Taehyung had already disappeared behind the bedroom door, and Jimin decided that he had best focus on finishing his work quickly so he might be able to sneak in a few winks with Taehyung later.

.

.

.

When Jimin had finally completed his work for the night, he snuck into the bedroom on tiptoe hoping not to interrupt Taehyung's sleep. Taehyung was awake however, his limbs spread haphazardly across the bed as though he had leg-wrestled with the pillows and bedsheets. His arms were thrown wide open as he laid on his back and stared at the ceiling, seemingly preoccupied with something on his mind because he didn't even hear the door open. Jimin took a step closer to the bed, and was alarmed to see Taehyung's eyes were moistened to the brim. As if on reflex to clear the floodgates, Taehyung blinked his eyes and a single tear slipped down his cheek noiselessly. If Jimin had looked away for just a second, he would have missed this scene entirely because Taehyung looked every bit composed and not like someone who was having a breakdown.

"Taetae." Jimin cried out weakly like he was choking back emotion, and gathered Taehyung's cheeks between his palms. "Why are you crying? Tell me, did I do something wrong?"

"What— No, I—" Taehyung looked at Jimin guiltily as if he was caught red-handed. He hadn't intended for Jimin to see him like this, and even less so for him to think he was the cause of it.

"How could it be you?" Taehyung instantly leaned forward to graze Jimin's nose with a gentle peck. "You've only been perfect to me."

Jimin had taken the liberty to lie down barely inches from Taehyung, and Taehyung surrendered his hands to Jimin who clasped on tightly.

"Taehyung... What have you not been telling me?" Jimin was pleading so hard that Taehyung felt overpowered.

"What do you mean?"

"Don't act dumb with me. Sometimes you look at me like you want to leave me everything in your will." Jimin was the only one who would pinpoint a tricky emotion so blatantly instead of skirting around it.

"But I do want to leave you everything." Taehyung said and truly meant it. "Including my Porsche, Ferrari, Lamborghini... All yours."

Jimin started to snicker because he knew his inheritance would only be Taehyung's collection of remote-controlled miniature cars, and Taehyung was initially straight-faced but was soon breathing a round of chuckles over Jimin's hair as he nuzzled close to the easily tickled boy whose infectious laughter could momentarily make him forget his own name.

"Jimin... Jimin." Taehyung softly called out, his lips lightly tracing the curve of Jimin's ear. "You mean so much to me..."

Taehyung did not shy away from Jimin's piercing eyes for once, as Jimin gradually returned to being serious. 

"You're scaring me, Tae."

"Why's that?"

"You're asking a lot of open-ended questions too. You know that drives me crazy. I hate uncertainties."

"And yet you choose to be with me."

Jimin looked pained by that statement, and Taehyung almost wished he hadn't said it.

"Do I give you any reason to feel insecure?"

"No..."

"Then why are you so afraid of showing me how you feel?"

"Because I don't want you to leave me..."

"I would never leave you, Taehyung."

"You would have if I'd stopped caring... If I hadn't pulled myself together to get a diploma and a job... If I'd just stayed as ed up as I was, I might have been dead, shot full of drugs, OD'd in a ditch somewhere." Taehyung looked desperate for Jimin to understand that no matter how hard he tries, he will always fall short.

"Even after you saved me from my father, there were so many times I wanted to waste myself away, and just disappear." Jimin's lips parted in muted distress, but Taehyung was suffering more.

"I wanted to leave you, Jimin... Why haven't you left me first?"

Jimin Taehyung's clammy cheeks in an attempt to calm the distraught boy.

"Because you're an idiot..." Jimin cooed with a soft smile at Taehyung who wouldn't stop his guilt-stricken tears. "And I love you more than you know..."

Taehyung's eyes lit up like shooting stars, fickle yet bright, and when Jimin pulled him into a bone-crushing embrace, Taehyung literally felt like he needed life support, and Jimin was there to help him breathe. Jimin holding him tight brought forth a stronger bout of tears, and he never imagined it would be so hard to put into words how badly he needed Jimin.

"Ji-Jimin... I'm sorry I'm such a mess... You're right that I'm an idiot... I'm an idiot who loves you, if nothing else..."

Jimin's lips turned up at the corners in amusement, and Taehyung realized that he had just phrased his confession as an insult by saying he was decisively an idiot to love Jimin. More like he was stupidly and irrevocably in love.

"Oh god, I'm so bad at this..." Taehyung muttered with mild disgust at himself, but Jimin just ruffled Taehyung's hair with affection.

"I know what you're getting at..."

"But I need you to hear it..." A thought occured to Taehyung, who promptly forgot his woes as he reached for his handphone resting on the bed. "Can I play you a song, Jimin? You'd understand why when you listen to it..."

Jimin nodded with a beautiful twinkly-eyed smile. Taehyung pulled himself up to sit in a cross-legged position as he scrolled his playlist, pretending he needed time to locate the song but in reality he was quivering with trepidation that perhaps this song wasn't appropriate at all, and he'd end up looking like a loser for relying on a song that distorted his feelings. 

Jimin was quick to pick up on Taehyung's self-doubt and he crawled up to drape himself over Taehyung's back like a pliant cat, peppering his neck with slow and lazy kisses. "Let's hear it." coaxed Jimin as he cradled Taehyung with arms and legs fastened over him like a safety harness.

Taehyung gave a timid smile and passed Jimin one side of his earphones. Jimin plugged in the earpiece, and channeled his attention to listening. [Song: LANY - ILYSB (Stripped)]

Ain't ever felt this way

Can't get enough so stay with me

It's not like we got big plans

Let's drive around town holding hands 

And you need to know

You're the only one, alright

And you need to know

That you keep me up all night

Oh my heart hurts so good

I love you baby, so bad, so bad

At this point, Jimin was already pretty much an emotional wreck, while Taehyung was just getting in the mood of sinking deep in the music. His favourite part was where he got to sing to Jimin, and he wasn't going to miss this chance of singing the words that rang the most true for him.  

"My heart hurts so good... I love you... So bad..." He turned his chin towards Jimin and briefly connected their lips, feeling Jimin melt into it whimperingly.

"So bad..." whispered Taehyung repeatedly, as he wrapped his arms protectively around Jimin's shuddering shoulders and kissed over every spot on his face for every sob Jimin couldn't hold back.

"You jerk..." Jimin's tone was accusatory but it sounded much weaker than he intended. "I waited so long for you to say it..."

Taehyung tightened the lock of his arms around Jimin, as he felt his own pangs for having put Jimin through a long-drawn period of uncertainty all because of his own insecurities.

"I'm sorry... I'm sorry... You make me so weak, I can hardly say it..."

"You played it real smooth today... Give yourself some credit."

Jimin hushed Taehyung's flustered wail of dissent with a finger brushed against his lips, as he decidedly toppled himself over with Taehyung's back flattened against himself on their bed.

Taehyung's eyes widened with the many possibilities of Jimin's next action running through his mind. He flipped himself over at the waist to gaze up at Jimin, starry-eyed.

"Jimin, have you been waiting for this too..."

"Shut up, Tae..."

______

Author's Note A/N:

Next chapter is the final one. Hope this was sweet. :))))

Please leave me a sign if you liked this chap? 

This fanart makes me soft. Artist credit at bottom, I didn't crop anything: