Chapter 2

Tied Like Puppets

"Hey," Jimin said to Seokjin one day. He added a, "Sorry, hyung," when Seokjin gave him a look, to which Seokjin just laughed and shook his head because it was just a joke and the two of them were a little past the point of needing to remember honorifics all the time. Jimin still started out with a "Hyung" when he continued on with what he was going to say, "Did something happen between you and Jungkook and Taehyung? Because they keep looking at you and you keep looking at them and you never talk anymore and I'm... worried, I guess. Are you guys okay?"

"Oh, Jimin, we're fine." Seokjin laughed. He liked that Jimin was so concerned- always was when it came to the relationships between his favorite people, his band-mates. "Nothing's wrong. We still talk."

"I'm just making sure. Jungkook gets really sad whenever I bring you up. I'm not sure why." Jimin said. He tapped on the counter. He seemed a little hesitant to say what he wanted to say, but he'd never really been one to hold back if the topic was important enough. "Maybe you... maybe you should talk to him? And ask him why he gets so sad to talk about you? Because I tried and he wouldn't answer me and I don't want anyone to be sad."

"I'll talk to him, Jimin, don't worry." Seokjin said. And Jimin, as paranoid and as worried as ever, made Seokjin pinky-promise because, "It's not that I don't trust you, hyung, I just know that people get really nervous when they go to talk about someone else about why they're feeling a certain way and I don't want you to chicken out so just keep my pinky promise in mind and everything will be okay."

Seokjin thought Jimin was cute when he was concerned. But he kind of cursed Jimin a while later when he was standing outside of his shared room, once again, ready to knock on the door and hope Jungkook was in there with Taehyung- maybe no so ed-out-looking this time.

"J-Jungkook? Taeh-hyung? Are you in there?" Seokjin called through the door, tapping his knuckled against the wood. There was a rustle of sound, and Jungkook's confused voice asking, "What? Taehyung? Hyung?" and then the door was swinging open. Jungkook was in the background, curled up under what looked like a dozen blankets. His hair was messy and he was squinting, and Seokjin thought- Oh, he must have been sleeping. He'd forgotten that it was midnight and not everyone was such a night-owl like him.

"I'm sorry, I-I forgot it was so late." Seokjin said. Taehyung's face was blank, always was when he had just woken up. He didn't exactly look like he'd just woken up, though. He was in pajamas, sure, but his hair was still neat and his eyes were completely open and his posture was very good, and then he smiled, which he wouldn't have done if he'd only woken up a few minutes before.

"It's okay, hyung. Only Jungkook was sleeping." Taehyung said. He shuffled his feet a little, looked down at the door handle and then back up at Seokjin. "I-I hope you don't mind that he sleeps with us tonight? I-I know he usually sleeps in his own room but I forgot to tell him to go to his own bed and he's already here a-and he's sleeping in my bed so you can still sleep in yours-"

"It's okay, Taehyung, he can sleep here." Seokjin chuckled. "I actually came by to talk to him, but... I guess it can wait for the morning. He's probably too tired right now, huh?"

"I'm awake." Jungkook's voice said. He was sitting up, now, and had brushed a few fingers through his hair to fix it a little bit. There were still tons of blankets draped all around him, covering his arms and hiding his legs. He looked so cuddly and cute and Seokjin kind of wanted to go over and crawl into bed with him and fall asleep like that. "What's up, hyung?"

"Nothing important, just..." Seokjin trailed off. "It's not that I don't trust you, hyung, I just know that people get really nervous when they go to talk about someone else about why they're feeling a certain way and I don't want you to chicken out so just keep my pinky promise in mind and everything will be okay." Curse Jimin and his stupid pinky promise, really.

"Jimin said... you didn't like to talk about me. He said you got sad when he brought me up. And-and he wanted me to ask why." Seokjin said. He scratched the back of his head. Saying it out loud, he thought he might already have an answer, though he couldn't imagine why Jungkook would get sad and not look awkward or something like that.

"I know I kind of, uh, walked in on your guys but you don't have to... feel awkward or anything. We can just ignore it, if that would make you feel better. And if it's that you're angry at me- I'm really, seriously sorry. I just wasn't really expecting anyone to be in the room, not even Taehyung, and, okay, I should have knocked the second time but I didn't think you'd be, like, making out because Namjoon told me-"

"Hyung," Taehyung said, shutting the older boy up. Seokjin mumbled a "Sorry," and Jungkook laughed in the background. "Hyung, I'm not angry. Neither of us are angry, and we don't look at it as awkward, really, either. We kind of just... well... Taehyung and I... I don't know... it's really hard to explain and we-we kind of don't really want to explain...."

"Am I doing something that's making you sad? Because if I am, I'll stop. I don't want you guys to be sad." Seokjin said. He shifted again, never realized how nervous just talking to Jungkook could make him feel. Jungkook scratched the back of his head, eyed Taehyung for a second, then looked back at Seokjin, "No, it's not that we're sad, we're just... disappointed, I guess?"

"Why?" Seokjin asked. He was curious, now. What would Jungkook be disappointed in? Was he disappointed in Seokjin because he didn't knock? Was he disappointed in himself for being caught? Was he disappointed in Taehyung for blatantly telling Seokjin that the two of them were dating?

"I don't want to talk about it." Jungkook muttered. He dropped his gaze, and- yeah, he really did look sad. Taehyung left the door-frame to sit next to the boy, wrap an arm around his shoulder. Jungkook wasn't crying, didn't even look like he was going to cry. He looked like a sad form of disappointed, and Seokjin was dying to know why, but he didn't want to push.

"Okay." Seokjin said. He stepped into the room and closed the door behind him. "Well, I'll go to bed. I'm sorry for waking you up."

Seokjin grabbed his pajamas and walked into the bathroom in their room. Right before he the water for a quick shower, he could hear Taehyung and Jungkook start up a conversation full of whispering and mutters and other things that Seokjin wished he could hear but was deaf to.

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CoolJirl
#1
Chapter 11: Ahhh. I almost forgot about homework oh god. This fic istg. Thank you authornim. The story was great, the dose of angst was perfect i swear. My love for taejinkook is kindled.
masaharu
#2
Chapter 11: oh my god, okay, i have so many things to say about this fic no matter how much time has passed and honestly sjdjfldl i actually don't know how to word them at all because WOW????

this fic is,,,,, everything i ever wanted in a fic i'm so serious just, it's so real. every moment of this was so believable and amazing and the emotions were rAW and everything the characters said, all the ways they reacted and the subtle things in between events and just ? i don't know what i was expecting but you don't know how honestly surprised i was that jin walked away initially and - how. happy that made me because it maDE SO MUCH SENSE like obvs you walk in on two friends and they're both beautiful wow awkward, and all the times he walked away afterward even when they were straight up inviting him like honestly it's so realistic and the tension is through the roof and the very first time yoongi commented on the tension i choked at the same time jin did just. the decisions jin made gave him so much depth like, his hesitation and his confusion and guilt even? sjdkl and the emotions of the other two were so clear and poignant and TAEJINKOOK I REALLY CAN'T. the domestic yoonmin kills me, all the conversations in this kills me i love them all so much. and also this fic, and you for writing this?? :")

pictured above: an actual essay i'm,, so sorry. thank you so much for writing this. bless you <3 <3 <3
lucinda818
#3
Chapter 11: *start singing love is not over* This fanfic is really cute!!!!!!!!!<3♥♥♥
chuppoppo #4
Chapter 11: i LOVE the part where they're making coffe. LOVE IT.
of course along with your magnificient story, yeah. *throws confetti*
faithful-lie
#5
Chapter 11: Oh man, I read this entire thing in one sitting and now it's 1am O_O

This was so cute and angsty and so good and I needed this! I'm sad it ended, but thank you for writing something so good and so bittersweet and seemingly heartfelt.
tsubakitheshawol
#6
Chapter 11: Damn this is sooo cute
SungrinBF
#7
Chapter 11: Oh my gosh i love this and i stayed up late for this <3 thanks for making this ot3 story :3
MikeyHeartsWG
#8
Chapter 11: OMG me and taehyun like the same type of coffee~~~~ adorable ending!!!! <3
bl5908 #9
Chapter 11: This story seriously made my day :) It's so hard to find good ot3 stories, but this one was so well written. Thank you for writing this!