♫ Odds are stacked against us babe, but I don’t give a damn.

I don’t care what fate says, you and I were meant to be. ♫

I love this song so much! ♡
 

Taehyung was happily munching on his chicken leg when Jungkook suddenly raised the bottle of soju on the table and motioned towards the actor’s long-forgotten and empty glass.

“Oh, thanks.”

Taehyung said with a bit of difficulty, because there was still some fried chicken in his mouth and he wiped his fingers on a napkin before he grabbed his glass and simply watched, as Jungkook wordlessly poured him a drink.

He’s using both hands…

Observing Jungkook while he was not working was very intriguing, at least for Taehyung. He enjoyed their sitting arrangement quite much. Taehyung was sitting next to Namjoon and Seokjin was seated opposite of the manager, while Jungkook was sitting next to the older actor and right across of Taehyung. So far Taehyung hadn’t said much and mostly ate, because he was very hungry.

Seokjin and Namjoon have been keeping the talk alive and Taehyung surely didn’t miss the fondness in his manager’s eyes, as he spoke to the oldest among them, but it was the same for Seokjin. He was smiling so much and Taehyung was very happy for the two of them.

But it seems like… he wasn’t the only one who was aware of what was happening between Seokjin and Namjoon.

“I think you two should tone it down a bit.”

Namjoon was in the middle of giving some lobster gimbap to Seokjin when Jungkook said that, but he left the piece in the oldest’s plate before he spoke up.

“What do you mean?”

Namjoon asked in confusion and all eyes were now on the youngest. 

“People are starting to notice. You two are not exactly being subtle.” Jungkook said, as his eyes travelled from Namjoon to Seokjin. “You should stop interacting so much with each other, at least on set, where everybody is looking.”

“Jungkook, you know I don’t care about such things.”

Seokjin spoke calmly, but Taehyung noted that Jungkook was clenching his fists and he did not look pleased with that response.

“You should…” Jungkook’s voice was barely audible, Taehyung almost didn’t catch the sentence, but the boy repeated his words and even raised his voice, so much that Taehyung almost jumped in his chair. “You should! You should care! I don’t want you to get hurt, Hyung!”

Taehyung forgot all about the food, he was sure he wouldn’t be able to digest anything at the moment anyway, not after Jungkook’s sudden outburst.

The director and Seokjin appeared to be close, it was not their first time working together and they often teased each other, but Taehyung didn’t know the two were that close.

“I would never hurt Seokjin-hyung!”

Namjoon almost shouted and Taehyung was suddenly very glad that they were in a private room, away from the curious eyes.

“That’s not what I meant.”

Jungkook grumbled and simply bore a hole into the table, he refused to match Namjoon’s gaze and Taehyung once again got surprised when Seokjin started patting the director’s back.

“This is about Haerin, right?”

Jungkook’s shoulders visibly slumped down due to Seokjin’s question and Taehyung couldn’t help himself, his mouth just acted on its own.

“Who is Haerin?”

Jungkook lifted up his head and Taehyung didn’t know how to react to the director’s current expression. He looked hurt, in pain, more than hurt actually, he looked as if he was about to cry and Taehyung’s heart ached at the possibility of seeing those lovely eyes filled with tears.

“Jungkook had a dating scandal with her two years ago.”

Seokjin said, as he continued the younger boy’s back. Taehyung didn’t even know that Jungkook had had such a scandal, he usually avoided listening to rumors or reading gossip news that were most likely fake.

“Just because of one stupid picture…” Jungkook said between gritted teeth and now he looked angry, rather than sad.

“Jungkook and Haerin weren’t even dating. You’ve known her since school, right?”

Jungkook nodded his head and he appeared a bit calmer, because of Seokjin’s comforting hand on his back.

“It was her dream… to sing, to dance, to be on the stage and they took that away from her.”

They? I wonder who Jungkook means by that…

Thankfully, Taehyung didn’t have to voice out his question, because Jungkook continued speaking.

“She had just made her debut. She was so happy. Her training was harsh, but she never complained. She said it was all worth it, because every day through hell made her get one step closer to her dream. We were just handing out, it was a cold night and Haerin has the habit of dressing lightly. I could see she was cold, so I gave her my jacket. That’s all I did and yet…”

Jungkook trailed off and Taehyung could tell it was hard for him to continue, as if the words alone brought him back to what happened two years ago, so Seokjin finished off the story.

“It turns out that someone was following them and took a picture of the moment when Jungkook gave his jacket to Haerin. It wasn’t much, but people started digging up information, they found out that Jungkook and Haerin had known each other for years, but never revealed that to the public and thus they were swept in dating rumors. Rumors that… ended Haerin’s career.”

“Nam Haerin…” Namjoon piped in, with a thoughtful look on his face. “I think I read a few articles about her. People wrote terrible things about her. They went as far as saying that she paved her way by sleeping with the right people.”

Taehyung couldn’t imagine what that girl must’ve gone through. How scared she must’ve felt when the world turned against her.

Jungkook sighed and straightened his back, Seokjin retreat his hand, but he kept looking at the younger attentively.

“Everyone pointed their fingers at her. They kept spilling nonsense after nonsense and they knew nothing about her. I denied the rumors and so did her company, but the harsh comments continued. In the end, everything was just too much for her and she didn’t want to bring trouble to her band mates, so she quit. That’s how kind she is, she puts others before her, always. After fighting for her dream for years, she had to give it up just because society judged her and threw dirt at her. Nobody was interested in the truth, they had found a target and it’s so easy to anonymously write poisonous words that stab and hurt a person’s heart a lot.”

Taehyung wondered if Jungkook would say all of those things if he was completely sober. The director hadn’t drank much, but alcohol untied tongues for sure and Taehyung wished he could turn back time and ask Jungkook what was the problem between the two of them, years ago, perhaps when they had first met, but maybe… it still wasn’t too late even now.

“Do you know what’s the worst thing about being a celebrity?”

Jungkook wasn’t really seeking an answer, he already had it, but he asked the question while looking directly at Taehyung, as if he was asking for his opinion or at least that’s what the actor thought, but he decided to let the younger pour out his thoughts.

“The worst thing is that as time passes, people focus more on your personal life than your work. They stop paying so much attention to the hardships you’ve been through, the sacrifices you’ve made, your achievements and new projects. No, that becomes irrelevant. Where you go, who you go with, why, what’s your relationship with that person. That’s what grabs the majority, groundless rumors that ruin lives, one single mistake, which makes all your hard work go down the drain. Personal life is called personal for a reason. So what if Haerin and I have been friends for over ten years?? Why was I obligated to tell the world about that? Why did my friend have to take the blame for something she hadn’t done?? Why couldn’t I-?!”

“It wasn’t your fault.”

Taehyung blurted out suddenly and even he himself was surprised by how firm he sounded.

“You didn’t do anything wrong, Jungkook.”

Taehyung continued and he liked how easy it was to say the younger’s name, it effortlessly rolled off his tongue. He always connected Jungkook’s name to headaches, to little fights and bickering, but it was also a name, which sparked lots of interest, it belonged to a person whom Taehyung really, really wanted to get to know better. 

“What happened to your friend is awful, but you shouldn’t blame yourself and I’m sure she’s not blaming you either.”

Taehyung didn’t miss the surprise on the director’s face, but he also noticed how the ends of his mouth curled up a little and the actor’s heart warmed up at the thought of managing to lift Jungkook’s spirits at least a bit.

“Jungkookie is a great friend.” Seokjin mentioned with a genuine smile on his face, as he looked at the youngest. “He’s still friends with Haerin and he even helped her find a job!”

“Oh, no… I didn’t.” Jungkook waved his hands in denial, but the smile was still plastered onto Seokjin’s face. “I just introduced her to someone who was looking for an instructor at a dance academy and the rest is history.”

Seokjin hummed in response, but he knew that Jungkook actually spent quite a lot of time asking many people here and there whether they had an available position.

“Jungkookie here dances rather well. Did you know that, Taehyung?”

“Hyung!”

Taehyung’s lips just parted, but no sound came out. Seokjin’s reveal was very unexpected and now the director looked kind of embarrassed, maybe even shy. Jungkook was acting like a child, whose secret had just been revealed by his older brother, Seokjin seemed to be enjoying the situation a bit too much. The youngest glanced at Taehyung, but quickly looked away and the actor finally found his voice. 

“I had no idea. But you have an amazing body, so no wonder! Is it thanks to dancing?”

Amazing body.

Well done, Kim Taehyung.

Couldn’t you have said something else? Something, which wouldn’t reveal the fact that you tend to stare at Jungkook from time to time? Or maybe a bit too often…

Jungkook furrowed his brows a little, he seemed kind of confused due to the question and Taehyung prayed the director won’t really remember anything from tonight’s talk, because god knows what else the actor was going to say until the end of the dinner.

“I don’t… really dance much lately and I’m not very good-”

“Oh, the modesty!” Seokjin interrupted right away with a huff. “You’re mind-blowingly good, Jungkook! It’s a pity that so little people know about your hobby. And about your top notch body - you works out a lot! We’ve went to the gym together a few times, but it’s so hard to keep up with this kid! He runs around the place without getting tired and an old man like man has no chance. Oh- abs, did I mention he has killer abs?”

Seokjin continued talking, perhaps sharing some other juicy stories about the director, which Taehyung would most-likely want to hear, but he toned out the oldest’s voice and just stared at Jungkook in awe. The director looked like he wanted the Earth to open up and swallow him whole. He kept tugging at Seokjin’s sleeve in futile attempt to make him shut p, but the senior actor was having none of it and kept on babbling.

Taehyung could swear that at one point he could see how the youngest’s cheeks tinted up and holy moly… was Jungkook blushing, THE Jeon Jungkook??

What a time to be alive.

Taehyung blamed it on the alcohol, but he couldn’t help the giggle, which left his lips when Jungkook started rubbing his palms over his jeans, the poor boy had probably started sweating due to all the stress.

Taehyung’s bubbly laugh made Seokjin pause and Jungkook looked up as well, ing finally if you ask Taehyung, because the director has been avoiding eyes for the past ten minutes, but now that he was looking at Taehyung, right at him, the actor was the one who looked away, because it was a task to stare at those beautiful, big eyes without breaking the eye contact at a certain point.

“Anyway, let’s drink! This is such a boring party!”

Seokjin whined loudly and Jungkook heaved a sigh out of relief, no more embarrassing stories.

“Hyung, this is not really a party. We’re just having dinner.”

Namjoon said, but Seokjin pretty much ignored his words and grabbed his glass, demanding it to be filled and of course Namjoon complied by pouring the oldest a drink.

“Well, it should be a party! After all, Taehyung and Jungkook are finally communicating like normal human beings without grabbing onto each other’s hair!”

“We never grabbed each other’s hair…”

Jungkook mumbled quietly and Seokjin slammed his now empty glass on the table.

“It’s just a saying! Geez, you have no idea what a torture it is to watch you and Taehyung every day when I know perfectly well that-”

“H-here, Hyung. Drink this.”

Jungkook successfully managed to make the oldest shut up, as he slid a rather full glass of soju towards him and Taehyung wondered what Seokjin was about to say.

The thought was pushed aside when Taehyung grabbed his glass as well.

He truly hoped that Jungkook won’t remember tonight’s events, but Taehyung hoped that he would.

Because the Jungkook he had seen tonight… he wanted to remember that Jungkook forever.

Taehyung’s mind is in haze, he doesn’t know how much he’s drunk already, but he definitely feels drunk. If he stands up right now, his legs are mostly going to give in. He just kept on accepting drink after drink and he’s also feeling very sleepy, he both wanted to go home and stay here, because he knew that tomorrow things would go back to normal. Well… not normal-normal, but to the usual way how things between him and Jungkook are and Taehyung is definitely not fond of that thought, so he just grabbed another piece of friend squid and slowly started chewing, as if to drag time, just so he could stay a little longer.

“You like sea food a lot, hm? You ate quite a lot of shrimp pancakes.”

Taehyung almost didn’t hear Jungkook’s question, but he quickened his chewing pace and gulped down the squid, so he could answer.

“Yeeeah, sea food! I loooove it!!!” Taehyung replied loudly, too loudly, but he was so out of it already and controlling the volume of his voice was the last thing on his mind.

“We’ve got the best sea food in Busan. You should definitely try it. Ah, I’m from Busan if you didn’t know.”

“I know, I knoooow!!! I read it in an article!”

Taehyung reached out for his glass again, but Namjoon reacted faster and passed him a bottle of water instead. Enough was enough and Taehyung was thankful that his manager was by his side.

“You read an article about me?”

Jungkook asked in astonishment and Taehyung’s eyes started shifting left and right, he was trying to avoid looking at the director, because he dreaded that more confidential information might slip past his lips.

“Uuh… yeah.”

He said, trying his best to make it sound like it wasn’t a big deal when it actually was, at least for Taehyung, because what do you do when you want to get close to someone, but you just can’t… you start looking for information from other sources. Seokjin is a very useful source as well, Taehyung mentally noted and speaking of the older actor… he looked like he’s about to pass out any second, but he said something, which made Namjoon want to pass out instead.

“Joonie, Joonie, Joonie. hehehehehe”

Seokjin chuckled after saying Namjoon’s name and the manager had a huge grin on his face, as he looked at the oldest.

“My Joonie-”

Seokjin began and Taehyung barely resisted the temptation to start pulling at Namjoon’s ears, because they started changing their color.

“My Joonie is very good at breaking things! That’s a talent! But I kind of wonder… are you like this in bed as well, Joon-ah? Should I be worried or I’ll recover in a few days?”

Seokjin - poker face and a calm and schooled expression.

Taehyung - totally wasted, no reaction at all, he simply missed the question.

Jungkook - spilling soju over his shirt, quiet curses leaving his mouth.

Namjoon - having the mental breakdown of the century with widely-opened mouth, wavering eyes and the loss of ability to speak.

“God, Namjoon-hyung… take Seokjin-hyung outside for some fresh air and hopefully he’ll sober up a bit.”

Namjoon dumbly nodded at Jungkook’s suggestion and got up. He walked over the table and extended his hand, Seokjin took it right away and got up as well. He stumbled immediately, but Namjoon sneaked his arm around the older instantly and secured him. Seokjin started laughing, as the manager led him out of the room.

It took Taehyung a while to realize that he was all alone with Jungkook and when it finally clicked, he noted that the director was wiping his shirt with a napkin, he had probably spilt something, but Taehyung doesn’t really know what or when it happened. Just as he was about to say something, the director’s phone started ringing and Jungkook picked up at once.

“Hey, brat. What’s up?”

Jungkook asked in a cheeky and playful tone, a smile decorating his lips and Taehyung wondered who had caused such a reaction from the director. His unasked question found its answer seconds later.

“Mm? Nah, I’m just having dinner, but I’m outside. Yeah, sorry. We won’t be able to play games tonight. See you tomorrow on set, Sunghoon.”

Sunghoon… Jungkook was just talking to Sunghoon.

The thought made Taehyung’s heart drop, his stomach churned and everything he’s been bottling up ever since he met Jungkook just wanted to come out.

Taehyung couldn’t help recalling their first meeting, the way Jungkook’s face drastically changed upon seeing him, he couldn’t help recalling all the little and meaningless fights, the looks, the ignoring, the empty talks. Jungkook had never said anything to actually offend him, but his treatment has always been an issue for Taehyung, especially the fact that the director seemed to be having a problem with him and only him.

Jungkook was friendly and smiley with the others, be it younger or older. He was friends with Sunghoon, he was friends with Seokjin as well, Taehyung had seen the director chat with others on set, he had seen him smile and laugh, everything was okay until he laid his eyes on Taehyung.

So why? What was the problem?? What had Taheyung done to deserve this??

He really wanted to know, he had to, this was driving him crazy.

That’s why he stood up and sat on Seokjin’s chair, he moved with difficulty, but at least he didn’t fall. He faced Jungkook and the director put his phone aside, Taehyung glared at the black device, as if it could be blamed for everything between him and Jungkook, but of course it couldn’t and that was the biggest problem - Taehyung wanted to put the blame on someone, something, anything, but no matter how much he thought about it, nothing came to his mind and he was absolutely going to regret this tomorrow, but tomorrow is for tomorrow, he didn’t want to think about it now. 

Taehyung had put up with Jeon Jungkook's behavior for far too long.

Maybe he would've kept quiet and would have tried to withstand the director's treatment towards him until they were done with their work, but...

Taehyung was drunk and a drunk Kim Taehyung spoke without thinking, so he grabbed Jungkook's collar and practically yelled in his face.

“I wanted to get along with you and I was so excited when I heard we’ll be working together!! But you… you just make everything so difficult! I really wanted to fix things between us, I keep wondering when did things go wrong and I don’t have an answer! You hate me! Why?? What have I done?? Why don’t you smile at me? Why can’t we go out for a drink? Why can’t we talk and be friends? Why? Why?? Seriously…. what’s your problem with me, you handsome jerk??”
 

Taehyung felt like crying, he would have started sobbing by now, but thankfully all the years of acting paid off and he