"No mom, I will not go to that gala," Taehyung sighs into his phone and fishes another chip out of the open bag. "I'm busy right now. Also I told you I don't want to be part of this like, how many times by now? Eighty? Nice try though, trying to spring this on me last second."

"Taehyung you could at least come to these kind of events once in a while and support your family, I don't understand-"

"And you never will as it seems so please just do the both of us a favor and stop trying. Goodnight, mom."

Before his mother can protest, he hangs up. The back of his head is already throbbing at the mere thought of attending one of those fancy events. Taehyung pinches the bridge of his nose, exhaling deeply, shoulders tense from the short phone call.

Every now and then the oh-so-busy and highly respected Mrs. Kim remembers she has three children and not just two. Which results in her messaging or calling Taehyung to whatever time and demanding him to participate in some family duty things which in most cases involve lots of flashing cameras, snobs in every corner, giving and listening to speeches, shaking hands and just feeling incredibly awkward and out of place the whole time.

He pops another chip in his mouth. His mom will never understand but he likes his life as it is. Even with s like Baek or all the confusion and whiplash that comes in form of Jeon Jeongguk it's still a lot better than stepping in the shoes of his dad and granddad. 

Also, attending a gala would mean he would be stuck in an uptight suit for hours, slowly getting stewed in there thanks to nerves and the warming weather. And him getting rashes all over his body for something he has zero interest in? Nope, not happening. 

One more huff, one more chip then he grabs the whole bag and upturns it so the remaining crumbs fall right into his mouth and all over his face in a greasy mess.

Not even five minutes of talking with his mother is all it takes for him to be thrown off course.

Thanks for nothing, mom.

Ten minutes later he remembers that as satisfying as it is to be stress-eating in that moment, his skin will curse him from the next day on so he reluctantly puts back the second bag of chips and goes to bed with a still throbbing head.

The next day comes and so does Taehyung's order. Right in time for his next little attack of niceness against Jeongguk.

The younger has started to actually brew Taehyung his tea break-tea and bring it to him which is for one, thoughtful and creepy and two, signalling him he needs to step up his game.

So Taehyung ordered the four-pack of funny office notepads from Guajolote Prints (which he saw on Amazon while browsing 'nice little things to do and get for your colleagues' but made the effort to go to the website of the producer instead of just click-and-buying right there, because Amazon).

And while Jeongguk is out to fix his tea - which Taehung totally does not know because he's been paying attention to the sound of a door opening next to him for the last two hours - he sneaks into Jeongguk's office to place the stack of notepads on Jeongguk's desk. Topped with a round yellow smiley post-it. It's kinda ironic that Jeongguk provides him this chance to out-nice him by attempting the exact same.

Taehyung snickers at his way back to his office, counts it as a win that he got his surprise placed before Jeongguk returns with the tea.

Sure enough the younger enters with a steaming tea pot not even a minute later. Still not knocking. Maybe someday the kid will learn. Or it's one if those things Taehyung can't change anymore. 

The younger grins at him upon entering but falters at the mirrored smirk from Taehyung, narrowing his eyes.

"What did you do."

"Me? Nothing of course, what could I ever be doing, I'm innocent in every case," Taehyung sing-songs.

Jeongguk purses his lips, hands him the cup and exits the room backwards, giving Taehyung the 'I keep my eyes on you' motion.

Taehyung gives him a little wave with his fingers and tentatively sips his tea. Impressively the right kind but still way too hot. He puts it on the desk to cool down, right next to the yankee candle, the two different aromas mixing into a 'fruit cocktail at the beach' scent which smells better than one might think.

Then he hears some knocks.

Short, long, short-short. Three times long. Short, long, short-short.

Lol.

He snorts and knocks back; long-short-long-short-long. Long, four times short, long. Long, short, long-long, short, long.

;-)

The faint chuckle from the other side of the wall brings a much softer smile to his face.

Jeongguk keeps making him tea and trying to hold all the doors open for Taehyung which soon starts to become a competition on itself, the two grown men running for the door like mad and trying to get there first, ripping it open in a haste to be The Gentleman^TM. Which more often than not results in weird looks from their co-workers. 

Baekhyun doesn't tire to bring it up during their lunch breaks.

"You, Taehyung, have some explaining to do," the older states and jabs an accusing finger at him. It could be looking dangerous if there weren't a salad leaf dangling from his mouth and flaxseed sticking to the corner of his mouth.

"I have no idea what you could possibly mean." Taehyung makes a point to shove an extra large bite in his mouth so he can chew longer and escape answering.

Baekhyun unfortunately has a key position and witnesses literally everything when he's at the front desk. Luckily he's not there all day, often enough attempting press conferences, meetings and doing other outernet work but still he sees more than enough.

So the confidence with which he states, "Yes you do, you keep racing Jeongguk for opening the door and it's super weird" is actually legit. He knows what he's talking about.

Minjae does not yet but it's a short-lived blessing as Baekhyun fills him in with the details. Taehyung is still faking ignorance and keeps stuffing his mouth.

Minjae his head, things about the new information and;

"Okay lemme ask again. Are you guys ing?"

Taehyung leaps over the table to cover the youngsters' mouth but the damage is already done. The guests at the table behind them definitely heard.

"Will you stop saying that," Taehyung whisper-yells.

Minjae promises nothing, just throws a cocktail tomato into his mouth.

"Are you though?"

"No we are not! He's just bringing me tea and I'm leaving little things on his desk that's all-"

"He is even bringing you tea!?," Baekhyun shrieks and Taehyung flinches.

"Uhm, n-no? Did I say he's bringing me tea? He's not, no way, you misheard that, ya-haha, it's not like that at all..." Taehyung wants to slap himself to Jupiter or something.

But his friends are having none of it, Baekhyun pointing his knive at Taehyung's throat.

"Dude," the older deadpans, "spill."

From then on, Minjae keeps bringing up the 'Are you guys ing' question every day at least once. It's starting to get annoying, irritating Taehyung to no end because he's just trying to be nice as an act of revenge???

He grumbles while positioning the ergonomic foot rest under Jeongguk's desk.

"Why does everybody assume we are ing? That's ridiculous."

'Everybody' meaning Minjae only but one person saying it is still one too many.

Taehyung gets back into his office unseen by the other web developer which is weird as he wasn't exactly fast this time. Maybe Jeongguk is taking his sweet time on purpose so Taehyung is done once he comes over with tea? Taehyung squints at the closed door. Suspicious.

"Sorry it took longer, Park Bom noona had a little problem fixing her caramel macchiato," Jeongguk says sheepishly upon arriving.

Which is weirding Taehyung out on so many levels. Did he just apologize? Did he just say 'sorry'? That word exists in his vocabulary afterall??? And also sheepish Jeongguk with a slight blush and scratching his cheek is adorable and Taehyung does not know how to deal with it.

The mention of the woman reminds him of something else though, conveniently distracting him from sheepish Jeongguk ohmygod!

"You know I can't really grasp her," Taehyung admits, which is true. "Most of the times she seems to be super timid and everything, barely opening against Baek and his baby boomer gang. On the other hand her look screams confidence and during our work trip she totally had a yelling match with every other team and was one of the most ruthless competitors. And I'm just like, you know? Really confused?"

Jeongguk nods and hands him the tea. Taehyung taking it with a grateful little smile and placing it on the table. He needs to teach Jeongguk that he won't need tea everyday anymore soon, the hot beverage becoming more of a problem than a calming help during the hot season. How to approach the topic of him preferring cool juice in summer when Jeongguk is making an effort here, that's the question.

Because no matter how much of a jerk Jeongguk can be, he's obviously putting effort into that and Taehyung can appreciate it.

But thinking of Park Bom in the Canadian...

For a moment Taehyung's mind drifts back to their work trip, to how packed Jeongguk looked there, how the sweat running down his body was doing nothing to dampen his appearance and- uh-oh, dangerous territory. He shoves the memory far far faaar back and concentrates on Jeongguk's answer instead.

"Yeah she is a bit of an enigma to some people. I don't always know for sure where I stand with her too but all in all I can tell you she is a really kind and sweet one. Gyeom says she's 4D whatever that's supposed to mean."

"Gyeom?"

And there it is again, Jeongguk scratching his head and looking down, shuffling around. "Ah, I mean Yugyeom. You probably don't know him yet and, uh, yeah. You got your tea, congrats to that, so I'm just gonna, y'know..." He makes a vague motion towards the door and slips out of the room, face red.

Leaving Taehyung to tend to his tea and try to make sense of the sudden mood shift. 

"O...kay?"

The thing about Jeongguk behaving so out of character and letting go of his annoying brat persona in favor of shy, easy-to-fluster Jeongguk is that Taehyung is so confused by it he's constantly thinking about it. Jeongguk made a home in his mind like it's free real estate. Worming his way into Taehyung's brain so effortlessly, so easily it takes the older a while to notice at all.

He only catches on when one of his procastination nights hits and instead of thinking about all the things he could but does not do, he just recaps all kinds of conversations he had with Jeongguk that week.

It's- what the is going on?

The answer to all of this mess is soup and I am a fork, Taehyung recons after wracking his brain about why Jeongguk was smiling sweetly at him the other day for absolutely no reason. Because??? That's not his personality? That's the literal opposite of broody, 'I wear black hoodies 24/7 even with 40°C outside and I have no emotions, do not ever speak to me and leave me alone' Jeongguk. So what. The . Is Taehyung missing here? Did Jeongguk change the rules of their inofficial competition or what.

It's past 1am when his phone rings but it's okay, he's still sitting on the couch doing absolutely nothing at all except forcefully staying awake. And it's Jimin. He can be excused anytime for calling in the middle of the night.

"Please end me Tae, end me now," Jimin whines as soon as Taehyung answers the call. 

The younger in a breath, has to determine in a split-second whether or not to be worried and if so, to what extent. Whether Jimin relapsed or just made a joke.

For he still remembers the nights he held his best friend tightly and rocked him back and forth, letting him cry into his shirt that he just 'couldn't take it anymore'. Remembers the stark white hospital walls, the too loud sound of his own steps down the hallway, the beeping sound of machines in Jimin's room and the older's hoarse voice when he said Taehyung's name.

So each time Jimin says stuff like this now it's a sour reminder for Taehyung and he needs to check. Needs to know if Jimin is safe and just having an off day or if he is in actual danger because if so, the younger won't hesitate, he will pull all the strings for getting a jet to take him down to Busan asap.

All of this, the memories, the worry, the question marks and the adrenaline already pumping through his veins come to a halt as Jimin sighs in annoyance and mutters,

"The director is such an ."

Taehyung fall back into the couch cushion with a long exhale. 

And Jimin of course gets it, is quick to assure him. "Don't worry, I'm okay. Just that one guy I have to work with currently is driving me mad. But I promise I'm alright, Tae-bear, yes?"

"Okay, I'm. Okay. Good." Taehyung nods quickly. "Tell me whatever?"

"Of course. Just came back from a photoshoot you know, which has been taken forever cuz the director needed it to be a, quote, ambient shot that catches the night stars high above the city, unquote. Whatever the that's supposed to mean. Made me wear some loose pieces of chiffon, so basically nothing and had me pose on a rooftop terrace."

Taehyung hums. "Alright, so far so good. Usually you don't have much of a problem showing your skin though?"

"Yeah well I do if the director keeps staring at me like a creep," Jimin snaps back.

And oh. Now Taehyung gets it. Ew.

"Did you say something? Did he try to do something? Are you okay? Are you-"

"Dude, chill," Jimin laughs albeit tired. "Nothing happened with the whole crew being around. I made a run for it as soon as it was a wrap before he could get funny ideas. And no, I won't say something."

"Jimin."

"Tae. What? It was an important shot and he is high caliber, like really high. Nobody would believe me anyway and he might very well try to ruin my whole career with some nasty rumors. Who do you think the people will listen to? An award-winning director or an openly gay model who often poses lasciviously for different magazines?"

"But this is not right," Taehyung tries again. They've had this discussion more than once already, he knows he can't win. That doesn't stop him from trying.

"There are so many things that are not right in this world, Tae-Tae. A  possibly erted director who so far did nothing wrong is just a minor issue in comparison and you know it."

"At least tell me his name."

Jimin snorts. "What, so you can hack his profiles, expose his private life and spread false messages in his name until he is forever ruined in the eyes of society? I think not."

"I would never do that!"

"Oh please we both know that's a lie."

Taehyung pouts. "Prick."

"Hm? What was that? You don't want to come visit me next weekend and rather stay home? Don't want to meet your best friend anymore? Fine by me, I can take up the invitation your mom sent me then."

"Nooo, Jiminie, I didn't mean it," the younger whines.

"Sure you did."

"No, I literally- wait, why did you get an invitation from the motherfigure?"

"Because I'm rich, famous and an eye candy, duh," the model deadpans.

"Huh."

"Huh yourself. Also gimme a sec I need a drink."

"Bro it's past 1am."

"And your point is?"

"...Nevermind," Taehyung grunts and listens to the sound of Jimin putting his phone on the table or something, then some clanking and gurgling and at least a long sigh.

"Alright, enough about me. Tell me how it's going with Jeongguk, hm?"

So Taehyung tells him everything there is to tell.

"...And Minjae keeps asking whether or not we're ing which, mind you, we are not at all and also like, never gonna happen. All he does is bring me tea and I write him uplifiting little post-its. And yeah okay the other day he got me a new yankee candle of the exact same type as the one I have in the office because he noticed it almost burned down. But I gave him a ergonomic foot rest and some little succulents for his office in return and that's all? Literally it's no biggie, I don't understand what his problem is."

Jimin hums and 'oh's and 'ah's through the tirade like the great listener and friend he is.

"Are you still holding open the door for each other?"

"I mean, yes?" Taehyung furrows his eyebrows. "This week I have the upper hand so far, I reached the door first for seventeen times and he just for fifteen if I'm not mistaken. Why?"

That's when Jimin's losing it. It starts with a soft giggle but sure enough he gets caught up in it and it doesn't take long then he's outright howling into the phone. At least five minutes pass before he can articulate actual words again.

"Tae ohmygod... I love- I love you, you know that... but sometimes you are just so dumb I swear."

"Yah, Park Jimin what the ?"

"Don't 'yah' me. Oh gosh... This is awesome... This is hilarious. You are amazing." 

Another wave of snickers hits which Taehyung has to endure with a big pout for he still doesn't get what's so funny.

"What is your problem, dude? Care to explain?"

Jimin needs three attempts to form an explanation that makes sense. In a way.

"Tae-Tae, from what I've gathered the two of you are literally courting each other but you are both too dense to get it. But the whole office does."

"What, we're not-"

"Yes you do. Do I really need to spell it out for you?"

"Spell out what?"

"That's a yes then," Jimin sighs, still giggling inbetween. "Okay listen. You two have a crush on each other and it's so damn obvious but you have no clue because you are both competitive s. Literally how dumb can you be? If I were with you right now I would definitely punch you. Why do you think he wants to hold open each and every door for you so badly huh? And brings you tea like your personal butler or something? Hm? Why do you think he does?"

Taehyung flops down on the couch and laughs at the riddiculous thought. What the hell. A crush on Jeongguk, uhum, sure.

"You are completely wrong and I hate you."

"Aw, love you too, hun. Remember to name your first child after me once you two got married, 'kay?"

"Won't ever happen!"

"You are such a ."

"Park Jimin you better start running now." Taehyung is still laughing and it's taking the edge off everything passing his mouth.

Jimin snickers along with him. "Or what? You come and get me? With your terrible stamina? Sure, I wanna see you try."

"You are terrible."

"So many love confessions tonight, what should I possibly do?"

"Go to bed, for starters."

A thoughtful hum. "Ah yes, my lonely self going to bed all on my own. Just like you, loser. How about you give me some reason to be jealous of your life next time we talk hm?"

"Goodnight Jimin!"

"Mwah."

There is a loud smooching sound at which Taehyung jams his finger hard enough on the 'end call' symbol for the screen to crack. He curses and throws it on the couch table. Jimin was right, he should've invested in one of those bulletproof glass screen protectors.

That does not mean he's right with the Jeongguk thing though. Period. Taehyung is going to deny it until his last breath.

"What-"

To say Taehyung is baffled would be an understatement.

Instead of knocking on the wall to tell Taehyung he will switch off the light soon - which yes, is still happening and it still - Jeongguk's been knocking on his door this time which is a first in itself. Not at all expecting Jeongguk to be the one who knocked, Taehyung got up and was just about to wonder who else stays at the office for that long. It's well past nine, later than usually as Jeongguk often switches off the light between seven and eight by now. 

Yet here he is, standing in front of Taehyung with a big box that smells a lot like fried chicken in one hand and a white plastic bag with more beverages hanging from his arm.

Taehyung blinks. He needs to process.

"Dinner?," Jeongguk asks tentatively, lifting up his offerings.

Taehyung is still speechless as he steps aside to let in the younger before realizing that wait, his office is not suited for eating. There are a lot of electronical devices that could get dirty, he doesn't have the empty space on his desk to put down food and also nothing to sit on for a second person. So after a split-second of panicking because Did I just invite Jeongguk inside? Did he invite himself? Are we eating together now? Is this really happening? his eyes dart to where he can see the break room through his open door. Laying abandoned at the other end of the hallway, everybody else long since gone home.

Jeongguk belatedly notices too. With a chuckle he backtracks in the general direction of the break room. Never breaking eye contact, making sure the older follows him.

They get settled on one of the two tables, Jeongguk unpacking everything and Taehyung busying himself looking for plates and napkins.

Aside from the sound of them eating it's eerily quiet, only the sirring of the lights to be heard. It's a pretty surreal experience. Usually the room is busting with life, people hurrying to fix themselves a snack, moving around each other, running into each other, stopping for a little chat. And now it's just the two of them. Nobody saying a word. All they do is eat, inhaling the admittedly huge portion of what has to be Goobne's honey curry crisp chicken together with plain rice and salad. Only the beer Jeongguk gets to have all for himself.

Upon being offered a bottle, Taehyung politely declines with, "I'm not a big fan of bitter tastes."

Jeongguk hums and places the bottle next to his own, almost half empty one.

They continue and the stack of stripped bones on the plate between them grows steadily. 

The thing is, even with barely a word being said it's not uncomfortable or awkward at all. It's more like... tranquil. And that fact alone confuses Taehyung greatly because should'nt this set-up be awkward? Why isn't it?

And then there is this other thing that keeps bugging him.

Once there are only two pieces of chicken left, he finally has the guts to ask.

"I'm surprised you didn't go for the volcano chicken, isn't it the most popular one at the moment?"

Jeongguk gives him a weird look.

"Why would I do that? You said you can't eat spicy food, didn't you?"

Taehyung's heart melts just a little.

From then on it slowly but steadily turns into a regular thing, Jeongguk staying way longer than he used to and eventually getting some food delivered. Taehyung leaves the choice to him as long as it's not spicy and they take turns paying. During these late night dinners their bantering goes down to absolute zero and they really just relax around each other after a long day which is. So damn nice.

Taehyung doesn't tell this Jimin though, not a word. He knows his friend, knows he would talk his ear off about what a cute couple they are. 

It is honestly so calming and doesn't take long for Taehyung to anticipate the knock on his door that's indicating food has arrived. He also notices pretty fast that he's a lot less strung-out lately and he doesn't space out in horrifying inaction that often anymore. Whenever he has dinner with Jeongguk, afterwards he is so satisfyingly full and idle he arrives home and just goes straight to bed to actually catch a good healthy sleep.

That doesn't mean they are on BFF terms, however. During daytime they still keep bickering over the most mundane things. Taehyung also doesn't stop having fun with Jeongguk's magnet board.

"Can you please stop trying to ruin my reputation in front of the whole company," Jeongguk snides as he comes back from the toilet.

Taehyung is not even trying to hide the nonsense words on the magnet board are his doing anymore and keeps rearranging the magnet letters and sticking glittery pink hearts on the board's frame. He doesn't turn around to the younger, nor does he hurry to make space so Jeongguk can get back into his office, just snorts.

"No? Where would be the fun in that? Mister Top list golden maknae needs to have his own door sign and it needs to be prettier than everyone else's." His voice is dripping of sarcasm. He adds a big obnoxious smiley sticker to the lower left corner.

Jeongguk groans. "God, I hate you so much."

"Aw no you don't, you love me~," the older chirps.

Jeongguk stiffens. He doesn't reply, just pushes Taehyung away and hurries through the door, throwing it shut with a bang.

Taehyung stands in the hallway with his stickers in one hand.

"...Did I say something wrong?"

Later on he calls Jimin and whines about how rudely Jeongguk shut the door in his face. Of course Jimin laughs his off to a point where he claims he's got cramps in his face and belly.

"But Jimiiin," Taehyung whines, tries to overpower the high-pitched cackling of his friend. "It was just a joke, he knows it was just a joke, right? Right?!?"

"You... wow, sou are...  the dumbest smart person I ever met I swear," Jimin manages to gasp out between two laughing fits.

"Jimin, not helpful!"