Taeyeon looked so pretty in blue, and Hyoyeon looked very y in that yellow dress, and there were just so many girls to look at, but Seokjin just kept on looking at Taehyung and Jungkook. They were both leaning against the wall somewhere in the kitchen. Taehyung had a drink and a hand on Jungkook's hip while Jungkook had a pepsi and a blush on his cheeks. Seokjin watched them hard, and he probably looked very creepy, standing in the middle of the living room and just staring past all those people like that, but he wasn't very concerned. He was more concerned- curious- about what Taehyung could be saying to Jungkook to have the younger boy blushing like that.

"Jin?" a pretty voice said. Seokjin almost jumped, but he didn't, and he was greeted by Yoona when he turned around. She was wearing a blue similar to Taeyeon's, only a little brighter, and her dress was a little bit shorter- just above her knees. Seokjin tried not to focus on her legs- how rude- and looked up at her face. Her eyes were filled with concern. "You look lonely here, are you okay? Did you want a drink or something?"

"Oh, no, sorry, I-" Seokjin cleared his throat. "I actually just came here with Jungkook and Taehyung. They're our youngest, you know, so I came to watch out for them, I guess. Make sure they don't get into too much trouble."

"Ah," Yoona nodded in understanding. "Okay, just don't get too bored, yeah? Me and Hyoyeon and probably Sooyoung will be out by the pool if the three of you wanted to join us."

"Okay. Thank you, noona." Seokjin said. He watched Yoona walk away. He thought about how he could be dating her, or someone like her- so nice and pretty, but his thoughts travelled back to Jungkook and Taehyung and how handsome they always looked and how nice they were and he was just really, really confused because he swore, like two months ago, he wasn't even focused on relationships and now he was thinking about pretty girls like his noonas and nice boys like his band-mates and it was all to confusing and Seokjin really just wanted to-

Swim. That's what he wanted to do. He wanted to go out to the pool and join Yoona and Hyoyeon and Sooyoung and whoever else would be there. He wanted to talk to people who weren't his own band-mates and have a good time. He wanted to get his mind off of the madness that was his emotional feeling towards whoever the he liked. But he didn't exactly have any swim trunks with him, and it would be a little inappropriate, he thought, to show up in his underwear.

Seokjin glanced back into the kitchen. Taehyung and Jungkook were still there, only the two of them were a little closer than they'd been about ten- or maybe twenty- minutes ago and Jungkook's soda was on the counter and his hands were on Taehyung's shoulders and Taehyung was kissing his neck and- soon, Seokjin wasn't going to have to watch them anymore.

Seokjin finally moved from his lonely place in the middle of the living room and began walking around the house. He wanted to find Taeyeon or maybe Yoona again, maybe just to talk, start up a conversation, ask if they had any spare swim trunks or clothes that he could swim in. He ended up thinking more much than he was looking- Jungkook and Taehyung were probably off somewhere, having , and they probably didn't even have a or the necessary supplies needed to properly do it without hurting one another and Seokjin was so worried he thought he would-

"Jin!" Yoona's voice came again. Seokjin didn't even realize he was outside, nor did he realize he was standing near the edge of a hot tub with a few boys he didn't immediately recognize and a good portion of the Girl's Generation members. Only a few of them were actually wearing bathing suits- most of them just had their underwear on. "Jin, do you want to join us?"

And even though every guy in the hot tub was clearly only wearing their underwear, Seokjin stepped back, said, "I-I don't have any swim trunks with me- I didn't think there'd be a pool."

"That's okay! Just take off your pants, your shirt, and get it!" Yoona encouraged. And who was Seokjin to say no when all he really wanted to do was relax anyway? He felt a little shy taking off most of his clothes like that, but it wasn't like everyone was just staring as he did. In fact, they only actually looked at him when he'd slipped into the water, right next to Yoona.

"Welcome to the party." Yoona said, and she looked really pretty with her hair back and a big smile on her face, and Seokjin felt a little bit better already.

Seokjin didn't know how long he'd been in the hot tub, but he was starting to feel really relaxed, too relaxed, to the point he almost forgot about Jungkook and Taehyung period- not just the fact that they were here, or that he felt something for him, just that they existed in general, and they were his band-mates, and that he had promised himself to take care of them- they were his responsibility tonight. He remembered Taehyung and Jungkook when the hot tub was occupied only by him, Yoona, and Sooyoung, and Jungkook came walking up, face red, eyes wet, cheeks lined with tears. He had his arms wrapped around himself protectively, and his shoulders were shaking, and Seokjin's heart dropped because where was Taehyung?

"Jungkook!" Seokjin pushed himself off the far edge of the hot tub to the near edge, where Jungkook was standing, crying, shaking. Seokjin reached one hand up, and Jungkook let his fall. Their fingers met halfway, and Seokjin was tugging him down, down, and at the same time, he was stretching up, up until both of them were close enough that they could hear each other whisper. "Jungkook, what happened? Are you alright?"

"Hyung, I don't have a boyfriend anymore." Jungkook said. He was shaking so bad that Seokjin thought he might collapse. He turned back to Yoona and Sooyoung, who were watching with worried, worried, worried expressions. Seokjin mouthed an apology, and they waved it off, gesturing him to go, to take care of Jungkook. Seokjin hopped out of the water quick, shook himself off and dried himself with a towel quicker. He didn't care that his clothes were all wet when he put them back on, or that he and Jungkook were still in public. All he cared about was finding Taehyung and figuring out what the hell was going on.

"Where's Taehyung?" Seokjin asked Jungkook. Jungkook was still crying, even if only slightly. He didn't answer for a little while, because his shoulders were still shaking like mad and the poor thing probably had a really sore throat. When he finally did get around to talking, his voice cracked a lot, and he sounded so weak and vulnerable- "Taehyung left."

"He left?!" Seokjin yelled. It wasn't loud enough to draw attention, only a few wandering eyes, but it was loud enough that Jungkook flinched and tried to quiet him down. But Seokjin was not having that. "Taehyung left? And he didn't even tell us? Did he take the car? Did he take a cab? Why didn't he at least leave you with me? Why did he leave?"

"I don't think I want to talk about it, hyung." Jungkook said. Seokjin, although he was angry, was still not one to push and pull and fight for answers. He gave Jungkook a stern look, the one he'd been giving him for a few minutes. Jungkook still didn't give him any answers to any of his questions, so Seokjin sighed and pulled him into a hug. "Okay, okay. But we're going to talk about this when we get home. Got it?"

Jungkook nodded weakly. Seokjin went outside only to find that Taehyung had, in fact, taken the car. He'd left Jungkook with thirty dollars, though, which was much more than needed to take a cab home. Jungkook cried the whole way there, softly, silently, and Seokjin held him, wondering why the hell Taehyung would leave him and Jungkook at a party.

"Talk to me." Seokjin said. Taehyung hadn't been anywhere in sight when Seokjin and Jungkook got home. Seokjin was a little concerned, wondering if Taehyung had actually made it home or not, but he was more focused on Jungkook and getting him all wrapped up in warm clothes with some Ibuprofen and a cup of tea to settle both his stomach and his sore throat.

"It's a long story, hyung, and I don't think you want to hear it." Jungkook said. Seokjin stared at him for a long time. Jungkook finally got the hint and began tell his story with a sigh to start off. "Well, ever since that, uh, that night... when-when you walked in on Taehyung and I... no, it was a little while before that, before Taehyung and I started dating. I-I kind of had- have- a crush on you. But-but I love Taehyung and he understands, he gets it, because he-he likes you, too. But ever since that night, I guess it's been different. Because Taehyung looked at you a lot different and then I looked at you a lot different and everything is just so different it's making me sick."

Jungkook paused to take a sip of his tea. Seokjin was a little too shocked to react thus far. "So we started talking about you- how nice you were to us, how handsome you look in the morning, how cute you are because you're so awkward and it's-it's kind of funny, I guess. And then tonight, Taehyung said he didn't like this. He didn't like that we were both kind of in love but not really in love with someone else. But the tricky thing is he still loves me and he said he didn't want to break up but he had to break up with me and I don't understand why."

Jungkook stopped. He took a long sip of his tea. Seokjin could bet it burned his tongue, as the tea had only been off the heat for a few minutes, but Jungkook didn't seem to mind all that much. Seokjin took a few moments to process everything- the crushes and all- before he started to talk. "Well, first of all, neither you or Taehyung should let me get between you two. You-you clearly love each other and you should be together-"

"He wants you." Jungkook said. "And I want you too. And Taehyung said he felt guilty for wanting someone else while he had me, because he thinks that I'm all he needs and I tried to tell him that people can want other people and still have people and not have to feel so guilty but he just let that eat him up and now it's eating me up too because it feels so wrong even if Taehyung isn't my boyfriend I still love him and he still loves me but we both want you and it's stupid and you weren't even supposed to know-"

"Jungkook," Seokjin stopped the younger boy. He placed a hand on Jungkook's chin. "I want you to tell Taehyung that wants and needs are two completely different things. He will always, always want something- whether that be another person or a new car or something much more minor than that. And that's okay, because that's only a want. But he will also always, always need you. That will never change. He doesn't need me, he needs you, and you only want me, and you need him, and that's okay. It's different, but it's not cheating, because are you acting on those wants?"

"No," Jungkook whispered.

"Exactly," Seokjin said. "Just talk it out with him, okay? And I'm- I'm really sorry for meddling in your relationship like this, Jungkook. I didn't mean to get between the two of you."

"It's okay, hyung. It's not your fault." Jungkook whispered. He snuggled up against Seokjin, and he fell asleep like that, all curled up against Seokjin's chest. He felt so cuddly, just like Seokjin had been assuming. Seokjin was still taking everything in as he was falling asleep. Who knew the two people he had such big crushes on would like him, too.

❝ ♥ ❞

A/N: I can't go through a single story without angst. I try. I fail. But this was supposed to be kind of angsty anyway, so.