Jin yawned and rubbed his eyes. Before he even opened them, he could feel he was not alone. His mind was groggy, not yet fully free from the deceptive world of dreams. For a second he thought he was still dreaming, but his imagination wasn't strong enough to conjure up such a vivid feeling of the warmth of another person's body against his. Oh, how he had missed this. Loneliness was cold. So cold. Without his permission, his body leaned into the warmth, enjoying this rare opportunity. It felt so good to be held, he never wanted it to stop. He felt like he belonged, like he had been lost, wandering around aimlessly until he found his place in the universe. Right here.

As more and more brain cells succumbed to the light of day, forced to switch to an awake state, he suddenly came to his senses. An immediate knot formed in his gut, tying all his insides together. He knew exactly who he was hugging. His eyes shot open, confirming his worst fears.

“Morning.” Taehyung murmured, burying his face into his shoulder, hugging him tighter. His body was screaming not to let him go, but he had to. This wasn't right.

“What do you think you're doing?” he squirmed out of Taehyung's arms.

“Aww.. why can't we just stay like this a little longer... you hugged me back!” Taehyung pouted. His eyes were still puffy from a full night's sleep. It really was the cutest thing. It killed him to have to turn him down, but he knew this was wrong. He knew he would never be able to act on this sneaky little feeling that had squeezed itself into his heart and sprouted roots.

“You know why.” he said firmly, surprising himself with how authoritative he sounded. His feelings were not as clear as his steady voice indicated. There was an army of angels and demons in a fierce tug-a-war inside him and he wasn't sure who was going to win.

“Spoilsport!” Taehyung frowned at him and stuck his tongue out like a five year old kid who had been denied more candy.

Admitting defeat, Taehyung jumped up out of bed, super energetic and ready to start the day. Jin gasped. Taehyung was wearing nothing but boxer shorts. He tried to look away but it was as if his eyes had been glued stuck to that beautiful body of his. It was like a masterfully carved Greek statue. No. It was much better than that. No art, no matter how genius, could come close to recreating this kind of vibrant beauty.

Taehyung turned around, exposing his back, that seemed to go on forever. Jin's eyes traced the line in the middle of his back all the way down to the elastic band of his boxers, biting his lips as his imagination filled in the blanks.

“Hey!” Taehyung exclaimed in surprise, abruptly piercing a hole through Jin's fantasy, making it pop like a balloon. Cold water ran down Jin's back as he returned to reality. Taehyung was standing in front of his wardrobe, he had opened it. He was pointing at the shirt with the orange circle on it. Oh no. He had been caught red handed. What to do? What to do? He tried not to hyperventilate while thinking of a way to save himself.

“Oh... yeah... I still haven't taken it to the dry cleaners, I've been so busy tutoring a certain someone.” he said super casually, adding an accusing cough at the end to make it extra clear who he was talking about. “Not sure it's going to come out at all, actually.” he added with a sigh for maximum impact. He regretted it immediately when he saw the guilty look on Taehyung's face.

“I can take it for you. I'll figure it out. And if it doesn't come out, I'll buy you a new one!” Taehyung looked more determined than ever, beaming proudly for having successfully solved the problem. That little sweetheart. He didn't even have enough money to spend the night at a local sauna, how was he going to buy him a new shirt?

“Uh, no.. no, it's fine. Really. There's no rush.” he told him, smoothly hiding the fact that he liked the shirt better this way. It was his favorite piece of clothing he had ever owned and he was not about to let anyone touch it. It was perfect the way it was.

“By the way, how did you get my address?” Jin asked, pouring Taehyung a glass of orange juice.

“Oh, I took a photo of it when I was in the office... 'case I needed it later... turns out I did.” Taehyung grinned with his mouth full.

“Ah.” he nodded, but then realized there was something that didn't add up. “Wait, where at the office?”.

“There's this log kind of thing, with all the addresses and contact info of the school staff.” Taehyung explained absentmindedly, more interested in his breakfast than Jin's tedious line of questioning.

“You mean the log that is in the head master's locked cabinet?” he said in an incredulous tone. Taehyung just shrugged, happily stuffing the last of the rice in his mouth.

“Don't forget your jacket.” Jin handed him his now dry jacket, trying not to worry about where he was going to go. He had done enough. He was tutoring him, for free. He had given him shelter from the storm. He had fed him. This was as far as he could go. He couldn't risk getting involved any further.

“Thanks.” Taehyung sent him the sweetest smile, melting his wall of resistance before he had even had a chance to finish building it.

“So.. ehm... where are you going to go?” he quietly asked, drawing invisible circles on the floor with his slipper. Fail. He shouldn't have asked. He knew he shouldn't have asked.

“I'll just pick someone up at the club.” Taehyung said like he was going to go to the market and pick up some apples.

“Wait, what? You're a high school student!!” he objected.

“Please... it's not like I haven't done it before.” Taehyung sounded a little jaded. It made Jin really sad to imagine what hardships he had already had to endure during his short life.

“You can't just jump into bed with some random guy just because you need a place to stay!” he shook his head.

“Why?” Taehyung simply asked.

“Uh.. these things.. I mean... you first have to fall in love to consider doing.. those kind of things...” he almost died from awkwardness. He had no idea what to say.

“The world doesn't work like that.” Taehyung's eyes turned slightly sad.

He couldn't take this anymore.

“Fine! Fine. You can stay here for a few more days, we'll try to find you somewhere permanent.” he almost shouted, throwing his arms in the air. He was such a wuss. He couldn't even save himself from imminent disaster. There was an avalanche coming, and he was walking right towards it.