyungie! Where have you been, my small child?"

The boy ignored Hoseok, sitting him into a chair and beginning his story.

It was a long one, but they were willing to listen.

"-basically, one thing led to another, and since Kookie's parents looked as though they really were about to kill us if we stayed another minute in Korea, we left. We travelled all over the world, saw beautiful things, hell, we even got married-"

"You're married?"

"-but now we're back, and we're back to stay. I'm sorry that we couldn't talk to you guys, but Jungkook's parents were adamant about making sure that we didn't have any connections back home. I guess they really hate gay people, right?" Taehyung smiled sadly, but Seokjin just brought him in for a hug, Jimin and Hoseok joining right afterwards. They stayed like that a few minutes, grateful that their close friend and confidant was finally back to stay.

After releasing from the hug, the oldest clapped his hands, the other three jumping in surprise.

"Alright, now that you're back, I say that's good enough cause to celebrate! Let's get everyone together, and have the time of our lives. It's been such a long time, everyone. It really has."

Seokjin smiled a close-lipped smile at Taehyung, the latter chuckling once, tears rolling down his face.

"Taehyung, make sure you bring that little trouble maker of yours. We haven't seen him in such a long time, it'd be good to finally be able to talk again. I want to hear more about your adventures all over the world, too."

The four stayed in the restaurant, talking and laughing about anything that came to mind. With the five years that they'd been gone, Taehyung realized that he and Jungkook had really missed out on a lot in their friends' lives. Hoseok had also gone and gotten married to some wonderful girl, and they had a little two-year-old running around making a mess of their house. Jimin and Yoongi were in the process of adopting a child, agreeing to focus more on the kid than their jobs.

Seokjin and Namjoon had had a falling out shortly after Taehyung and Jungkook left the country, the older worrying about them day in and day out, not pausing once to take a rest, the younger pleading him to stop, to give his health a thought. Eventually, Namjoon got fed up and moved out, living with one of his friends until Seokjin could sort out his mind. The two only reconciled when the older finally collapsed out of stress and worry, both for the young couple and his significant other. He had been admitted to the hospital, where Namjoon realized that Seokjin wasn't able to choose between them and that anything that meant something to him would worry him out of his mind.

He moved back in, and their relationship has been even stronger since. After all, fighting and arguing are just signs of growing.

Taehyung felt terrible hearing that, feeling entirely responsible for the rift in their otherwise comfortable relationship, but Seokjin dismissed all those thoughts, saying that he instead saved them. Without that, they would have been forever skittering around each other, afraid to make a mistake that might send the other crashing with just a few simple words.

They dropped the topic after that, and the remaining three members of their small group slowly started turning up, Jungkook being the last one to walk through the door. He was quickly embraced by all of them but Taehyung, each of them not wanting to let him go in fear that he would turn and run away again, disappearing just like the last time with no traces.

He smiled, giving them all light taps on their backs before he walked up to where Taehyung was sitting, wrapping an arm around the older's shoulders.

"Well everyone, we're back."

For a party of seven people, they sure knew how to liven the place up. Loud music was blaring through the speakers, all the tables pushed to the sides to allow them room to dance. They were all grinding against one another, even though half of them were married.

Considering the fact that they were all in relationships with each other, though (aside from Hoseok), it was alright, I suppose.

Breaking away from the couple who had no dance sense but were still going right at it, Jimin hooked his arm around Jungkook's neck, pulling the younger boy down to his height. 

"Taehyung! I'm stealing your husband! Tonight, I'm seeing how he does in my bed!" Both Taehyung and Yoongi raised an eyebrow, though Taehyung's much more amusedly than the other's. He laughed, watching Yoongi slowly trudge towards them, Jimin still oblivious.

"Alright, whatever you say, Jiminnie!"

Jimin cheered, giving Jungkook a big, wet kiss right on his cheek. Jungkook made a face in disgust, wiping it off almost urgently. Suddenly, the orange haired boy was yanked from him, now being kissed by a more-jealous-than-he'd-ever-admit Min Yoongi. At first, Jimin struggled, pushing the mint green haired man away, but he quickly submitted, closing his eyes and grabbing onto Yoongi closely.

Hoseok and Namjoon let out some wolf whistles, cheering the couple on. Yoongi in response just deepened the kiss, hooking Jimin's legs around his waist.

Jungkook took this chance to slip away, heading to the kitchen. Taehyung followed behind him, heart dropping when he saw the bottles that Jungkook was pulling out of the fridge. He ran forward, laying his hands on top of the younger's.

"Jungkook, please put the beer down. We can have a fun night without the alcohol, don't you think so?"

The young boy shook Taehyung's hand off of his own, lightly chuckling. 

"Yeah, Tae. we could, but come on, don't be so stiff! Let's let loose and have some fun! It's been so long since we've all gotten together, we should liven it up a bit! Besides, Jimin's already acting drunk out there, so why not?"

The brunet bit his lip, not sure why, but having a gut feeling that they shouldn't drink tonight.

"Kookie, please, I understand that you would like to drink, but there's always next time we meet up, right? You don't want them to think that after all these years, you're still the dumb kid that you were back then."

Jungkook scrunched his nose up in distaste, letting Taehyung take the beer bottles from him. He was manly, you know? Not some flimsy little kid who couldn't think for himself. He was Jeon Jungkook, never letting anyone boss him around!

"Come on Kookie, let's go back now."

"Okay, Tae..."

Taehyung grasped Jungkook's hand, lacing their fingers together and walking back out into the party. Hoseok grabbed Taehyung, Namjoon took Jungkook, and they were pulled opposite directions, their fingers not letting go until the last second.

The brunet looked at Jungkook, hints of a smile visible on his face. The young boy returned it, mouthing the three words that just seemed to come naturally.

I love you.

It was well into the night, the party still going strong even with two of them passed out on the couch. Yoongi had tucked his head under Hoseok's arm, and Jimin was silently fuming in the corner of the room. Everyone else couldn't have cared less, and were still dancing on the floor.

At one point, Jungkook had pulled Taehyung towards him, knocking their foreheads together. He smiled, stealing a kiss from the older's lips before he let go, pulling Jimin back onto the dance floor and trying to show him up.

Taehyung just laughed, walking towards the couch at the back of the room and plopping down onto it, waking both Yoongi and Hoseok. The two looked at him, wanting to know what was up, but he just shrugged his shoulders, nesting into Hoseok's open arms.

He couldn't help but think to himself that damn, this was pretty nice.

They really should have come back earlier.

After much more dancing and a lot more making out, they all headed home, tired but happy and with smiles on their faces.

Once they had gotten into their house, Jungkook and Taehyung had made way to the sofa, crashing down onto it without a second thought. They thought of everything and nothing at once, staring at the TV that had never been turned off. Jungkook loosened his tie and got up, put in a movie, and headed to the kitchen. Taehyung heard the sounds of pots and pans being moved around, but he didn't budge one inch from his seat. Soon after, the raven haired man returned with a cup of ramen for both Taehyung and himself, chopsticks pointing in opposite directions out of the top.

Jungkook sat back down, crossing his legs and gently blowing on his ramen. Taehyung laid on top of him, setting his ramen to the side and instead opening his mouth to get fed by his husband.

Jungkook lowered the noodles towards the open mouth, bringing them back up at the last second and stuffing them into his own mouth.

The brunet male scrunched his features in distaste, sitting back up and grabbing his ramen from the table. He ate his own noodles, glaring at Jungkook childishly. The younger just laughed, throwing his head up into the air. He then blew on some more of his own ramen, offering it to Taehyung.

The man happily ate it, chewing cheerfully. Then, he leaned into Jungkook's side, both of them silently watching the movie as they ate.

It was getting increasingly difficult for Taehyung to keep his eyes open, having moved back into a lying position on top of Jungkook. The two boys, both done eating their ramen, were blankly looking at the television screen, neither really watching the movie anymore. Jungkook had taken it upon himself to play with Taehyung's hair, gently running his fingers through the brown locks. Every now and then, he would twist them together, only to then unknot them and continue his actions. It was slowly sending the brunet to the land of dreams, eyes closing for full seconds before snapping back open.

Jungkook had started humming a song, a soft, calming one that was making Taehyung's head spin.

"Jungkookie?"

The boy continued playing with Taehyung's hair, ceasing his singing, however.

"Hmm?"

Neither of them said anything for a moment, revelling in the peace. Taehyung reached up to touch Jungkook's face, the latter leaning into his hand. 

"Jungkook, I really, really love you."

The boy smiled, leaning down and kissing the older man sweetly. It may have been just one second, two, three, but Taehyung felt like it lasted forever, the kiss sending his heart racing even after all these years. Jungkook slowly lifted his head back up, cheekily grinning at his partner.

"I love you too, Tae. Come on, let's go to bed now."

Jungkook lifted the brunet up in his arms, the older kicking his legs in surprise. The younger man turned off the TV on his way to their bedroom, unable to do otherwise with his arms full of Taehyung. Jungkook then kicked the door behind them shut and turned off the lights. There was a loud scream, the brunet having been thrown onto the bed, and after that, there was some laughter before it all went silent.

At least, it was silent for a while.

Taehyung woke up in the middle of the night, heart racing. He immediately threw his hand to the side, feeling for Jungkook, but the boy was nowhere to be found. He got up, placing his hand up against the wall and finding his way to the bedroom door. The brunet turned the lights on, but Jungkook was still not in sight. Taehyung felt his heart drop and he threw open the door, but just as he had done so, the younger was walking back towards him, cup in hand and dressed in nothing but his red boxers.

"Whoa, Tae, is everything alright? You look like a right mess, did something happen?"

Tears immediately welled up in the older's eyes, his knees giving out. Jungkook dropped his cup, running forwards to catch the thin body. He cradled Taehyung's head in his arms, rocking his entire body back and forth.

"Oh my, Taehyung, Tae, please, are you okay? What happened?"

Taehyung just smiled, squeezing his eyes shut. He opened them again momentarily, confirming that Jungkook was still there.

"You're really still here. Good, good. Nothing's wrong because it really is you. You're my little Jeon Jungkookie. Don't leave, okay Kookie? Just stay with me. Stay with me and don't ever go away. Okay?"

Jungkook nodded sporadically, hugging the other man close to him. They stayed like that for a while, and then Jungkook heard the older man's breath start evening out, his facial features relaxing. He lifted the man up once again, bringing him back into their bedroom. There, he closed the door and turned off the lights, returning back to their bed for the second time.

He brought Taehyung into his arms, tightly holding onto him. Then, he kissed his cheek, whispering into his ear.

"I won't ever let you go."

Taehyung woke up in the morning with the sunlight brightly streaming through the blinds. He turned his head, only to be met with the sight of Jungkook lying asleep, light snores coming from his mouth. The brunet smiled, carefully the boy's face.

"Why are you so beautiful, Kookie?"

Before Taehyung knew it, his eyes started filling with tears that were threatening to fall out. He tried to wipe them away, but too many were flowing out too quickly. His sight was going blurry, the tears never ending. They fell, landing onto the sleeping boy's face and gently rousing him from his slumber. Jungkook's eyes took a minute to adjust while he rubbed the sleep out of them. Then, he quickly realized what was happening, hiccups coming from the older man's mouth. The raven haired man dried a tear off of his own face, reaching up to Taehyung's right above his. He lightly wiped the drops away, cupping the brunet man's face in his hand.

"Why are you crying, my little Taetae?"

Taehyung did his best to stop sobbing, but the tears continued to fall.

"I don't even know, Kookie, but I just feel like I h-have to apologize to you. I don't know why, I don't know for what reason, but I just f-feel like I have to get this out otherwise nothing will ever be okay! I'm so sorry, Jungkookie. I love you so, so much, and I- I don't know... I'm s-sorry!"

Jungkook sat up, pulling the older man close to him. He let Taehyung rest his head on his collarbone, and he kissed the top of his head.

"It's okay, Tae. Everything's alright. It's not your fault. It is not your fault, okay? Even if it was, I'd forgive you. I love you too, much more than you could ever imagine."

Taehyung lifted his face, looking Jungkook head on. The younger smiled, kissing him gently before he knocked their foreheads against each other, eliciting a small smile from the brunet male. Taehyung then reached his hand down, grabbing Jungkook's within his own. The younger man rubbed his thumb over it, drawing small circles as he looked into Taehyung's eyes. His eyes suddenly went hard, and he squeezed the older man's hand once before he let go, moving away from him.

"I'd never want anything to take you down this much, and I don't want things to weigh heavy on your heart. I want you to understand, Tae, that nothing is your fault. What happened, happened, and that's all. It's not your fault. It never was, and I don't want you to ever feel that way, okay?"

Taehyung nodded, confused. His tears had dried a while back, and now he was just rubbing at the tear treads remaining on his face. Jungkook smiled a broken smile, teeth just barely showing. He swallowed once, now looking as if he himself were about to break down.

"G-good. That's good Tae, I'm glad you understand. I'm glad you know. Good... good... Tae, I need- Tae, I n-need you to wake up."

Taehyung's face dropped, his eyebrows scrunched together and his hands clutched onto Jungkook tightly. He gazed at the boy, looking for more information in the dark pools of his eyes, but instead, Jungkook wrenched his hands out of the older's grasp, getting off of the bed. Taehyung fell forward, looking up to Jungkook standing right in front of the large window. The boy was covering his mouth with both of his hands, a single tear having fallen and making its way down his left cheek. He shakily moved his hands to his cheeks, opening his mouth just the slightest. What came out was nothing more than a whisper, making Taehyung strain his ears just to hear it.

"Wake up, Taehyung."

Wake up.

Wake up.

"-wake up Tae!"

Taehyung opened his eyes, light rain droplets falling on his face. He felt cold, smooth stone beneath him as he saw his mother standing above him, umbrella at her side. She smiled at him once his eyes opened, her own reflecting so many emotions but covered up with a strong façade.

"Hey, my little Taetae. You fell asleep at Jungkook's grave again, didn't you?"

Taehyung nodded just the slightest, expression void of any emotion. His mother held back her tears as she lightly his hair, bringing the umbrella back over their heads.

"Did you at least have a good dream, sweetheart?"

Taehyung bit his bottom lip, a single tear rolling out of his right eye. He stared down at the gravestone, running his fingers over the lightly engraved name. Then he let out a sad laugh, sniffling right afterwards.

He smiled at his mother, tears now flowing down his face.

"Yeah, mom. Yeah, I had a good dream."