Jimin quickly got Taehyung settled on a bed in a shared ward, since hospital beds were not readily available, and called for a nurse to bring some ibuprofen and keep Taehyung's condition monitored. It might be a few hours before Taehyung's fever would subside, and Jimin hoped to be able to properly find out then if Taehyung meant to stay by his side.

__

Jimin took time to sit at Taehyung's bedside as he didn't want Taehyung to wake up alone. Besides, it was already quite late in the night and there wasn't much disturbance via emails or messaging, so he just occupied a seat next to Taehyung's sleeping form and wrote some reports with his reading glasses on. In between writing a few segments at a time, he would raise his eyes to check on Taehyung. He wasn't sure why but it felt comforting to brush aside Taehyung's fringe or just lightly graze Taehyung's hand, while Taehyung remained sound asleep. 

Taehyung was breathing softly and steadily now, it was quite a difference from earlier when he was all stressed out. Seeing how the medicines had worked to calm Taehyung down struck a little guilt in Jimin. Had Taehyung gone through a lot of anxiety in the past year? He must have felt lost with his whole life ahead of him, suddenly without the stumbling block of an abusive father.

Jimin wondered if he could have saved the both of them a lot of pain this past year, had he been more vocal about why he needed Taehyung. As he brushed back Taehyung's hair to reveal his forehead that now felt like a warm hard-boiled egg, Jimin had an urge to give Taehyung's head a sound knock for having caused him much heartache. Was it considered love if there was pain involved? Jimin only knew he couldn't bear having Taehyung slip away again.

Taehyung's eyebrows had twitched slightly under Jimin's hand, and as his eyes slowly blinked open, he found himself in a very vulnerable position of  being targetted by Jimin's fist that seemed poised to deliver a blow to his face. Seeing Taehyung with his widening doe eyes, Jimin seemed to forget all his thoughts prior, and dived his hand down to seize Taehyung's.

"Taehyung ah." Jimin was so genuinely happy to catch Taehyung awake that his eyes curved into the soft crescents Taehyung so missed, and they cherished each other's quiet smiles for a moment, considering how many times they had missed the chance to be near like this.

Taehyung's face was still flushed from his subsiding fever, or perhaps there was more reason than one. 

"Those glasses look good on you." Taehyung complimented softly, and knew very well himself that he was bad at hiding how smitten he was.

"Oh, these? Thanks..." Jimin got a tad shy, and put the glasses away on the bedside drawer. He focused back on Taehyung. "Are you feeling better?"

Taehyung nodded without a fuss, transferring the warmth of Jimin's hand under his own. "Just needed to catch up on some sleep."

Jimin showed the slightest hint of a smile while observing Taehyung's large cushy hand engulfing his, and basically kept it to himself. Diverting his attention, Jimin asked Taehyung with real concern, "Where have you been in the past year..."

"I kissed you, didn't I."

"What."

Taehyung had a determined look to follow through, clearly not forgetting their moment of passion. "Ask me about that instead." He insisted.

Jimin bowed his head with dusted-pink cheeks, pursing his lips into a thin smile as he mumbled in a huff, "Since when did you get so cocky..."

Taehyung's face lit up with a rectangular grin from cheek to cheek, and Jimin was caught between wanting to punch his lights out and wanting to kiss him again. They both ended up suppressing laughs under shaking forearms so as to not disturb the other patients of the ward, and Taehyung found himself blessed with the breathtaking sight of Jimin laughing so hard that his shoulders were leaning against the bed for support. Good thing the curtain was drawn around Taehyung's bed, so they could retain a little privacy.  

"I missed you." Taehyung didn't hesitate to say. Jimin was gazing at him through mirthful eyes, but his laughter slowly simmered down as he realized that Taehyung had something he wanted to say. 

Taehyung propped the back of Jimin's hand against his own cheek, and Jimin felt the familiar warmth that radiated from Taehyung's eyes and cheeks. It was still fresh in his mind the way Taehyung had bumped their faces together and obliterated any kind of distance between them. Jimin was sure Taehyung would never let this go, and might even blatantly consider it an act of chivalry on his part if he were to gloat in future. Wait. What future. Slow it down, Park Jimin. Jimin chided himself in his thoughts.

"I missed you, Jimin." The careful look Taehyung had on his face gave away that he had a whole lot more thinking done in his head. "......I'm sorry I couldn't tell you before."

"Why not?" Jimin asked gently, feeling a need to go easy on the pure shamefaced boy.

"I don't feel worthy enough..." Taehyung spoke in a slightly dejected tone, but his eyes were fixated on Jimin and that seemed to make him a little more hopeful because Jimin was hardly rejecting him. "I probably don't deserve you..." Taehyung said with a tiny lopsided smile.

"Why do you prioritize me over yourself?" Jimin observed calmly. "Do you know you've been doing that?"

Taehyung blinked his eyes, clearly not understanding. 

"Ok, let's do it this way. I'm going to ask you about yourself, and you can't take too long to answer my questions ok? You must say the first thing that comes to mind, preferably a one-word answer or just a quick Yes/No."

"Ok."

Jimin smiled, obviously pleased that Taehyung was going along with his request.

"Was it you who packed my meals?"

"Yes."

"Did you think working here was the only way to be near me?"

"Yes."

"Did you stay away because of Jungkook?"

"...Partly..."

"Because you assumed I'm better off with him?"

"Yes..."

"What course are you studying?"

"English."

"What will you do after graduating?"

"Teach."

"What are your immediate thoughts for the future?"

"You."

"..........Do you want to be with me?"

"Yes."

"Would you quit this job if I asked you to?"

"...Ok?"

"And then move in with me?"

___

Author's Note A/N: 

VMIN MOVING IN TOGETHER. I'm not crying, you are. Lolllll

Please give this story some love! Thank you to all readers who have stuck with me. Your every comment spurs me to update faster. :)

As usual, this beautiful OTP deserves some appreciation pics. Thank you all you artists of fanarts, you keep the VMIN world LIT. It's a pity sometimes the source of these fanarts do not carry the artist credit, good thing some fanarts come with signatures.  

By the way, you will find that I linked a GIF of Taehyung's smile in a scene above, go click on it, I assure you it's cute :D