That incident gave Jungkook some ideas about how to approach Taehyung on the following occasions. They say that the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach and, since persistent repetition of firmly stated commands such as “Let’s go for a run!” didn’t work, since Jungkook did not have any ideas on how to trick Taehyung and no way of getting into a position of power, he tried bargaining:

J: “How about this – If you go jogging with me for a week, I’ll buy you cheese.”

T: “Buy me a pack of cigs and I’ll jog with you for a week.” Taehyung countered, knowing fully well that idea would be torturous for Jungkook.

J: “Uhm… Can I buy you the cigs and not give them to you?”

T: “You have to buy me the cigs, give them to me and let me smoke all of them without one single nagging word.”

J: “I can’t do that.”

T: “Thought so.”

J: “How about weed?”

T: “No.”

Bargaining didn’t work out the first few times, so Jungkook tried upgrading his tactic. When he came to get Miri from Taehyung and the latter opened the door, Jungkook started out with:

J: “I came to make you an offer you can’t refuse.”

T: “You want to bet on that?”

J: “I know your super powers include unequivocal denial and slamming doors in front of faces, but hear me out till the end. You’ll find that it’s advantageous for you too and it’ll let me pay you back for all the help with Miri.”

T: “Okay... Go on.”

J: “I’ll cook for you.”

T: “Hell no!”

J: “You didn’t hear me out till the end.”

T: “I don’t need to. If I let you cook for me, I’ll forget the meaning of the words “fat” and “sugar” and I like my fat and my sugar.”

J: “I wouldn’t eliminate fat from your diet. Fats should be part of almost any daily diet, but if they’re in excess and especially if they’re the saturated kind, then…”

T: “Go on with this topic again and you’ll see another door slammed in your face.”

J: “Right. Back to why me cooking for you would be advantageous for both of us. First – it saves time for the both of us. And I know time’s your favorite resource you can’t get enough of.”

T: “True. And I admit it would save me time if you handled the cooking, but how would it save time for you?”

J: “I won’t have to keep coming up with ideas for creating opportunities for me to tell you to start exercising.”

T: “Jungkook… don’t ever switch to sales or marketing because you .”

J: “Second benefit – Peace of mind. You’ll be able to enjoy tasty and healthy meals and will be free from my nagging, since I’ll control what you eat and I, therefore, won’t have reasons to nag. At the same time I’ll rid myself of the anguish of hearing you order pizza past midnight.”

T: “Don’t peak into my privacy, Jungkook. Not cool.”

J: “Pot calling the kettle black, Taehyung.”

T: “Touché.”

J: “Third – I’ll be here a lot.”

T: “How… is that a benefit?”

J: “Come on, Taehyung, think about it.” Jungkook told Taehyung while also telling himself that, because that was really only beneficial to him and he had forgotten to think of how to make it sound advantageous to Taehyung as well.

T: “I’m drawing a blank. And I don’t usually draw blanks. Enlighten me.”

J: “I’ll be here and… not on the other side of that wall making noise that bothers you.”

T: “Boy, your brain’s really not made for this kinda thing, is it?”

J: “Huh?”

T: “You won’t be on the other side of that wall making noise, but you’ll be here… most likely making noise.”

J: “Not true. I was noisy that morning because I couldn’t find things easily in your kitchen, but once I’ll be used to it, I won’t be noisier than any other cook. And the rest of the time I’ll be reading or doing something silently on my laptop.”

T: “Wait. So you’ll be here for more than just cooking and eating?”

J: “I’ll be here doing that…” Jungkook continued, avoiding the question. “…instead of playing video games, playing music or having on the other side of the wall.”

T: “You haven’t been playing video games or having at all for a while now.”

J: “Don’t peak into my privacy, Taehyung. Not cool.”

Jungkook repeated Taehyung’s words to sound lighthearted, but it bothered him like never before that Taehyung could keep tabs on his life, which was non-existent at the time because Jungkook couldn’t stop his brain from flashing images of Taehyung over his potential partners and he was embarrassed at being reminded of that little fact he had to keep to himself.

T: “Alright.”

J: “Alright what?”

T: “Alright – I accept your offer.”

J: “Whoa, really?! That fast?... Maybe I should’ve become a lawyer…”

T: “I’m… not even gonna address that hypothesis…”

J: “So we start now?”

T: “Tomorrow.”

J: “Eh, tomorrow’s good too.”

T: “Tonight I’m gonna order three pizzas and indulge in sugary fizzy drinks.”

J: “You’re… saying that to annoy me, aren’t you?”

T: “Yup. But I also mean it.” Taehyung said with a devilish smirk before closing the door on Jungkook who then went home with mixed feelings about the interaction they had.

The next evening when Taehyung opened his front door, Jungkook was there with a few bags in his hands and saying:

J: “I’m here.”

T: “And still Captain Obvious.”

J: “But now equipped with special immunity against your sarcasm.”

T: “I’ll stay tuned for your amazing adventures.”

J: “Well I don’t mind, but I don’t usually put on a show while cooking.”

T: “I was kidding. I’ll be going back to work after I give you a breakdown of where everything is in the kitchen.”

J: “Roger. I’ll call you when I’m done.”

When Jungkook was done, he went to the doorway of Taehyung’s room and said:

J: “Food’s ready.”

T: “I’ll be there in a minute.”

Jungkook went back to the kitchen to do a few more things and realized over five minutes passed since Taehyung had said he would come in a minute. Jungkook went to the room’s doorway again to say:

J: “Taehyung!”

T: “In a minute!”

J: “It’s been over five. The food’s gonna get cold.”

T: “Start eating without me. I’ll be there soon.”

Jungkook decided Taehyung’s words could not be trusted while his eyes were glued to a screen and his right hand was moving with speed, so he went behind him, grabbed his wheeled desk chair and pushed him like that all the way to the kitchen table.

J: “Enjoy your meal.”

T: “Oh, wow. It’s not a bunch of plants thrown together?”

J: “Stop stereotyping me and start eating. I’ll make salad tomorrow if you want it so much.”

T: “Nah, I’m good.”

Jungkook knew it would be bad to bring up exercising at this point or talk about stress-inducing things while eating in general, so he kept their conversation as lighthearted as possible.

J: “Hey, wanna know how I ended up meeting Miri?”

T: “Found her in a shoe box, in an alley, on a rainy night, after an encounter with a gang of thugs.”

J: “How’d you know?”

T: “Wait, seriously?”

J: “No. I’m just playing along. I found her in my backpack after coming home from playing soccer in a park. I left my backpack open on the ground as I played. She must have gone into it after smelling some snacks I had in it and she probably just decided to take a nap there since it was getting chilly outside. I didn’t check inside the backpack when I grabbed it to go home. Then, when I got home and opened it, out came this white puppy that had apparently left me a smelly gift inside the backpack.”

Taehyung almost chocked on his food when he burst out into laughter imagining the whole situation.

T: “So you decided to give her a home in return for that gift?”

J: “Initially I tried finding her original home. I put up posters in my neighborhood from back then, posted on social media, asked around the park, but no one said anything for about two months so I decided to keep her. I mean… look at this face.” Jungkook said, holding Miri up almost in front of Taehyung’s face. “How can someone turn away something THIS cute?”

T: “Yeah, cuteness really does make it hard to say no.” Taehyung said, thinking that it applied to both the dog and her owner currently playing with and fanboying over her.

J: “Well… my ex-landlord did say no. To me staying there with a pet I mean. So I moved here cause the rent was cheap and it didn’t seem to be a problem that I had a dog. I was only asked if I throw parties or not.”

T: “And your answer was…”

J: “No.”

T: “Liar.”

J: “I don’t throw parties, I only hold small gatherings. Parties would freak Miri out. Too much noise and too many people. I don’t even go to parties much since I have her. But it’s really not a bad trade-off.” Jungkook said, squeezing Miri’s face between his hands to make it look funny.

T: “Such a dedicated dog owner…”

J: “I’m pretty dedicated in general.”

T: “If you say so.”

J: “What does that mean?”

T: “With the number of times you’ve asked me that question since I know you, I’m considering buying you a dictionary.”

Jungkook didn’t have anything to counter that with, so he stuck out his tongue towards Taehyung to which the latter commented:

T: “I see you’re also very mature...”

But Taehyung couldn’t say that with a face as straight as he intended considering Jungkook was already laughing at himself to the point of tears.

When they were finished, Taehyung declared he was going to do the dishes, but when he turned to put his plate in the sink and saw what was in and around it, he said:

T: “Jesus! Did you try out every utensil in my house?”

J: “Kinda, yes… I still haven’t found my rhythm in here yet and I made your breakfast and lunch for tomorrow, so a lot piled up. But you don’t have to wash them, I’ll do it.”

T: “No. You can’t do both the cooking and the dishes, that’s just not how it goes. And I don’t like being spoiled, it makes me irritated.”

J: “So have you been spoiled ever since I met you?”

T: “Don’t worry, I have a long list of things that get me irritated.”

J: “I suppose I’m at the top of that list?”

T: “You’re definitely fighting for that position sometimes.”

Jungkook didn’t get offended by that because Taehyung looked amused while saying it and he thought it wouldn’t be that bad to be at the top of any of Taehyung’s lists.

J: “Let me help.”

T: “No. Scram.”

J: “Why?”

T: “Go do your own thing. Your time’s not unlimited either, Jungkook.”

In a way, that felt like Taehyung was looking out for him, so Jungkook went to the room and, before he started anything else, he took his time exploring the things in that room. He noticed something different since the first time he saw it, even if he saw it only briefly. A lot of things, especially cables, have been moved out of Miri’s reach and some other aspects have been altered to accommodate the presence of a small dog.

Jungkook couldn’t help smiling. This is what he liked most about Taehyung – underneath that tough and sour exterior was a real softy with the unwavering strictness of someone who was confident in knowing what was best and caring enough to enforce it no matter how bothersome it was. Taehyung ed about a million things, but he never really complained about having to adjust his home and schedule to help Miri and Jungkook. He didn’t have to take care of them, but he did. He might have slammed the door in Jungkook’s face, both literally and figuratively, a myriad of times, but he also let Jungkook in and even came to him at times.

As he let himself fall on the bed and breathe in the smell of the pillow, Jungkook’s chest ached and he wondered how he ever found Taehyung unpleasant. Right then, Taehyung walked in.

T: “Jungkook, one ques…tion…” Taehyung stumbled, catching what Jungkook was doing before he shot up with the most panicked expression ever. “Uhm, never mind.”

J: “No. Wait! I wasn’t…” Jungkook tried shouting after Taehyung who had turned around and gone back into the kitchen before he fell back on the bed and let his burning face fall into the palms of his hands, feeling so embarrassed that he considered exiting through the balcony door.

After Taehyung finished with the dishes, he came back into the room but didn’t disturb Jungkook as he saw him completely absorbed in a video he was watching on his laptop which, from what Taehyung could see on the screen, seemed to be about creative ways to use a medicine ball. He went back to work and, a while later, when he was planning on taking a break and going for a smoke, he checked to see what Jungkook was doing and saw him still absorbed in what he was watching and also holding and moving Miri around in the air as if she was the medicine ball on the screen.

Taehyung pulled his desk chair closer to the bed and just stood there watching Jungkook for a few minutes till the later got a sense of being watched and turned towards Taehyung before slightly screaming and jumping from being startled.

J: “How… how long have you been standing there?”

T: “Long enough to learn that Miri loves being airborne and you make weird sounds instead of counting.”

J: “Well… you learn something new every day.” Jungkook awkwardly joked.

T: “Why didn’t you become an athlete?”

J: “Huh?”

T: “You seem passionate about what you’re doing now, but you said you fell in love with sports when you were on the athletics team in middle school.”

J: “Oh… but I actually am an athlete. I take part in competitive events and stuff like that.”

T: “Really? When do you have the time to train?”

J: “I wake up at 5 and do a few things before I take Miri out and bring her over here. After that, it depends on how my appointments are arranged, but I make sure to allot at least 3 hours every day for my own training, even if they’re not consecutive, and I go for a run in the evenings. That’s my usual day, but I change things up if an important competition is coming or if there’s a big change with my clients.”

T: “So being a personal trainer is a side thing you’re doing for financial reasons?”

J: “No. What I love about sports and fitness is working for that moment when you pass over a limit you initially didn’t even think you’ll reach and the feeling that moments gives you. But the better you get, the greater the distance will get in between such moments. Luckily for me, I discovered that getting others to overcome their limits, reach their goals and feel that sense of victory makes me feel the same, only more often. It becomes my personal goal for them to reach their goals so I also feel a sense of victory when they do. Besides that, it’s nice seeing them savor their own victories, small or big, and I feel happy I helped make that possible. It’s an awesome feeling. So, if I ever have to choose between being an athlete and a personal trainer, I’ll most likely go with personal trainer.”

Jungkook only took notice of how Taehyung was looking at him when he finished talking. He had a faint smile, but his eyes looked like his gaze was trying to embrace and caress Jungkook and the latter thought he should have gotten his heart muscles into shape before coming and spending an evening like that with Taehyung.

T: “So are you skipping tonight?”

J: “Huh?”

T: “You said you go for a run in the evenings, but it’s almost midnight now…”

J: “Oh… Oh, ! I’m going now. Can I leave Miri here a bit longer?”

T: “Sure.”

Not quite an hour later, Taehyung opened his door after the bell rang and saw a sweaty Jungkook breathing a bit heavily and there was something about seeing that for the first time that made Taehyung’s mind go completely blank.

J: “Sorry I’m still bothering you so late. I’ll take Miri back now.”

T: “Who?”

J: “Miri… my dog... The one you’re holding right now.”

T: “Oh, here.”

J: “Thanks. You should go to sleep soon, you look kinda out of it.”

T: “Yeah…”

J: “Hey.”

T: “What?”

J: “You should join me for this tomorrow.” Jungkook said with a cheeky smile that didn’t disappear even when Taehyung closed the door in his face without saying a word.

Jungkook had a good sense for when to push and when to pull back. He persisted in urging Taehyung to start exercising and quit smoking, but when it seemed like Taehyung would seriously prohibit him from even stepping foot in his apartment again, he pulled back and just chilled in Taehyung’s apartment, minding his own business.

And Jungkook chilled a lot in Taehyung’s apartment so that said owner of the apartment started enforcing the rule that Jungkook would have to go home when he told him to.

J: “Why?”

T: “Cause I’m not sure how I ended up washing some of your clothes, but I did and I’m too young for such happily married… Wait, what am I doing explaining myself to you? Because I say so, that’s why.”

J: “Fine…”

T: “Let’s test it out.”

J: “Huh?”

T: “Go home, Jungkook.”

J: “What? Seriously?”

T: “So you won’t go?”

J: “Alright, I’ll go. Geez…”

Jungkook left and, after he got back to his own room, he knocked loudly on the wall and yelled through it:

J: “I’m home!”

T: “Good boy!” Taehyung yelled back through the wall.

Literally five minutes later, Taehyung heard his doorbell ring and his hunch turned out to be true.

J: “And now I’m back.”

T: “…”

J: “You said “go home”, so I did. You didn’t say go home and stay there.”

T: “Go home and stay there.”

J: “Ah, come on, Taehyung…”

Jungkook tried, even though he knew perfectly well Taehyung was going to shut the door on him, which he did. He knew Taehyung’s new rule was going to be troublesome, but that wasn’t going to stop him. Rather he became even bolder, because Taehyung’s new rule was a weapon he could use at all times, yet he didn’t even half as often as Jungkook initially thought he would. Perfect examples of this were the times Jungkook stepped out on the balcony with Taehyung for him to smoke and Jungkook couldn’t allow himself to allow Taehyung to smoke in peace.

J: “Did you know some of the substances present in cigarettes can be found in rat poison and rocket fuel?”

T: “Did you know you could get over there in the back yard in just two seconds?”

J: “Did you know you’d have a better chance of throwing me off of your balcony if you regularly did a few pushups?”

T: “Did you know your home is over there and you can go there at any time?”

J: “Did you know…”

T: “Shut up, Jungkook!”

Jungkook didn’t say much more, but laughed a great deal. It was very encouraging that, despite what Taehyung was saying, he couldn’t hide that he was, at least partially, also amused by the whole thing.

But things weren’t at all times amusing. For example, Taehyung telling Jungkook to not come the following day because he was going to meet with someone and wouldn’t be at home wasn’t at all amusing for Jungkook.

J: “Who are you meeting?”

T: “Why do you need to know?”

J: “Just… curiosity.”

T: “Leading cause of death for cats and other creatures.”

J: “It’s fine since I’m more like a dog than a cat.”

T: “So do you ever tell Miri who you’re meeting when you go out?”

J: “If you’re gonna be so secretive about it, I’m gonna assume you’re having an affair.”

T: “I think we’re acting too much like a happily married couple and it’s making you delusional. When was the last time you had ?”

J: “What? Why’s that any of your concern?”

T: “It’s my concern that your apparent recent abstinence has been messing with your head and making you act strange and ask too many questions, all while you’re in MY apartment.”

J: “How have I been acting strange?”

T: “Sniffing my pillow.”

J: “That’s… that’s not what happened back then. I just had to lie down because I felt dizzy.”

T: “And I suppose people regularly jump back into standing position after being caught feeling dizzy.”

J: “I knew you would misinterpret and I panicked.”

T: “Riiiiight… Whatever…”

J: “So?”

T: “So?”

J: “Who are you meeting with?”

T: “I’m under no obligation to tell you such things, especially when you haven’t properly answered even one of my questions throughout this conversation.”

J: “Alright, fine! I… haven’t had in a little over two months now.”

T: “Not… exactly the thing I was most interested in, but okay.”

J: “So?”

T: “So?”

J: “Who are you meeting with?”

T: “Friends. Some of them being the ones you met at the art gallery.”

J: “Oh… Can I come?”

T: “Jungkook… Do you remember a time when you were bothered by someone being too clingy?”

Jungkook just growled in response, but not because he was frustrated with Taehyung or that someone he mentioned. He growled because he felt like he was receiving punishment from karma without ever before acknowledging its existence.

T: “What ever happened to that someone?”

J: “I finally got my message across properly.”

T: “How?”

J: “Like you taught me to get my message across when giving commands to Miri – think of the possible negative consequences of not getting my message across and use that to strengthen my resolve and the way I communicate it.”

T: “What was the negative consequence you thought of?”

J: “If I continue to get caught up with various rabbits, I won’t be catching the one I’m aiming for.”

T: “I see… So you’re on a hunt?”

J: “You could say that, yes.”

T: “Is this rabbit hard to catch?”

J: “Every time I think I’m getting close, it threatens to go further away. Every time I stop and wonder if there’s any sense to this chase, it comes just close enough to tease me. Every time I feel the softness of the fur or the sharpness of the teeth, I realize I want it… But it’s kinda scary thinking that it might not want to be near me and it just got close by accident…”

T: “Sounds like a troublesome rabbit.”

J: “Tell me about it.”

T: “Give up.”

J: “What? No. Hell no! I’ve barely just started and there’re a bunch of things I can still try. It’s way too early to give up.”

T: “Nice reply. Good luck on your hunt.” Taehyung said smiling and turning back on his desk chair to continue working.

J: “T-Thanks.”

Jungkook had forgotten for a moment that he was talking about the rabbit to the rabbit itself and he couldn’t tell if Taehyung had realized or not that he was talking about him. Seriously, this rabbit was making Jungkook go through a rollercoaster of emotions and he realized he needed a small victory fast because he was becoming complacent with just being near the rabbit and that would be detrimental in the long run.

So Jungkook started insisting more for Taehyung to start exercising under his guidance and Taehyung could tell there was less playfulness and more anxiousness to that insistence. Therefore, he shut down Jungkook more firmly, sometimes even viciously, and he could see that anxiousness growing by the day.

J: “Come on, Taehyung! What’s it gonna take for you to do what I’m saying?”

T: “What’s it gonna take for you to give up, back off and stop minding my business?”

J: “I’m NOT gonna give up or back off!”

T: “Then you’re gonna keep being annoying for the rest of our lives even if I said no a million times already? Do you really believe time and effort invested into something is always definitely gonna lead to the desired result and that’s all it takes to achieve something? And, first of all, do you even think incessantly trying to enforce your own will onto someone else is right just because it’s for their own good?”

J: “You said you’re Machiavellian, why are you even asking me that last question?”

T: “Alright. Then what about the second question?”

J: “Yes, I really believe time and effort invested into something is always definitely gonna pay off. Even if you don’t get the desired result, you always get something worthwhile from it. And maybe those two things are not all it takes to achieve something, but you definitely can’t achieve anything meaningful without them.”

T: “And the first question?”

J: “…”

Jungkook didn’t know how to answer it. He was very worked up, biting his lip, breathing heavily and staring at the floor with furrowed eyebrows. No matter how much Taehyung ed or how harsh he seemed, it never felt like they were really arguing up until recently, when Jungkook just couldn’t take “no” for an answer anymore. This time it felt like the tension was higher than ever and Jungkook felt himself at wits ends even though there was no rational reason to be so invested in this and it wouldn’t be such a big deal to give up. The problem was that rationality was not in control at all.

Half a minute later he closed his eyes and took a deep breath to calm himself down before saying:

J: “Alright… We’ll settle this now through a bet. Challenge me on anything you want. If I win, you’re starting training with me tomorrow and you’re not gonna back out of it until I say it’s fine for you to do so. If you win, I’ll stop insisting and even suggesting for you to let me be your personal trainer. How about it?”

T: “Sounds nice and final. I’m in.”

J: “Want time to think of a challenge?”

T: “No. We’re settling this now through rock-paper-scissors.”

J: “Really? You wanna leave it up to luck?”

T: “I’m not leaving it up to luck. I know I can win over you at this because you’ll show rock.”

J: “Don’t be so sure I’ll show rock.”

T: “Whatever… On the count of there – 1…”

Jungkook didn’t have time to think too much. He only managed to think that Taehyung tried tricking him into not showing rock by saying what he said and he would assume his trick had worked given what Jungkook said and, therefore, the option Taehyung would least expect would be rock.

Taehyung showed paper, having already predicted what Jungkook was going to think, and the latter clenched the fist he used to show rock even more than it already was and clenched his jaw as he closed his eyes and lowered his head in defeat. Then Taehyung’s open hand grabbed Jungkook’s fist and he asked with a serious expression:

T: “So are you gonna give up now?”

Jungkook opened his eyes and looked back up at him with an even more serious expression.

J: “I said I was gonna stop insisting and suggesting for you to let me be your personal trainer. I didn’t say I was gonna stop anything else.”

T: “I see…” Taehyung said, letting go of Jungkook’s fist. “Send me a text with what equipment I’ll need and when exactly we’re starting tomorrow.”

J: “Wait, what?... Why?”

T: “When you told me why you like being a personal trainer, I thought I’d give it a shot if you were to insist a bit longer. I didn’t expect you to keep going for several more weeks. You finally reached your limit, but… seems like you were intending to keep going even so. I honestly don’t know if I’m impressed or scared.”

After staring at Taehyung with wide eyes and a hanging mouth, Jungkook let his drop to the floor and head drop into his hands as one thing stood out from the mess Taehyung had made of his mind:

J: “You’re… a sadist.”

Jungkook then felt a hand ruffle his hair and he lifted his head to see that Taehyung had bent down on one knee in front of him, smiling in way he had never seen before and was sending chills down his spine.

T: “Good job on figuring out part of it. Your endurance is amazing. And your mind works in a way that makes limits practically non-existent for you. I guess that’s why it’s so hard to get that feeling that you like so much… Go home, Jungkook. See you tomorrow.”

J: “What? But…”

T: “Go home now.” Taehyung said calmly as he walked away, leaving Jungkook in a state of utter confusion.

The next day, Jungkook and Taehyung met in the back yard of their building and they started warm up exercises while Jungkook explained what he had planned:

J: “Since today is the first time we’re doing this, I’m gonna put you through a series of tests so I can evaluate your physical condition. After that I’m gonna make a plan with long and short term goals and exercises needed to attaint those goals, with frequency and intensity for each one of them. You wanted longer and rarer sessions, so we’re gonna do them on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday evenings. Alright like that?”

T: “Alright.”

J: “Don’t close your eyes while rotating your head or you might get dizzy. Moving on to shoulders. Rotate them backwards first. Ten times, then ten times to the front.”

As they continued doing the warm up exercises, Jungkook felt the need to say something more:

J: “Hey, Taehyung.”

T: “Yeah?”

J: “I want you to know that, even though I’m still upset about yesterday, it won’t affect how I do things as your personal trainer. I won’t give you a hard time just for the sake of payback or anything like that. I’ll be doing things as I usually do.”

T: “Good to know. But you have no reason to be upset, Jungkook. No one forced you into anything. No one did anything to you or took anything away from you. You did what you wanted and attained what you wanted, just not in the way you imagined. You had many chances of backing out and you can still back out at any given point from here on out as well. Yet you still have complaints. I don’t care if you back out, if you do things as you would normally do or if you give me a hard time out of spite. I don’t complain about the things I consciously choose for myself.”

Taehyung wasn’t looking at Jungkook, but the latter could still feel a challenging vibe in his eyes. Jungkook was irritated, but he couldn’t refute anything.

J: “Light jog to the park. There’s fitness equipment there you can work out on. Let’s go.”

At the very least, Taehyung wouldn’t do much talking during that evening, considering a light jog managed to knock the wind out of him. Jungkook mockingly asked him if he wanted to take a cigarette break and Taehyung barely spat out “Shut up” in reply. Jungkook made him take on several types of equipment, designed to make various parts of the body work out, and Taehyung did as told without complaints. For the most part, Jungkook encouraged him to keep going, but when Taehyung looked like he might faint or fail to handle the equipment safely, Jungkook instructed him to stop immediately and go walk it off. After almost an hour, Jungkook called Taehyung over to him and told him to sit down on the bench if he felt the need to or stay standing if he could. Taehyung chose the latter, although his heavy breathing made his body lightly rock to the front and back.

J: “I know you’re probably too tired right now to even remember your own name, but I’m gonna tell you about your condition now when you’re the most aware of your own weaknesses and then I’m gonna tell you what order we’ll be improving things in.”

Taehyung wordlessly nodded and repeated the action when Jungkook was finished.

J: “Alright. Think you can squeeze in another light job to our back yard? We’ll do some cooling down exercises once we arrive and then you can go hit the shower. If at any point you feel weakness overwhelming you, stop jogging but keep walking. Okay?”

Taehyung nodded again and started to jog back to their back yard where they did mainly stretching exercises. After entering his building, however, Taehyung sat down on the first stairs he encountered where he coughed up a storm and slapped his face to keep from fainting. He somehow managed to motivate himself to crawl up to his apartment without delaying too much, because he thought Jungkook had predicted his current state when he told Taehyung to not waste too much time before changing out of his sweaty clothes if he didn’t want to catch a cold and he dreaded Jungkook suddenly appearing and seeing that he had been right.

Jungkook, on the other hand, was in a worse mental state than Taehyung’s physical state. While Taehyung’s physical endurance was way below any critic, his mental endurance seemed to be on par with Jungkook’s. As he declared, Taehyung didn’t complain once and he also didn’t back out of an assigned task Jungkook gave him even if he visibly struggled very much. Jungkook didn’t need any more things to like about Taehyung, especially when he felt so pissed at him. Jungkook definitely didn’t need the feeling of being defeated again, especially since this should have been the first of his small victories in a series he had planned.

In a way, he felt like he was back in middle school, right after he lost his first competition, the one he had worked hard for and almost didn’t participate in, although he had probably not even wanted to participate in if no one had prohibited him from doing that in the first place, and the one who taught him how soul-crushingly bitter a loss could be. After that competition, he was told to give up on the athletics team, by others and by himself, but he didn’t because he couldn’t just accept that loss and forget it ever happened. Now, those memories were overlapping with Taehyung telling him that he was free to back off at any given point and it drove Jungkook to bang his fists against the floor, worrying Miri beyond belief, and yell:

J: “I don’t wanna give up!”

Taehyung was leaning on the other side of the wall and heard what Jungkook suddenly yelled. He turned his head slightly to the side to look at the wall as he said in a very low voice:

T: “I don’t want you to either. But it’s your call to make.”