Taehyung doesn't even know where to start. He wants to explode at the audacity, wants to boil over like a forgotten pot of milk on the stove because he doesn't even get a say in this. Wants to yell at his mother to get out of his sight and life, to leave him the alone.

But he can't.

Finds his mouth sealed shut as he just stands there and stares at her in mute horror. A tiny part of him hopes this is just a bad dream he'll wake up from in the next thirty seconds or so.

Sadly, sometimes his mind still works some extra shifts. Did you ever see her wearing that dress? No. What do you think are the odds you can come up with a completely new design in your dream? That's what I thought. Face it, this is real. Ugh.

Mrs. Kim seems to be unfazed by his silence and goes on.

"After you so rudely declined to come to the gala, it is your duty as my son and member of our family to do as I say-"

What the ?

"-so I give you twenty minutes to pack up. We will stay in Paris for the whole weekend. I expect you to pack accordingly."

What-

WHAT THE ?!

He needs time to process. And to come up with... something. Anything, really.

Taehyung figures the best thing he can do for now is get into his apartment, preferably shut the door in his mother's face and run a few laps around his couch, screaming. While coming up with a solution of how to get out of this heap of horse .

He mutely unlocks his door and opens it just enough to squeeze himself inside, fully prepared to do as planned and leave his mother to wait outside. 

Before the door can fall shut, a white heeled shoe jams itself in the little gap.

"Kim Taehyung." Her voice has taken that melodious lilt it always gets when she needs to bargain for something. "I didn't know you to be so rude. Don't you want to invite me in?"

The honest answer would be 'no'.

But the ill manners thing hits home. Taehyung always prides himself to be a gentleman and to know how to behave. It's already been peak rudeness of him to give his mother the silent treatment so far. And at the end of the day they are all just human, right? Maybe... maybe once they both sit down, he can somehow talk with her like a reasonable adult.

Lips pressed into a thin line, he pulls the door back open and gestures for her to come in.

One more person to defile the secret sanctuary that is his home.

She gives him a perfect smile with her perfect white teeth and steps inside in her perfectly fitting, blinding clean white shoes, heels clinking on the floor. Everything on her is immaculate. Disgusting. Taehyung already regrets this. He is never going to be like her, or even close to what she wants him to be.

With the faint taste of bile in his throat  he remembers how to speak.

"Can I offer you some tea?"

Not that he wants to. But he still needs time to ing figure out .

"I'll take some peppermint tea, please."

Taehyung nods and gets to work. Seems like they are back to playing house.

In the kitchen, he shoots Jeongguk a quick message to please take his time.

When he comes back to the living room, cup of tea balancing on a plate in one hand, Mrs. Kim has made herself at home on his couch.

"I see you used your brain designing this place", she says with a nod to the marble floor.

There is a snappy retort on the tip of Taehyung's tongue which he swallows down. His mother was the first to know of his health condition. But did it stop her from making him wear three-piece suits when it's been hell degrees outside? No. He'd have to silently endure the rashes spreading all over his body while just hoping for the best. So to have it confirmed after all those years that she still knows about his cholinergic urticaria, that she's known all along and not simply forgotten after the first mention - and knew what she was doing every time she had him wear stuffy clothes - it stings.

He hums a vague response. Hopes she doesn't notice how that one sentence just struck a cord. Takes a deep breath and sits down at the very far end of the couch.

"Alright, let's pretend I am willing to do as told. What exactly is it that you want from me? Why did you have to break our promise?"

Mrs. Kim takes a slow sip from her tea.

"It's not what I want, it's what will happen."

Taehyung raises an eyebrow. Yeah no, he doubts that.

Maybe he said that out loud, because the next moment, his mom sighs and puts the cup down.

"Did you read the News lately?"

"Yes." 

Between planning, throwing and tidying up a certain birthday party, work, and trying out a handful of items from Jeongguk's advent calendar. He tries to keep at least a general sense of what's going on in the world.

Mrs. Kim huffs. "Then you surely know about your brother."

About the headlines of 'Kim Jeongyu accused of drug use', the 'beloved grandson of the founder of Kim Industries spotted stoned in a bar', article adorned with candid shots of him sprawled over a booth with three meekly clothed women all over him? Yeah, he knows. And he thinks he's got a vague idea of where this is going. He doesn't like it one bit.

"So? What does that have to do with me?"

"What does that have to- don't you feel sorry for your brother?!"

The mother monster is rearing her head but it's that moment Taehyung decides not to take any today. This is his home, his couch where that woman is sitting on and they will play by his rules. Not hers.

So he keeps his voice calm as he leans back, hands folded behind his head, and replies, "No. He is old enough to make his own decisions now. If he wants to do something fundamentally stupid like that, then so be it. Don't try to guild-trip me into this."

Mrs. Kim gives him a harsh look.

"The Kim family needs a young and promising representative at the ceremony."

Ah. Of course.

"So get Mr. Han on the case to delete all these pictures and articles."

"You and I both know it's too late when even you saw the News."

"So tell Eunjun to come with you, then."

"Your sister is currently in the States to do some further training and build important connections abroad. Which you would know if you'd deign to check up on your family every now and then," she sneers.

Taehyung shrugs.

"Tough luck."

If they don't show any interest in what it is that he wants and does, then why should he? Maybe it's petty thinking but he doesn't care.

His mother seems to realize that he's not going to pack his things and follow her out of the door anytime soon. Time to get the point across.

"That leaves us with you having to attend the ceremony. There is nobody else I can ask."

Taehyung smiles.

"Sweet. But no. For three reasons." He holds up his hand and lifts his thumb. "One, we have an agreement that you cannot demand anything of me if it means I have to get into the spotlight." His forefinger goes up. "Two, you did no such thing as asking me. You came here with a demand, not a question." There goes his middle finger. "And three, I don't feel like being the substitute's substitute. Go and figure this out without me, mom."

There, he said it. Damn does that feel good.

Even if his mother now looks at him as if he is some old chewing gum stuck to her sole.

"Kim Taehyung. This is not a matter of choices. Believe me, I would much prefer to bring your brother with me but that is out of question at the moment. So you'll have to make do. If I show up alone, with the media going berserk about Jeongyu, and having no clue about Eunjun's whereabouts, don't you know what they'll make of it?" Her voice starts to turn shrill. "They will say that I am a terrible mother, a failure to society! Unworthy of the name Kim! They will start spreading rumors and point fingers in every direction, and nobody will be safe. Not even you."

All the fake bravado is gone now, both of them putting their cards on the table. Taehyung no longer has it in him to attempt that outwards calmness, instead surging ahead to an explosion. He tries to reign it in, at least a bit. If he explodes now it's going to be ugly. And there is still the matter of Jeongguk being on the way, maybe mere steps away from entering the battle field. He doesn't want Jeongguk to see him like that.

Taehyung tries to focus on that, on what his boyfriend will have to witness if he goes off now. Takes some deep ing breaths as he holds himself together.

But then he looks at his mother, at how her manicured nails dig into her palms and how she glowers at him. At her disappointment of a child, for which she had to stoop so low as to ask for help. Demand help. Semantics.

He looks at her and sees long afternoons spent with interview training, sees chiding looks at the dinner table because he didn't put down the cutlery in the right way, excessive shopping tours from one high-end brand shop to the next, frenzy of flashing cameras following their every step. And it makes him a little sick. Especially when his mother starts to tap her nail against the tea cup, a habit she never lost.

Tick, tick, tick.

Pack your clothes. 

Tick.

Don't ask stupid questions.

Tick.

Follow my lead.

Tick.

Be a good son and don't embarrass me.

Tick, tick, tick.

The heat that had begun to gurgle in his guts turns ice-cold. A lethal silence fills his head.

"That's what it all boils down to, isn't it? You need a poster child to prove to the world how great you are."

With him as nothing but a tool. One of the variables in the equation of his mother to get whatever she wants.

"..."

The following silence is confirmation enough. He knew it.

And they say he doesn't care for their family. What a joke.

"Don't be ridiculous," Mrs. Kim finally presses out. "You make it sound like I am a heartless villain."

Aren't you?

He contemplates to say it out loud, when there is a familiar click at the doorlock. 

"Babe, I'm back," Jeongguk calls from the entrance.

Taehyung's mother scrunches her nose. 

Oh, great. Seems like on top of everything else, he also has to come out of the closet today.

Just what he needed.

"Tae?" Jeongguk's head pops around the corner, heavy paper bags in both arms. He grins at Taehyung, then freezes when he sees the intruder. "Oh. I, sorry. I didn't know we had visitors."

His head swivels around as if looking for more strangers. He gives Taehyung a questioning look. Taehyung feels a little bad for him.

Mrs. Kim gets up with almost unnatural grace. 

"And who might you be?"

Jeongguk stares.

Manners, Taehyung, manners, he reprimands himself. His home, his task to introduce people to each other. Even if it .

"Mother-"

Jeongguk chokes.

"-meet my boyfriend..."

Should... should he not tell her Jeongguk's name? Just in case? He doesn't think she would do something illegal that could endanger him, but. There are a hundred ways to screw someone over legally. Especially when you are rich. Maybe it's safer to not give her any ammunition. 

With the way she looks at Jeongguk now, it's probably best if she knows as few as possible.

But before he can warn the younger, Jeongguk steps forward, shifting one bag to his other arm, and stretches out his now empty hand.

"Jeon Jeongguk, ma'am. Pleasure to meet you."

Taehyung's shoulders drop. So much to secrecy.

He watches his mother stiffly shake Jeongguk's hand, then pulling away quickly. From his position Taehyung can see her wiping her hand at the back of her dress. 

Her lips curl. "Pleasure."

Jeongguk furrows his eyebrows. He too noticed the dismissive tone.

And it seems, like Mrs. Kim belatedly realizes her un-ladylike behavior as she gives Jeongguk a strained smile and then turns back to her son.

"I take it that it's time for me to go. You should get ready as well. I'm waiting outside." She nods at Jeongguk. "Mister Jeon."

Jeongguk moves aside to let her through, puzzlement all over her face. "Get ready? Ready for what?"

Taehyung steps forward. Like hell he is going to leave. He takes Jeongguk's hand and gives it a tight squeeze. 

"I told you I'm not going."

Mrs.Kim gives him a placative smile.

"Oh, but you will. Or would you rather the paparazzi catch wind of the long-lost eldest son of Kim Industrie's leader?" She whips out her phone, smile widening. "My favorite car is downstairs, clearly recognizable for those little pests. One message from me, and this place is crawling with sensationalist reporters. You wouldn't want that, would you?"

Taehyung is going to puke.

Never. He's never going to give up his calm, uninteresting and wonderfully private normal life.

Or Jeongguk.

Who is giving him such an alarmed look, hand squeezing his just as tight, turning sweaty. 

Nope, no will do.

There must be something, anything... come on Taehyung, think, think! What could you use against her? What would shut her up and drop the whole issue of-

Oh.

Right.

There is something.

Something his oh-so flawless mother would never want to risk.

Time to play his trump card.

Taehyung squares his shoulders.

"Sure, do that. But then I hope you don't mind if I tell them what happened at the Maldives fifteen years ago."

Mrs. Kim pales.

"You wouldn't dare."

Wouldn't he?

Jeongguk has put down his bags and is now clinging to Taehyung's entire arm. As if he doesn't want to let go.

this .

A man's gonna do what a man's gotta do.

And if that means he has to show his claws, then so be it. His mom wants to play dirty? He'll show her dirty.

He crosses his arms. "I wouldn't dare? ing try me," Taehyung hisses. 

"You don't have any proof." But even as she says it, Mrs. Kim looks uneasy. As if she doesn't believe herself.

Taehyung comes a step closer. "Oh, but you seem to forget that I am an Informatics specialist. I can hack into your device anytime I want. And if I can't get past the firewall, I know someone who will." Another step, and they are face-to-face. "Don't. Test me, mom."  The words are quiet, not more than a whisper. His mother has the sense to flinch back at the threat they pose. 

Taehyung is not one to make threats. But when he does, they're never empty. Seems like his mother knows. She backs off, gives him a last once-over. 

"I'm going now. But this is not over."

He goes to open the door for her. "It is. Call Eunjun if you need a model child. Goodbye."

The door slams shut before she can snap back anything. The sound is deafening. Shaking the very foundations of the apartment.

"...."

With a tired sigh, Taehyung rubs his face.

This was exhausting.

When he opens his eyes, Jeongguk is leaning into his space.

"Kim Industries, huh?"

Another sigh. The cat is out of the bag now. He wraps his arms around the younger, slow, tentative. Prays Jeongguk won't pull away from him. There is a fragile moment where everything is in limbo, Jeongguk's arms twitching at his sides. Taehyung holds his breath. If Jeongguk pushes him away...

, when did the younger become so important to him that he can taste bile on his tongue at the mere thought of that, of losing him? Is that... is that normal?

Jeongguk  pulls him close and buries his nose in Taehyung's hair.

"That's your mother?"

"Mhm."

Gosh. Taehyung just won the marathon. Two marathons! Jeongguk still accepts him, even now that he knows about his family. About the big fat white lie. Is it a white lie? And he still hugs him.

"She's ing terrifying, dude."

Taehyung snorts. Lips a bit wobbly, eyes stinging. "Amen to that."

Jeongguk's arms tighten around him. "Don't hide. Please, don't hide from me." He sounds as vulnerable as Taehyung feels.

And Taehyung, he hadn't even realized how he buried into the younger's chest. Tucking himself away from the world and the life he never wishes to have. He looks up, only to meet Jeongguk's worried gaze. The sincerity in it takes his breath away.

"She's got no hold on me," he breathes. Repeats the phrase like a mantra in his head. Again, and again, and again until it can form a shield around him and turn the words into an undeniable truth.

Jeongguk starts to rock them back and forth to a rhythm only he knows.

"She's got no hold on you."

Taehyung nods, fingers clenching into the younger's shirt until they hurt. "She's got no hold on me."

And then the tears begin to flow.

He doesn't even notice at first, too caught up in repeating the words and desperately hoping that he's right.

It's Jeongguk - of course - who pulls him out of his head. Wipes his tears away and as they don't stop, tugs him against his chest once more to cry to his heart's content, warm hands up and down his back.

"You are safe. It's all going to be okay, I promise."

Taehyung believes him.

"Okay."

Jeongguk ends up being right.

In the following days Taehyung has made it a habit to frantically check every celeb news article. Nothing. A short mention of the opening ceremony in Paris here, a full-length interview with his mother and sister there. That's all. No mention of the oldest child.

Bless.

"Aish, seriously," Jimin says when Taehyung finally feels ready to talk about the incident. "You are going to give me so many gray hair with all that family drama. First I'll turn gray, then bald, and it's all going to be your fault. I'm not even thirty yet!"

Taehyung snickers. "You sound like Jin-hyung."

"Oh you little rascal, you better never let him hear that." But Jimin is laughing too. And who are they kidding? Next time they meet, they will both tease their eldest friend.

They bicker around about this and that, until Jimin turns serious all of a sudden. "You are okay though?"

Taehyung smiles. His pure cinnamon roll Jiminie. "Yes, I'm. With Jeongguk." 

The younger is on the floor and in the middle of the second set of his workout routine. Shirtless. He started doing that only recently, claiming that the gym he used to frequent is smelling funny.

Taehyung has a hunch it might be a different reason.

"That's good." The smile is audible in Jimin's voice. "I'm happy for you." And then he turns cheeky again. "So, when are the both of you going to elope to Vegas, huh?"

Taehyung splutters.

What?

"Wait, give me a second, hold on. I thought you can't stand my man?"

Jeongguk looks up from his push-up at the mention of 'my man' and smirks. Taehyung hates him.

"Aw, come on, Tae-Tae. You know me. I can't possibly hate on someone forever, I am too kind for that."

"Yeah no I call bull."

"Kim Taehyung, I'm going to hit you!" Jimin shrieks loud enough into his phone that Taehyung needs to hold it a fair distance away. He grins.

Five minutes later, Jimin has calmed down. Mostly.

"...Also just to make this clear, I want to get all the credits for telling you that you have the hots for him like months before you idiot realized it yourself. You better make me your best man or else," he sniffs.

"Okay, okay, you can be my best man," Taehyung promises and means it. "Now get back to work, I don't wanna be responsible for a canceled photo shoot or something."

"Ugh, I hate when you're being responsible," Jimin grumbles. And hangs up.

Taehyung just shakes his head. Park Jimin, ladies and gentlemen. What an idiot.

His eyes drift back to Jeongguk. It's natural, okay? When someone as ripped as his boyfriend - he swoons - works out half , glistening with sweat and all, then you gotta watch. It's a natural law or something. Taehyung has the distinct sense that he's drooling. He doesn't care. That's his boyfriend. He can drool.

"Say, Gguk..."

After putting his phone away, he flops to the ground and lays down on his tummy, chin propped up in both hands. Blatantly staring. 

"When you did push-ups in your office because of some Baek had done..."

Jeongguk grunts to signal he's listening. One, two, three more push-ups, then he stops. Changes positions and starts to do sit-ups again. Taehyung shortly gets distracted, too busy ogling the shifting abs, the way light bounces on solid muscle before remembering he was about to ask a question. He clears his throat.

"Uhm, right. So when you did push-ups in the office. Was that just you going all peacock on me? Like right now?"

Jeongguk's upper body bangs down onto the floor. He wheezes.

"What?!"

Taehyung grins. Seems like he got the upper hand now.

"Hm? I'm just saying. If you wanted to impress me then it definitely worked."

The younger's face turns an adorable shade of pink and Taehyung coos.

The transition from summer to autumn is a slowly creeping process. Usually one that Taehyung welcomes because it means the weather grows colder. Safer for him, and easier to handle day to day life.

This year, he barely notices the change. Is all too absorbed in his life with Jeongguk together.

His mother still keeps calm despite her ominous words.

'This is not over.'

He hopes it stays an empty threat.

Yet he can't help himself to mull over the words again and again. Until he is almost certain she will strike tomorrow with her next attack. She never does. He still keeps his guards up. 

Whenever the fear becomes too much and that heavy oily darkness grips after him, Jeongguk notices. Taehyung doesn't know how. If it is because he gets a certain look on his face or if the younger has developed something like a sixth sense for it. But somehow he's always there to catch him before he can truly fall.

Sometimes he even texts Jimin for moral support. The two of them have started to finally bond over their shared aversion of Taehyung's mom.

"Let's call it as it is," Jimin says during one evening call. "She is evil."

Taehyung smiles. "Are you drunk?"

"No, I'm honest."

Jeongguk sticks his head out from the kitchen. He is in the middle of making curry. It already smells freaking delicious. 

"Is Jimin calling?"

Taehyung nods and puts him on speaker.

Jimin must've heard him too. "Yah, there is a 'hyung' missing somewhere in that sentence, you rascal," he hollers.

Jeongguk cackles. Reaches Taehyung a little spoon with curry to taste, and then asks, "What'd you say earlier?"

"Not answering unless you call me hyung," the model snips.

Jeongguk rolls his eyes. Taehyung grins.

"What did you say earlier, hyung?"

"That we don't tolerate witches as family members, man!"

The youngest nods. "That's right. Yeah, that's right."

He pulls Taehyung to his chest, gives him a short peck to the forehead and then gets back to the stove. Taehyung feels like he just received a blessing. One kiss to ward off all evil. His safe space Jeon Jeongguk. Goshdammit. You-you... you big fat sap.

With a broad smile he goes back to his place on the couch, leaving his phone behind for the two to about his mom together. He sinks into the couch, head falling back against the cushion. The tension from yet another work day seeps out of him as he steadily relaxes.

Wait.

Repeat that last part.

What?

And then it hits him.

This, this is amazing!

He, Kim Taehyung, Mr. 'I live at work and visit my apartment sometimes' is calmly sitting on the couch and kicking back. No midnight shifts, no sleep deprivation. No overthinking of the most mundane things and laying awake at night. And it's been like that for months now. When was the last time he knocked himself out in front of the pc in his office? He doesn't even know.

All because of Jeongguk.

But of course, as so many things if it comes to the younger, it's taken him ages to even realize. To catch on with that 180° shift in his life, back from his workaholic tendencies and towards a healthy lifestyle.

He gets up again, runs to the kitchen and gives Jeongguk a big fat smooch on his cheek.

Jeongguk laughs.

"What was that for?"

"Nothing. I just love you."

"Ew, get a room you two," Jimin complains.

They both turn to where Taehyung's phone lays on the island. 

"Shut up."

"Yah, you two hell spawns, I'll have you know-"

Jeongguk unceremoniously ends the call. Then turns back to Taehyung with the softest smile on his face. Puts the spoon away to gently take Taehyung's face in both hands and place a tender kiss on his cheeks, the bridge of his nose, his mouth.

"I just love you, too."

Jimin comes over the next weekend and greets the couple with a cheery " you guys!"

They get settled and start digging into the remnants of Seokjin's buffet from the other day. Which is fine. Taehyung is chill with that.

What he's not chill with, is Jimin telling Jeongguk all the exclusive stories about Kim Taehyung's Failures in Life. All the embarrassing stuff there is. And there is a lot Jeongguk doesn't know about yet.

The pasta almost flies out of Jimin's mouth as he keeps talking, Taehyung sitting next to him frozen in horror.

"...And you won't believe what happened that one time we went to France together-"

"Jimin, no", Taehyung wails.

Jeongguk, the insufferable brat, is already leaning closer to the model. Smelling a wonderfully cringy story.

"-when he tried to speak French and impress the waitress but he totally mispronounced saxophone, and do yo know what he said?"

"JIMIN!"

Jimin ducks away from his hits and kicks. "No, let me finish, you . He needs to hear this."

He shares a devilish grin with Jeongguk that makes Taehyung almost pass out. These two together are bad News. The most terrible News ever.

"Yes Tae, let him finish," the youngest echoes.

"NO," Taehyung shouts in his face. And then to Jimin, who's mouth is already dropping open, "PARK THE JIMIN, I AM GOING TO SKIN YOU ALIVE!"

~Ende~