*** Chapter 3: Home Alone ***

Jihoon was home alone. Usually he would like to spend his time playing game, but his mind was weary, and gaming actually required some effort from his brain, which he didn’t really want to exert at the moment. Therefore, he chose to spend his energy cleaning the home instead.

He was cleaning the kitchen when he heard somebody entered the apartment. From the way his home-mate opened and closed the door, he knew exactly who was coming home, but he kept his focus in cleaning the kitchen bar.

He was facing the wall, but he knew that the person was coming for him. In no time, pair of arms were gently circling him from the back, locking the palms in his stomach, and the taller boy was gently pressing their bodies a little tighter.

“I’m home, Jihoon-a…” the boy whispered.

“Welcome home, hyung…” he replied.

The older boy delicately kissed Jihoon’s crown and inhaled deeply, devouring the sweet scent from the younger who had washed his hair some moment ago.

“Don’t you miss me?” he asked softly, adding more pressure in his arms, causing the shorter boy to stop his activity.

“Of course I miss you, hyung..” he answered tenderly, while finally turning his body to face his lover.

His eyes directly locked onto the older’s. Even after all this time, Jihoon was always failed to escape from the pair of the beady eyes, which kept him mesmerized and drowned in bottomless pool.

Yet he never realized, that his own eyes were doing the same thing to the taller boy’s mind.

Jihoon was lost in time and space until suddenly he felt something soft is gently crushing his lips, nibbling it slowly, tenderly, without any sign of force or demand.

“Hh..hyung….” Jihoon felt his own cheek turning hot, but he needed to stop him. “Taetae-hyung…”

“Hmm…” Taehyung responded, but did not separate their faces too far away.

Upon the gentle gaze, Jihoon started to lose himself again. But he shouldn’t.

His brain tried to think fast although his heart denied it, thus he was spitting any words he could find. “H..ha.. Have you eaten dinner?”

Taehyung drew an amused beam on his face, then he answered, “Yeah.. I’ve had dinner with Jimin before he went to his part-time job. What about you?”

“I’ve had it too. Woojin left me some pizza..”

Taehyung nodded knowingly, “And where is he now?”

“He went out with Daehwi. They jokingly said that he needed him to beat the crap out of Jinyoung, or something like that. I’m not sure. You know Daehwi is such a jealousy. And I don’t want to have anything to do with their relationship.”

Taehyung nodded his head again and he was back into his focus to crush his cute lover in his embrace.

Actually, this whole time, he didn’t loosen his arms a single bit. Jihoon was literally still unable to move from his hug.

“You sure you have eaten?” Taehyung stopped Jihoon's effort to escape. “Why do I feel like you keep losing weight? I think you used to be chubbier and fluffier than this…”

He realized that something must be bothering Jihoon that the younger didn’t act cheerfully like he usually did. That’s why he decided to a bit, in a hope to see a smile he loved so much.

“You’re not on a diet, are you?” he asked again.

“No, I’m not…” Jihoon was quick to respond.

“Don’t tell me Woojin left you only a slice of pizza..”

“No…”

“You’re not purposely indicating me to treat you more chicken, are you?”

“No, hyung.. really..”

It wasn’t a smile that Taehyung earned, instead it was a pouty cheeks. But he loved it anyway. Jihoon was just too cute to be true.

“I eat as much as usual, and I don’t think I’m losing any weight. In fact, I know for sure that my body still weighs the same since couple of months ago…”

Jihoon was still unable to escape from Taehyung’s locked arms.

“I guess your arms are still growing longer and longer…” Jihoon retorted.

Taehyung chuckled. His lover was starting to be sarcastic. And that meant he was slowly turning back into his true self.

The longer boy landed a quick peck on the shorter’s temple and gently caressed his cheek, with one arm still circling his lover’s waist.

It was rare for them to have time for their own. Taehyung wanted to have a peaceful quality time with his beloved one. But he noticed it anyway. Jihoon must had something to say. And it couldn’t wait any longer.

“Something bothering you, sweetheart?” he asked softly. Hand still on the cheek. Eyes were locked onto the other’s.

Jihoon didn’t respond.

“Is it about Jimin’s statements this afternoon?”

The younger boy lowered his head.

Bull’s eye.

Somehow, deep inside his heart, Taehyung knew, that he wasn’t going to like what Jihoon had to say.

“Are we doing the right thing, hyung?” Jihoon finally spoke out his mind. “Jiminie-hyung… he.. is actually right…”

“On what..?”

“We… we shouldn’t…”

Taehyung couldn’t bear to hear what Jihoon wanted to say. He placed his finger, sealing Jihoon’s lips. And he shook his head slowly.

“Hyung…”

“Please, Jihoon-a..”

“But we…”

“Stop!” Taehyung himself was a bit shocked that he raised his voice. “I don’t want to hear that word coming out from you…” the next sentences came out as a whisper.

“Hyung…”

Taehyung loosened his arms and released himself from his boyfriend. “You still care about him more than you care about me…”

“He is… my brother…” Jihoon had no other words to say.

Taehyung turned around. His heart was threatening to break into pieces. He had expected this kind of friction, but he didn’t expect it to be this heart-breaking.

“Taehyungie-hyung.. please… listen to me…” Jihoon reached out for Taehyung’s arm. “I… I…” he was lost of words again. “We.. both know… very well.. about Jiminie-hyung. How strict and protective he is… He is just… protecting us… our friendship… our brotherhood…”

“And you’re going to surrender to him just like that?” Taehyung replied coldly. “If you’re going to do this, then why did you accept my confession back then? Are you even serious with me? Are you just playing with my heart? Do you really care about me?!”

Taehyung’s train of accusation immediately turned Jihoon into panic mode. “No, hyung.. I truly care about you… I..LOVE.. you… I was so ecstatic that you turned to have the same feeling with me, I was in cloud nine…” Jihoon couldn’t believe that Taehyung was accusing his feeling as a joke.

“Do you really mean it? All those time you thought that all we had was brotherhood affection. Because I was your brother’s bestfriend, hence you think of me as your brother too..”

“You thought the same, didn’t you? You thought that I was like your own little brother that you never had. You… Y.. We… hh…” Jihoon started to feel hyperventilated, a common sign of him if he was in panic-attack.

Taehyung regretted it right away that he was the one making his beloved one turned vulnerable like that.

“Ssshhh.. Jihoon-a… Calm down…” he quickly grabbed the younger in his arms and soothed him, gently caressing his head. “I’m sorry…”

“I… really… really love you… hyung…” Jihoon tried his best to control his breath. “You.. are more… than a brother.. to me…” Tears started to flood his eyes.

Taehyung didn’t say anything yet. Jihoon was still trembling. He kept caressing his lover delicately.

All those memories came back to their mind. Ever since their first meeting when Jihoon arrived in Seoul three years ago, the cute little boy never left Taehyung’s mind. He didn’t lie when he said that he might be interested to Jihoon as a little brother since he’s an only child. And Jihoon had everything he wished for in his imagination of a perfect baby brother.

Jihoon too, was excited to have another brother, who unlike his rigid brother, Jimin, Taehyung was bright and easy-going.

But no one was conscious enough to realize that they had that special feeling only for one another. Taehyung never felt the same for Woojin. And Jihoon never felt the same for Jungkook or any other Bangtan members.

Almost three years were wasted away before they came to realization. That night when Taehyung almost got in a serious accident, and Jihoon was the first to come to his mind rather than his parents and friends, he learned what he truly felt for the boy. Jihoon himself, when he heard the news and felt a great relief, he understood the importance of Taehyung in his life. He could never lose him. A world without Kim Taehyung would mean nothing to him. Therefore, when Taehyung confessed to him, he answered ‘I love you too’ right away.

It had been months since then, but they knew very well about Jimin, including his over-protectiveness to Jihoon, and his no-dating-between-friends policy, they decided to keep everything low. Only Woojin knew about their relationship, because being Jihoon’s ‘twin-brother’ he was, he could read it all from Jihoon’s face like an open book.

After what was felt like eternity, Taehyung could feel that Jihoon was no longer trembling in his embrace. His breathing started to back to normal too.

“I love you too, Jihoon-a..” he whispered softly, but firmly. “That’s why.. I won’t just surrender to Jimin. I know your concern. Jimin is so adamant indeed. But I’m not going to lose you. We could still keep things low, treat each other like we used to. And I believe, someday we will find a way to convince Jimin..”

“But, hyung… It’s very tricky…” Jihoon still tried to reason. “It’s better for me to have you closely this way… like a brother.. rather than losing.. both you… and Jimin hyung… I don’t want to taint your friendship… You are the best friend he ever has…”

“I know.. I know…” Taehyung pulled him closer in his embrace. “But we will find a way… Believe me… As long as I have your heart… Note that you have mine only for you. I will never give up on us… You should never give up too…”

“It’s not going to be easy, hyung…”

“I know…”

“Surely my heart is yours. But please understand me if I might mistreat you later. I don’t want Jimin-hyung to bust us in an unpleasant way..”

Taehyung clicked his tongue, “It is agreeable for now. But if you keep mistreating me, I might act impulsively..”

“Hyung…” Jihoon beat his chest.

“You are so cute even when you are mad…”

Jihoon couldn’t retaliate any further because Taehyung had him completely under his control by his tight embrace and deep kisses.

And it lasted for like hours until they were no longer alone in the house.

They were too busy with themselves until they did not notice that someone had come home.

The two lovebirds were still hugging each other in the sofa, when Jimin already stood by their side.

His face was expressionless.

But his eyes were shooting daggers.

"What..are..you..guys..doing..?"

*** to be continued ***