He was more asleep than awake.

His arms were flattened under his chest. He reached out one and felt the other side of the bed, letting out a grunt of annoyance as he noticed it empty.

He sat up in bed. The sun was streaming through the window, and it hurt his eyes. He rubbed them, waited for them to get used to the light, and scanned the room.

 He wasn't there.

“You can't get out of this bed until I'm awake,” he mumbled through his teeth as he prepared to leave.

He made his way to the living room, smiling as he noticed a head of messy hair. He quietly approached and wrapped his arms around the neck of the boy sitting on the furniture. He kissed him on the cheek and ruffled his hair even more.

“You left me alone,” Jeon Jungkook protested.

Kim Taehyung turned his head to look at him, one eyebrow raised.

“Forgive me, honey,” he said. “I found some interesting news, and I came here to read it. You know I don't like to read in the dark; it hurts my eyesight.”

“Mmm,” Jungkook said. He placed a chaste kiss on Taehyung's lips and pulled away. “Okay, pardoned. Now, what's the news?”

Jungkook sat next to Taehyung, who handed him the phone.

“Oh, two members of a girl group are dating? Wow, this is new,” Jungkook said as he slid his finger across the screen. “Wait, I recognize these girls! I remember working with this one,” he pointed at Yuna's photo to Taehyung, “and I think Hoseok-hyung worked with this one,” he said, pointing at Ryujin's photo. “Wow, they've really grown up.”

“I remember you told me about Yuna. You said you laughed during several takes because you thought it was funny how he stood in front of you during filming.”

Jungkook laughed as he recalled the scene again.

“Oh, they were good girls... And some madman exposed them,” Jungkook stiffened his voice.

“It didn't happen to me, to us, but I'm pretty upset too,” Taehyung said.

Jungkook knew how much Taehyung loved his privacy, and he knew how infuriated he got when they tried to invade it. One of the main reasons was him, Jungkook himself. He didn't want their relationship to be public until he himself decided it was time. Jungkook was in total agreement with Taehyung. It was the same for them to make it public as it was for them not to make it public. So far they hadn't seen the need to do so.

Taehyung retrieved his phone, looking at the screen with a frown.

“These rumors…,” he said. “They say that the older one, Ryujin, brainwashed Yuna to take advantage of her?”

“How awful,” Jungkook leaned back against the backrest. “Hoseok-hyung told me that Ryujin had been quite nice to him and Jiminie when they were filming together. She doesn't seem to be able to do such a thing.”

“I'm sure it's a lie,” Taehyung said.

Jungkook straightened up at the conviction in his partner's voice.

“Why do you say that, Tae?”

“See this. It came out today,” Taehyung held out the phone.

It was an Instagram post with four photos. It was enough for Jungkook to see the photos to understand Taehyung. The happiness with which both girls looked at each other was impossible to fake.

Namjoon had pointed out to Jungk