TAEHYUNG'S POV:

That night, the events of a chilly christmas eve from a year back, played through his mind again. As each moment came back to him, crystal clear like it were happening right now, his eyes slowly started to get heavy under the weight of "what if" s and "why did" s.
As his heartbeat calmed down, he descended into sleep and the aching memories transformed into a painful dream...

... 

Taehyung was standing outside on the balcony, when a familiar voice startled him. 
"Yah! Hyung what are you doing outside on such a cold evening?... Here, wear this."
Jungkook pressed the jacket down on Taehyung's back and around his shoulders, ignoring the jerking of the latter's shoulders. He was much stronger than him anyway, it's not like Taehyung could actually resist.
"In a very Christmasy mood aren't we?" Taehyung said, nudging Jungkook softly with his elbow, earning a questioning shrug from the younger boy. "You called me 'Hyung'!" 

Jungkook smiled.

But something in his smile made Taehyung turn away from him, to face the winter night again. This wasn’t the usual mischievous bunny smile that the younger boy would give before he was about to make a joke at Tae’s expense and lighten up the situation. There was something in this smile that he couldn’t read. Jungkook had pressed his lips together while smiling and it almost seemed as if it was a way of stopping himself from saying something. Tae knew what this could be about, and he knew it was better to avoid allowing him to open that door.
Not that that was the only reason to look away. Over the past few years, his friend had transitioned from the adorable bunny faced teenager into a young man with beautiful features that turned his heartbeat into a frenzied mess. The chiseled jawline seemed to be made more prominent with the forced smile and it didn’t make it any easier for Taehyung to look at him without getting an inescapable urge to reach over and touch his face. 
“I’ll be inside in a while. You go inside and enjoy the party. The others must be wait-”
“I don’t care.”
Taehyung reflexively looked at Jungkook at the abrupt change in his tone that had just occurred. The younger boy had a grim expression and his eyebrows were furrowed. 
“What?”
“Taehyung…There’s no point staying in love with a selfish person.”
Taehyung was stunned. It took him a few seconds to recover from the shock.
“Selfish? What the hell are you saying?” He failed to mask the rage in his voice.
“I can’t bear to see you suffer for a person who doesn’t give a damn about your feelings. Who doesn’t care that someone loves them so much.” 
“Jungkook…Stop. You have no idea what you’re saying.”
“Right…and you won’t tell me who this person is. But I can’t think of any effective reason why someone would not love you back.”
Taehyung laughed even as a tear slid down his cheek. 
“Except that he’s a self-centered bastard who probably gets a sense of power from having someone’s heart and breaking it.” 
“Jungkook just-shut-up. Please.”
“Why? I’m not going to stand by and let some hurt you over and over.”
“SHUT UP.”
“What? Are you actually defending this person in front of me?...in front of ME? Seriously? I don’t care who it is. I don’t care if it’s someone I know or someone close to me. I’ve seen you suffer for long enough now. If I knew this guy, I would kill him.”
Taehyung turned swiftly and caught hold of his Jungkook’s shirt at the collar. “I asked you to shut up long ago.” His face was inches away from Jungkook’s now. His breath was uneven with anger and his chest was heaving up and down, his hands were shaking but they didn’t let go of his friend’s collar. “You have no idea about what’s happening with me. Or about the person I love. So don’t talk without knowing anything.”
Jungkook’s face had changed. The expression of rage and hate had disappeared, to give way to a softer look, his shoulders slumped a little when Taehyung had grabbed hold of his collar. He looked slightly hurt, but more concern