Messiah

"The world's against us."

"But you're with me, aren't you?"

Author's note: Here's the sequel to Quest ~~and it's steamy,~~ ~~woh~~. All events are fabricated.

Pairing: Kim Taehyung x Jeon Jungkook

Genre: Angst, explicit language,

Rating: NC-17

Word Count: 5875

Jungkook sunk himself neck-deep into the bathtub, basking in a muted sort of zen.

The fansigning had been an undeniable success- they sang their new song, played games with the fans and drank beer with all the other members back in their dorm. Jungkook had to maintain his golden youngest pride, had to hit a high note that was a mere decibel away from becoming ultrasonic, had to dance to a song at a three times fast forwarded speed, lift Soekjin while the latter tore donuts from the strings in the given fifteen seconds and make the entire crowd crave a slight peek beneath his shirt as he raised his hands to gesticulate gratitude at the end of the evening.

Hence, Jungkook had once again, outdone himself, convinced everybody that he is flawless, that he is ready to be idolized, itemized and manufactured.

His phone buzzes, and he ignores it for the first time.

It buzzes again and he groans, opening his eyes and pulling himself out of the water; too cold for autumn, but a perfect temperature for his thick, tamed skin.

He wraps the towel around him, peering at the screen quizzically.

[10:34pm] Namjoon hyung: Kook, you there?

[10:34pm] Namjoon hyung: Is Taehyung with you?

[10:36pm] Namjoon hyung: Text me if you see this.

[10:41pm] Jungkook : Huh? I'm in Jimin hyung's room. I was taking a bath.

[10:43pm] Namjoon hyung: You're in the dorm? Where is Taehyung? He's been missing since after dinner.

[10:43pm] Namjoon hyung: He told me he's going to the convenience store so I thought you tagged along, like always.

[10:45pm] Junkook: He didn't even tell me he's going out.

[10:47pm] Jungkook: I'll go look for him.

[10:50pm] Namjoon hyung: Alright, Kook. If you find him shaken or vulnerable about what happened today, give him some space.

[10:51pm] Jungkook: Yes. Okay.

Jungkook wrapped another towel around his hair, drying it off with such vigor that it threatened to tear from his very scalp. He sprinted towards his room and searched for a plain black hoodie and a pair of sweatpants. He wears the hoodie and finds it a little tight at the shoulder. He looks at the brand label and finds it unfamiliar, not a part of his closet.

But definitely a part of Taehyung's.

It wasn't stolen, more of a non-consensual borrowing, with Taehyung scrunching his nose disapprovingly and Jungkook wrapping his arms around the older, coaxing him into lending it because secretly, he liked the design.

Secretly, he liked the scent.

Jungkook dragged his bike from the garage, unchained the tires and sped along the empty street, the growing uneasy lump in his throat starting to ache. He stops at the convenience store, discovers it to be empty.

It all came to him in bits and pieces, fragments of the fansign, of everybody's beaming faces but a certain someone's hidden heartbreak.

They had practiced, day-in and day-out, for a fansign that probably didn't even matter more than a grain of husk if compared to their cross-continent events. It was going well, Taehyung was smiling and laughing, occasionally caressing Jungkook's neck as they posed for pictures while making finger-hearts.

They were halfway through with their performance to their new song, bending and flowing with the agility that comes with rehearsing, when Taehyung lost balance.

It all happened in front of Jungkook, they had a duet segment and they were moving with the music, curving it at the command of their bodies but Taehyung tripped over his foot, fell face flat. It wasn't a first and everybody recovered in sync, covered his mishap with impromptu reflexes.

But Taehyung shattered beneath his piled fears when his voice cracked during the hook, making the entire space reverberate in an ill-conceived croak.

Taehyung was quiet thereafter, smiling and nodding if asked anything, simply hiding behind Namjoon's shadow otherwise. Taehyung was trying to hold on, was trying hard to overcome the ache, both mental and physical; when the MC joyously joked, stone-cold towards Taehyung's belittled confidence.

'Don't worry Taehyung-ah, atleast you have a handsome face.'

Everyone roared along in laughter but Jungkook only stood with bated breath, knew Taehyung was laughing on the outside but on the inside, he is eroded, broken into tiny, intricate pieces that pierce like shattered glass.

He is okay, is what he said. He is intimidated and crumbling, is what he felt.

Namjoon had seen Taehyung drown in his gloom all the way back home. It was as if Namjoon had words for everything, the way he consoled Taehyung. Hoseok joined in too, making a ruckus as he tried to create a rainbow of temporary joy in the backseat of the car for the younger bandmate. Jungkook could only sit in the passenger's seat, put on his headphones without turning the music on because he was feeling useless and scrapped too. He neither had Namjoon's vocabulary, nor had Hoseok's sunlike smile. He could do nothing, even though he was hurting the same.

[11:08pm] Jungkook: Hyung, where are you?

[11:08pm] Jungkook: Everybody's looking for you. Are you okay?

[11:09pm] Jungkook: Hyung?? I got you ice-cream. Please pick up the phone.

[11:12pm] Jungkook: Hyung...

[11:13pm] Junkook: I'm standing on the road alone.

[11:15pm] Jungkook : Tae.

[11:15pm] Jungkook: Tae I need to see you.

[11:19pm] Taetae: I'm in the practice room.

[11:19pm] Jungkook: Thank , it's freezing out here.

[11:20pm] Jungkook: I'm coming.

When Jungkook darts past the basement and through the elevator door, he doesn't see Taehyung shaken or vulnerable.

He sees him shattered, torn, ripped- the very etymology of devastation and rupture.

Taehyung blasts the music, hits the note perfectly while dancing but keeps on repeating it, trying to hit the note higher and better. His throat is a visceral red and his veins are a papercut away from escaping from his flesh in a mangled heap. He lets his body lose control at a certain point, falls onto the floor and pulls his head between his knees and screams.

He sees Jungkook standing at the doorway but he doesn't stop. The music is on loop; so is his singing, his dancing, his screaming and his crying.

Jungkook sinks in his frame, deflates in his misery when he sees a familiar fright in the older's eyes. Years and years of performing, of accomplishing, of appraisal but the ripples of being replaceable and deplorable kept popping and bursting along the surface of his lashes. This is how they are trained, Jungkook reminisces.

They are trained to be flawless, to be always a step ahead to secure their survival yet they still found themselves drowning in existential crises, finding everybody asking them to take three steps if the neighboring competitors took two. They are trained to be flawless yet they are criticized at every step. Apparently being flawless had stages too. And they never seemed to reach the ultimate stage. They were told that they would become leading icons, unsubstitutable and one of their kind yet they found hundreds like them, threatening to trample them and overshadow them with the same talents.

In their younger days, they had gone through counselors and therapists- all told them it's bright under the spotlight, sweet once they appreciate a little bit of bitter. No one told them it's a straight shot of whiskey, burning their throats and constricting their ribs as they pretended to be themselves under masks sewed with tangible manipulation and phantom leashes.

Namjoon and Yoongi knew, it was all ambiguous. That they had to paint the red carpets with their blood, live their lives sacrificing what others would die without. Hoseok knew too, knew how to smile on the outside knowing the moment he turns, there'll be daggers pointing at his back. He smiles because he knows, nobody valued it when he cried. So he smiles his way through, smiles until the day comes when the world quakes under his tears, his raw. But Taehyung.

Little did the angel of a boy know the midnight runaways with fellow trainees and picnics by the river aren't forever. The colourful, explorable walls around them keep a realm hidden, a realm that slowly makes you plummet towards already made obligations and hand-moulded showpieces. Makes you bend into someone you’re not and ask you to act natural- be yourself by not being yourself because you are what the people make of you.

Jungkook had been a pawn for long, seen lives and talents being traded over the big scene ever since he learnt to tie his own shoelaces. But when he was tossed into the band, seen Taehyung being made to spend nights and days fitting in and coping, competing his own friends to not be thrown out before the finalization, it left Jungkook daunted. Taehyung started with crying alone at nights, then crying in the evening gatherings and finally breaking under every word, every harsh pinpoint. He stopped eating, stopped laughing, started standing in front of mirrors to rehearse his smiles for broadcasts and events so that it doesn't seem fake.

Taehyung never stopped loving the members. That was something he never faked. But he did, slowly, forget to love himself.

Become disturbed, unmindful and often eccentric. It was great on-screen, making him a dorky, callous boy with a wide grin.

To Jungkook, off-screen, it was like watching an angel slowly losing its feathers. One by one until it's wings crumble.

Breathing becomes difficult for Taehyung as he makes the same twirl for the thirteenth time, bounces off his feet and sings in a disoriented melody. Jungkook screws his eyes shut, fights the brim of tears and unplugs the speaker from the socket.

'Why did you turn it off?', Taehyung grunts as he turns around, his face a swollen sweaty emaciation. His eyes had sunk deep into their sockets and the white tee stuck to his body, making him look like a rag doll, violent and determined in its retribution.

'Stop. You dont have to push yourself like this.'

Taehyung halts when Jungkook whispers, watches the younger stare at him with twinkling, pleading eyes. He walks up to the broad male, joins his hands and gestures outwards.

'Thank you for your concern. Is that all? Then please leave.'

Taehyung reaches for the plug but Jungkook pulls him by the wrist, shoves him lightly before stepping forward. Taehyung glares at him, exhales noisily and keeps a poignant tone.

'Jungkook this isn't about you. Leave me alone for a while. If I want to be a vulnerable and a ing spineless emotional cabbage, let me be. I dont need sympathy right now.'

Jungkook doesn't like it, the way Taehyung is palpitating, torturing himself into becoming something he doesn't have to be. Taehyung looks lost, desolate but he has hung barbed wires around him, not allowed the hollow to be filled.

'It's not your fault. What happened today is nothing.'

Jungkook sees Taehyung shake, tremble is his temper because that's how he is. He works and works towards perfection because he cant handle the pain of being undermined. Cant handle the insecurities that come with his reducing lines in their songs, increasing mistakes in the choreographies and depleting participation in their promotional meets. Taehyung was delicate; bruised and experienced but yet, delicate in his tolerance and limits. He doesn't seem to realize he fails to cope on his own, needs someone to bring him his breakfast cereal, hold his hand at the crazed airport, shake him by the shoulder and seep belief in him before concerts.

He doesn't seem to realize he needs what's right in front of him and his blindness leaves him incorrigible and frenzied.

'I told you I dont ing need your consolation! I dont need anybody right now so please just go before I say things I dont mean to and disrupt a friendship!'

'I'd rather let you disrupt this friendship than yourself.'

Taehyung bellows when Jungkook steps closer and stands firm and tall, unyielding in his resolve to stay.

'Why? Why do you care? Why does anybody care? I'm clearly not good enough. Why do you have me around? Am I- am I just a clown, a showpiece?'

Jungkook feels pieces of him break and scatter when Taehyung dislodges his tears, lets the small beads of desperation and frustration roll down his flushed, ruby cheeks. He bites his lip as he screws his eyes shut, dabs his thumb above them and sinks to the ground, letting his voice grow hoarse and cracked as he shows his emptier sides to the younger male.

Jungkook feels water pool at the edge of his chin too, flowing in floods and hitting the weaker spots that he usually keeps hidden, keeps non-existent for the sake of his company. He feels what Taehyung does, feels the same dull throb at the center of his vision because they are all living the same nightmare- are we good enough to last?

Jungkook lowers himself, wraps his arms around his shivering shoulders.

Taehyung jumps at the sudden contact, standing up and stepping back. He places a hand on his mouth, sniffling and coughing. Jungkook feels the lump in his throat keep growing, becoming a stone that is stuck, bruising and wounding everytime Jungkook gulped. He looks at the older male, reaches out to hold a finger of his but Taehyung slaps his hands away.

'D-dont touch me right now. I want to be alone.'

Now this, hurt Jungkook.

No, not the slap. Not the hurt of the flesh.

Taehyung slapped his hand but the pain echoed somewhere near his chest, a slow numbing soreness creeping all the way to his jugular tissues. All Jungkook was thinking of was Taehyung, how he didn't deserve to be crumpled under something so menial, how Jungkook is laying down all barriers and all means to protect him, be a crutch to his crippled faith.

Jungkook is trying hard, trying hard to keep the last flicker of hope alive in him but Taehyung is burning it out, extinguishing himself along with the younger, too.

'Alone? What're you gonna do alone? Cry it out? Break your legs dancing? Rip your throat screaming? Do you think that's a solution? Do you think that's how life goes on? Instead of learning from your mistakes, you're going to let it kill you?'

Taehyung narrows his eyes, voice curt and miserly, 'That's easy for an all-star kid to say. When are you criticized, laughed at? When have you been crossed off a list? You've got the director on your lap, what we do as a group, you can do alone!'

Jungkook's eyes widen in disbelief, mouth maimed open, 'What? Are you really, really saying I've never been misjudged? Never been called a fool of a child, never dissed for being irresponsible, never asked to get my face cut and operated?'

Taehyung regretted his words immediately when upset tears deluge Jugkook's cheek, 'Are you really that heartless to say I haven't suffered denial, haven't been restricted from going home on holidays because my vocal training isn't good enough- are you saying after all these years, I haven't been hurt once?!'

Crinkles on Taehyung's forehead appear as he heaves an exhausted and weary breath, 'No, no I didn't mean that. I'm sorry let's not fight, we're all bandmates.'

Taehyung sees Jungkook take long strides, shoes so loud against the vinyl floor that it made his heart flip. Before he could comprehend Jungkook grabs him by the shoulder, pushes him with all strength in his body, making the older male lose his balance and fall backwards. He hit the table, toppling the speaker over. He clutched the edge of the wood, staring at Jungkook quizzically.

Jungkook stands close to him, so close Taehyung saw the veins by his eyeballs, the rage in his pupils and perhaps the discontentment in his soul.

'Bandmates, huh? Five years of slogging, five years of chasing, five years of sharing the same cereal bowl, five years of losing countless hours of sleep- five years of loving you and now I'm a bandmate, a contract?'

'Jungkook what are you s-'

Jungkook stands isolated, it's always a punch in the gut to see Taehyung's face lose colour.

Jungkook was fifteen, too young to have the mental processing power to cope with growing up so fast, like a year in a month. He is twenty now, still trying to cope but Taehyung- he let Jungkook act twelve when he has fifteen, lets him be seventeen around him now that he's twenty. Jungkook couldn't let his dumb from falling for the older male, a sheer dollop of joy, who opened his arms for him, let him just be Jungkook- an average boy who likes greasy food and Mario Kart; likes occasional hugs and full smiles.

Taehyung had always been the secret energy, when Hoseok and Jimin would fail, he would jump in, become a substitute. He had always held himself to be a substitute, replaceable but to Jungkook he was rare, one of his kind so when Jungkook saw the boy who kept him afloat, drown himself, he felt shattered.

'Hit me.'

'W-what?', Taehyung stands up straight, watches Jungkook bring an imperceptible kind of wrath in the air.

Jungkook takes him by the collar, let's his fist meet the end of his jaw and flings him the opposite way, 'I'm asking you to ing hit me. Pound me, end this contract.'

'Jungkook, dont be insane!', Taehyung feels another blow on his stomach and he reels towards the wall.

'Dont touch me, Jeon Jungkook!', Taehyung reclines against Jungkook's chest and shoving him too as the two locked their arms, punching and wounding each other. Taehyung only got wilder after a point, screeching and hissing as he aimed for the younger's skull, chin and abdomen.

He was so engrossed in venting his hate and fury he failed to notice when Jungkook had stopped hitting him back, quietly letting his own skin bruise.

Taehyung wipes the corner of his mouth, voice shaky as he challenges the younger, 'What's wrong? Come on, hit me, you wanted to didn't you?'

Jungkook grabs Taehyung's wrists when they come flying in the mid-air. He's had enough, forged enough, had to bear enough. It was nothing, the physical pain that is.

But the growing chasm in the cavern of his heart was overwhelming. Taehyung shrieks out a cry when Jungkook slams him into the wall, nearly lifts him by the mere pressure of his chest.

They were a bleeding, crying mess, both insecure, both fading because they have nothing solid to hold on to.

Jungkook sees Taehyung lean his head forward and cry into the base of the younger's neck but Jungkook doesn't let him. He balls his hair in his fists, jerking Taehyung's head upwards and swallowing him in his kiss.

It was not a time to be shocked, appalled, or disgusted. They were starved, hungry and lonely. They were beasts and they were feasting on their torn pieces. Jungkook brings his hands down to pin Taehyung to the wall by the shoulders and Taehyung reaches up to match his height, tangle Jungkook's sweat-slicked hair around his fingers. Jungkook takes his bottom lip between his teeth the flesh to taste the saltiness of tears and the cherry of his chapstick- and an underlying taste that is all of their vulnerabilities.

All at once Taehyung sees it. With his body against his and his mouth in his, he discovers what consensual destruction feels like. In his mouth, he tastes the hurt, covet, longing, yearn, deprivation and love the younger male had been hiding and fostering.

It flashes by like a racing film reel, the times Jungkook stayed by him all night, made the older his Messiah, sought for him in times of need, flung his arms around him because he was empty and Taehyung made him full. Taehyung sees the little things Jungkook said when Taehyung felt low, how he nodded at him on fanmeets when he thought he was slipping, hence becoming a tether to reality.

Jungkook had always tried, always reached out to his scary, forbidden world and it's time he returns the favour.

Jungkook releases Taehyung from his grip, making the pale boy drop with a thud. Jungkook pants as he steps back, frightened as to what he had done on impulse. Taehyung coughs, tries to catch his breath and hits his chest lightly because Jungkook had compressed his ribs under his weight.

Jungkook feels his skin dew in anxiety, waiting for Taehyung's expression to change. Waits for him to yell, discern his erseness and bring out the knife of loathe to cut the strings between them forever.

Taehyung whispers, expression nothing akin to contempt.

'You actually like me?'

Jungkook staggers at the sudden counterattack, feels his heart pulsate at a torturous pace, 'For a long time, yes.'

'How long?'

'Ever since I laid eyes.'

Taehyung brings his gaze back on Jungkook's face. His eyes were soft and tranquil again, a little wavering due to the uncertainty of the situation but he seemed sincere, no longer a working machine of fury.

'But isn't it weird, to feel this way? I mean this feeling has no future.'

Jungkook takes a measured step, leaves the breath he was holding because Taehyung doesn't move away this time.

'I dont know. What I know is that all this time, I kept praying for this feeling to subside but it just kept becoming overbearing. In fact, at this point, I prefer substantial damage over suffocating peace.'

Taehyung purses his lips, looks at the ground as he lets his hair fall into his eyes. Jungkook takes another step, close enough to touch his flesh but far enough to not touch his soul, 'Do you- do you feel that way too, towards me?'

Jungkook watches Taehyung meet his gaze, the crestfallen eyes twinkling again. He looked adorable, in the large shirt and with pouty lips, lashes thick in a newfound titillation.

'What is it, exactly? That feeling you're talking about?'

Jungkook shrugs, trying to form coherent words because internally he was all too over Taehyung, breathless for his soft, lovable face, 'The feeling when- when you struggle to reach the top of the shelf so I hold you up, and the feeling when you don't understand a step and you let me handle your body, watch you bend under my fingers, and the feeling when you smile and I just want to give you the world.'

Jungkook watches Taehyung's milky cheeks flush red, fingers fiddling with each other to help fight a stupid grin. Jungkook finds all this, all of him too heartbreakingly beautiful so he takes the final step to close their distance, trace Taehyung's knuckle with his thumb and splay his palm open only to bask his own hand in his warmth, 'So, do you feel it too?'

'It's not easy, what we're throwing ourselves into. The world will be against us.'

This time, Jungkook doesn't let Taehyung's fears command him. This time, Jungkook reigns over him, makes the boy bring out his strengths, realize how precious he is.

'They might be. But you'll be with me, won't you?'

Taehyung looks at Jungkook but turns away shyly, eyes curling into crescents as he breaks into a pure, clandestine smile that makes time stop, freezes it to admire this moment and keep it locked within themselves.

Taehyung whispers something but it was too low and too consciously mumbled. Jungkook a brow, puzzled, 'What?'

'I said', Taehyung raised his voice a little, shifting in his posture, 'Kiss me properly.'

Jungkook feels this invigorate the butterflies in his stomach that are already chasing a high.

This breaks something in him, perhaps brings summer into his winter, makes his icebergs melt to finally let the plush petals of his adoration bloom and revel. Heart hammering between his breaths, he lets himself become spellbound, drink in his transcendence and drown in his wholeness.

He doesn't waste a moment in exchanging platitudes. Cutting the tension terse he comes to cup Taehyung's cheek, feel and cradle the featherlike flesh and cherish the gleam and glee in his welcoming smile.

He bops him on the nose, kisses the tip and exhales because he feels the anchor tied to their hearts sink. Their hearts were beating again, making melody in their rejoice- and finally, living.

It was all too gentle, all too ethereal when Taehyung closed his eyes, let Jungkook rest his mouth, his heart, and his soul atop his lips.

Jungkook kissed his bottom lip and then the top, prying them open and blending himself into him to soothe his bleary ache for affection. Taehyung grabs a fistful of Jungkook's hoodie and pulls him closer because he has gone too long missing him, too.

They move in sync, tasting and savoring what had gone insipid for months. Jungkook releases a heavy sigh that tickles Taehyung's cheek, makes his stomach clench in anticipation.

They take their time in memorizing, learning and holding each other, finding all their dark pieces and loving them back to light.

The younger becomes impatient in his display of adoration, laps his tongue against the other's mouth to grant him entrance. He gets it soon and he brings his hands down to his nape and walks him to the wall again for support. Taehyung arches into Jungkook when they stand pressed against the cold plaster, inviting the younger's hand down to his thin waist and feeling him his tongue deeper and explore better. Their tongues twirl in a harmonious blend amidst the cacophony of their breaths. Jungkook pulls away, earning a small whimper from Taehyung that sent Jungkook's hands flitting to force the other's tucked shirt out from his jeans.

Jungkook hums as he trails his mouth down the column of his neck, kissing, and teasing the skin as his hands slide under his shirt, caressing the small of his back. His long, playful fingers draw circles along his sides and above his waist, making the older curve into him and wrap his arms around his neck. Jungkook teases the skin where his neck meets shoulder and gives it a flick with his tongue, sending Taehyung into overdrive because he had found a sweet spot.

'Kookie- , ah.'

Jungkook smirks smugly at his endearment, watching Taehyung turn into a mewling, whining mess as he continued marking hickeys on his throat, biting down hard with power and purpose because unlike Taehyung, Jungkook is not generous. He is possessive and loves the feeling of claiming things he cherished, loves being selfish with them.

He was thrilled at the thought of Taehyung blushing a blazing red and digging out scarves and turtlenecks to cover himself during events. Jungkook was so thrilled about secret kisses, secrets gestures of affection and the simple thought of being in love that he coursed his tongue along the softest tendon on Taehyung's neck, bit down hard and watched the area wither into a purple-red bruise that screamed mine.

Jungkook feels the unprecedented solar flare of desire light in him, their hips bucking and sticking close enough to make his groin twitch in enthrallment. Taehyung releases a soft moan into the air hulking with want and crave, only to have it swallowed by Jungkook and his kiss.

The younger's pining, ailing hands traverse up Taehyung's body, pulling his shirt along with it while it moved. Jungkook leaves his lips to bend himself, place tiny kisses across his chest as he held his shirt up with a hand and kept his back arched with the other.

Taehyung shivers, osmose under the younger’s warm, full lips and looks at him to find his eyes closed and mouth heaving, as though he was worshipping Taehyung, gracing him as something divine, something eternal.

The younger hisses as he moves with majestic swiftness, takes a in his mouth and kisses it hard, tweaking the other between his fingers. Taehyung gasps a small, hungry cry, groaning as his eyes moisten in sheer pleasure. Jungkook lets sloppy kisses fill his body. Taehyung was slender and thin, not very heavy built and perfect for the girth of Jungkook's big, coarse hands. His skin was untouched and tender and sweet, just like Jungkook had always imagined, had always craved for.

The mere thought of Taehyung under his skin, bending his agile limbs in ways Jungkook asked him to, made the younger turn into a livewire. Now that he is really in his arms, that he doesn't have to survive on his wishes and thoughts anymore, Jungkook feels himself capsize beneath his love and need for the boy.

Taehyung reaches to hold onto something- anything and finally combs his hands through Jungkook's hair when he lifts himself back up. Jungkook pulls him harshly by his waist and locks their hips together. His hands slither southwards to cup his , setting a punishing rhythm as he grinds against the older.

Jungkook takes a lobe between his teeth, feeling Taehyung's erratic breaths tingle his neck. He keeps their bodies so close that air fails to pass through them.

Taehyung feels his body become an undulated terrain of starvation when he feels the younger grow hard against the thin fabric of his sweatpants, the thick entirety of his nipping teasingly at the zipper of his own jeans. He crumbles at this, fails to hide the intense lust he nurtures for the younger male as he claws into his hoodie needily.

'Listen.'

Jungkook tugs at the waistband of Taehyung's jeans, giving his ear a soft, wet flick before he whispers again, 'I'm going to take you back to the dorm and I'm going to you, okay? All night, between your sheets until I've given you every inch of me. We're going to and you're going to stay in bed tomorrow, smell me and on your pillow and your mattress and understand and comprehend how much I ing love you.'

Jungkook drops his hands and traces the older's begging, hardened over the denim. Taehyung lets a small sob escape into the air, ing his shaft into Jungkook's palms as he pleads in a voice that is undeniable, 'Please- please take me back.'

'Only if you tell me you'll be mine.'

'I'll be yours.'

Jungkook grabs his hand, dragging him out of the practice room and then out of the building. Taehyung struggled to keep up with his haste, movements hindered by the embarrassing bulge in his jeans. He sees Jungkook pull out the bike and sees the melted ice-cream hanging from its handle.

'Ah, . I'm sorry I'll get you some more later.'

Taehyung laughs as he sits behind Jungkook, wraps himself around him and takes in his scent, 'It's alright.'

It's when he takes a deep, conscious inhale when Taehyung realizes the detergent was familiar and so was the hoodie. Unmistakably, it had to be his as it was a little tight for Jungkook's broad, built shoulders.

Taehyung never liked sharing clothes, never liked anybody even touching them. He was immaculate about it and if he ever exchanged clothes, he would wash it twice. But he doesn't ask Jungkook about the hoodie. It is true, that Taehyung's clothes were his prized possessions, his intimate obsession.

But then, so was Jungkook.

They were kissing the moment the door shut behind them, drowning in each other and feeling their hands at places they were and even where they no longer are.

Taehyung's room was always akin to a ual paradise for Jungkook. Soft jazz always floated in the air and the aftermath of his scented candles always sent the younger's mind reeling, making him fantasize about the sins they could wash their bodies in.

'Clothes off.'

Taehyung obeys quietly as Jungkook reaches to flick the lights off, filling the room in the luminescence from the gaps between the white curtains. Taehyung chuckles as he sees Jungkook struggling with the hoodie that got stuck at the top of his head.

Taehyung pulls it off for him, runs his hands along the younger's deity-like body, feeling his muscles tighten at his touch. Jungkook engulfs him in his embrace and lifts his chin, staring into his eyes devotedly and lovingly before kissing him in the earnest, all passionate and meaningful and deep as he walked them to his bed.

'God, Tae, you have no idea you had been doing to me.'

‘What had I been doing?’

‘Keeping me afloat when I clearly knew I should be sinking.’

It was all too transcendent, with euphoric currents shooting up Taehyung's spine as Jungkook traced his entire body with his mouth, caressing and kneading until his body unwound and lost its tension. When Taehyung gathers the courage to tell Jungkook he is borderline scared of the pain then Jungkook kisses his forehead, tells him that he had taken the liberty of making a promise out of their contract, taken the liberty of being the one who made Taehyung feel good, feel safe. Being the one who gave flight to his wings.

Throughout the night, with the sheets dripping in their sweat and their lust, the younger leaves no opportunity of whispering to the older sinful nothings and hidden confessions. To Taehyung, Jungkook looked pristine when he was bursting with sincerity, as though he had swallowed the stars and was wholly a celestial creation.

With Jungkook's mouth against the older's nape and the latter's face buried in the pillows, their muffled moans thrummed with the shaking headboard. It was a joyous blend of vitality and tenderness, a unison that tied their empty hearts together and kept them from drowning and perishing.

They savoured love, made love and felt love- everything encasing them in a universe of their own, existing in an alternate perfect realm where the society was the lover's arm and the purpose of existence was the lover's kiss.

Taehyung did wake up to an empty bed but oddly, it didn't feel empty.

It still smelt of longing and lust, of Jungkook and his scintillating presence. He rolled over and reached for his clothes, found a fresh pair already awaiting at his bedstand. He washed his face, laughing as he had to half-limp his way to the living hall.

True to his words, the dorm was empty, Jungkook had convinced the boys into letting Taehyung skip practice.

He tried calling him but his phone was switched off so he just shuffled towards the kitchen instead. He opened the shelves and found the cereal boxes empty. He silently cursed himself, saying that's what happens when you skip going to the convenience store for emotional tantrums.

Taehyung comes to halt when he sees the sticky note on their fridge, the scribbly handwriting with an illegible heart drawn at the bottom. Taehyung grazes his thumb over the papers, smiles a soft smile as he feels hope and affection brim and leak from his pores, sheath him in the kind of warmth and comfort he had been looking for all these years.

-Tae, I got you ice-cream <3