Taehyung looked up at Jimin, the roar of cheers and happy shouts from the people surrounding them deafening him for a while. Jimin’s eyes were fixed on Taehyung’s face as well and he smiled just when Taehyung’s eyes met his. It was the characteristic Jimin smile. Inviting, decked with the sweetness that reflected his endearing nature and yet always carrying a hint of mischief. Taehyung felt him squeeze his hand, which had been holding Jimin’s, the latter now bearing a dazzling stone-bearing ring. Another round of cheers originated from the front row of the seats, from his hyungs. Hoseok was the loudest. Taehyung’s eye caught Namjoon standing behind Jimin, a peaceful smile on his face. He nodded at Taehyung, his smile deepening.

 Taehyung smiled back at him. He turned his gaze to look at his hyungs. Jin and Hoseok were clapping and had elated smiles. Yoongi started clapping only when Taehyung looked at him and he smiled. Beside him, one seat was vacant. Taehyung turned back to Jimin, mentally closing the door for any further thoughts. He was surprised to see that Jimin’s eyes were on the same spot his own had just withdrawn from. Jimin, seeming to realise that Taehyung’s eyes were on him, returned his gaze to Taehyung’s face promptly. He smiled at Taehyung again, the same warm and sweet smile, but the playful spirit in them was missing. As he gazed into Taehyung’s eyes, he seemed to seek an answer to something. 

“Jimin put the ring on Taehyung’s finger.” Namjoon said from behind him and Jimin blinked once, seeming to be woken up from a daydream. Once again, a cluster of voices from various corners of the hall encouraged and appealed for the same. 

Taehyung forced a smile which he tried with all his strength to pass of as genuine and signalled Jimin with a slight nod of his head.

Namjoon was holding up the ring for Jimin to take. Jimin took a few seconds before he turned and retrieved the ring from Namjoon’s hand.

He turned to Taehyung and Taehyung noticed the same look return in his eyes. Jimin’s countenance was welcoming and soft as ever, but there was a confusion in the depth of it somewhere that Taehyung’s mind did not miss. He tried to gauge it, he tried to question Jimin through his eyes.

 Jimin blinked twice and seemed to return to the reality, he looked around once, blinking once in the direction where Yoongi was sitting and beside it, and returned to look straight at Taehyung again, flashing his smile. He shook his head very slightly and brought up the hand holding the ring and slid it onto Taehyung’s finger. 

The crowd erupted into cheers and happy shouts again. Namjoon came forward, patting Jimin on the back once before crushing him in a bear hug. He released Jimin and turned to Taehyung, with a smile that was seemed to be pacifying. He placed a hand on Taehyung’s shoulder and smiled. Taehyung smiled but lowered his vision. He could not bear to face Namjoon who seemed to have changed his opinion of Taehyung, accepting him as a good partner for his brother. Namjoon pulled him in for a hug and soon he felt a few more hands on his back. Namjoon released him only to be engulfed in a group hug by his friends. 

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….... 

“We want a bachelor’s party before the wedding. There’s no two ways about it.” Hoseok said, as the four of them climbed the stairs.

“I actually agree with Hobi on that. You never know when one of us is going to get married after this. We want a fun bachelor’s that we may remember for a long time.” Jin said, laughing.

“Yoongi hyung what do you think?” Hobi asked.

“I think I need ten hours of sleep.” 

Hobi threw him a dirty look while Jin laughed. 

“What the hell went wrong with Jungkook? Why wasn’t he there? Are you both fighting again?” Hobi smacked Taehyung’s arm.

“No, hyung.”

“Then what’s wrong with him? Is he okay?” Hobi and Jin turned towards Taehyung, seeming to expect an answer. Taehyung stayed silent and averted their eyes.

“Wait, he isn’t sick is he?” Jin asked, his voice concerned. “Taehyung, you’re sharing your room with him, you must be aware-…”

“Yeah he wasn’t feeling too well today.” Yoongi said, making Hobi and Jin turn towards him together. Taehyung looked up at him and Yoongi met his eyes once before looking away.

“I met him earlier today. He said he was really tired from the long trip yesterday and the party afterwards. He wanted to take rest and-…” Yoongi paused and looked at Taehyung. “And Taehyung said he should take rest.” 

Jin breathed a sigh of relief while Hobi shot an annoyed look at Yoongi.

“Yoongi Hyung why couldn’t you tell us earlier?” Hobi asked, smacking Yoongi this time.

“Sorry. My bad.” 

“Never mind. I hope he’ll feel better after rest. I’ll go and check up on him later. But right now-…” Jin stretched. “I need a good nap myself. I can’t ignore that age is giving me back-aches.”

They had climbed up to the second floor and reached Jin and Hobi’s room.Jin waved to the others as he and Hobi retired to their room. 

Taehyung was dreading being alone with Yoongi till now. He looked down at the floor.

A few seconds passed before Yoongi said, “See you in the evening Taehyung.”

He started to walk past Taehyung in the direction of the stairs. Taehyung was stunned at his lack of reaction. He had expected Yoongi to ask for an explanation on Jungkook’s absence. Taehyung knew he would have guessed that something had gone wrong. His concocted story about Jungkook's illness earlier in front of Jin and Hobi had seemed to reflect the same. But he had just simply ignored Taehyung.

“Hyung…”

Yoongi stopped. He turned, taking some time deliberately and looked at Taehyung with a vacant face. “Yeah?”

“Hyung…Are you mad at me?” 

Yoongi shrugged. “No, why would I be?” 

“Hyung…I asked Jungkook to leave.” 

“Yeah I guessed as much.” Yoongi nodded, his face still expressionless. His voice was unemotional.

Taehyung breathed in deeply. “Don’t you want to know why?” He walked up to stand in front of Yoongi. 

“It’s your life. You choose what you want to do with it.” Yoongi shrugged again. “I’m kinda tired. Do you mind if I go to my room? I’ll meet up with you later.” 

“Hyung why do you seem to be mad at me?...It seems like you think I’m in the wrong. You don’t know what happened.” Taehyung said. 

“I can guess.” 

Taehyung shook his head impatiently. “Hyung, you’ve always known and you’ve always had my back. It matters to me what you think. I want you to know what happened.”

“He must have asked you to get married to Jimin.” 

Taehyung did a double take. He stared at Yoongi, open-mouthed.

“Am I right?” Yoongi asked, his eyebrows raised.
Taehyung remained silent