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⊹₊ ⋆ ₊˚⊹♡⊹₊ ⋆ ₊˚⊹♡⊹₊ ⋆ ₊˚⊹♡⊹₊ ⋆ ₊˚⊹♡⊹₊ ⋆ ₊˚⊹♡⊹₊ ⋆ ₊˚⊹♡⊹₊ ⋆ ₊˚⊹♡⊹₊ ⋆ ₊˚⊹♡⊹₊ ⋆ ₊˚⊹♡⊹₊ ⋆ ₊˚⊹♡⊹₊ ⋆ ₊˚⊹♡⊹₊ ⋆ ₊˚⊹♡⊹₊ ⋆ ₊˚⊹♡⊹₊ ⋆ ₊˚
By early afternoon, the garage had settled into a slower rhythm.
The lunch rush outside filled the streets with movement and noise. People crossing intersections with paper bags swinging from their wrists, motorcycles growling past in bursts of sound, sunlight warming the sidewalks after the cool morning.
Inside Dead End Garage, however, everything felt strangely suspended.
Comfortable.
Like time moved differently there.
Taehyung sat on the edge of the worn leather couch near the office now.
One leg tucked beneath himself while absentmindedly flipping through an old motorcycle magazine he had absolutely no interest in reading.
Or at least—
That’s what he told himself.
In reality, he’d spent the last fifteen minutes secretly watching Jungkook work again.
Which was becoming embarrassingly habitual.
Jungkook was currently bent over the side of the scooter, dark brows furrowed slightly in concentration while sunlight streamed across the garage floor toward him.
There was something unfairly beautiful about focused people.
Especially focused people with tattooed arms and silver jewelry and mouths that curled into devastating smiles every few minutes whenever they caught you staring.
Unfortunately for Taehyung—
Jungkook kept catching him staring.
“Y’know,” Jungkook said casually without looking up, “most people buy me dinner before watching me this intensely.”
Taehyung immediately looked down at the magazine.
“I’m literally reading.”
“You’ve been on the same page for ten minutes.”
Taehyung glanced down.
Right.
Upside down.
Horrifying.
Hoseok, sitting nearby organizing receipts, dissolved instantly into loud laughter.
“Oh my god,” he wheezed. “Tae, he’s making you stupid already.”
Taehyung looked personally attacked.
“I’m leaving.”
“No, you’re not,” Jungkook replied immediately.
The confidence in his voice should not have been attractive.
Hoseok grinned mischievously from behind his coffee cup.
“So when are you two getting married?”
Taehyung almost dropped the magazine.
“Why are you like this?”
“Because Jungkook’s been smiling at engines all morning.”
“I always smile at engines.”
“No,” Hoseok corrected. “You smile at him and then accidentally tighten bolts too hard.”
Jungkook finally looked up then, expression completely unashamed.
“What can I say?” he drawled lazily. “He’s distracting.”
Taehyung stared at him.
How did anyone survive conversations with this man?
Seriously.
Jungkook flirted with the confidence of someone who had never once feared consequences in his entire life.
Meanwhile Taehyung felt like his soul briefly left his body every time the man smiled at him too directly.
Dangerous.
Very dangerous.
Jungkook returned to the scooter after that, though the grin lingering on his mouth never fully disappeared.
Truthfully, he’d already fixed the issue nearly twenty minutes ago.
The scooter had been perfectly fine for a while now.
But Taehyung looked comfortable here today.
Comfortable enough to tease Hoseok back softly.
Comfortable enough to wander around the garage touching random motorcycle helmets curiously.
Comfortable enough to laugh openly instead of hiding every smile behind his sleeve.
Jungkook wasn’t ready for him to leave yet.
Which was—
Probably concerning.
Especially because Jungkook had done something even more pathetic earlier.
Around half an hour ago, while Taehyung had been distracted petting the stray cat that occasionally wandered into the garage, Jungkook had discreetly ordered noodles from the little restaurant down the street.
The exact restaurant he’d mentioned earlier.
Not because Taehyung asked.
Not because they had plans.
Jungkook just—
Didn’t want him going home hungry.
Which sounded dangerously domestic when phrased like that.
Hoseok had nearly thrown a wrench at his head after realizing what he was doing.
“You are down catastrophically,” Hoseok whispered dramatically earlier.
Jungkook ignored him.
Mostly because it was true.
And now,
Right on cue—
A scooter delivery driver pulled up outside the garage entrance carrying two paper bags.
Hoseok looked toward the door first.
Then immediately toward Jungkook.
Then slowly broke into the most obnoxious grin imaginable.
Oh no.
Traitor.
Jungkook shot him a warning glare instantly.
Hoseok looked delighted.
“Delivery for Jeon Jungkook!” the driver called.
Taehyung glanced up from the couch.
“You ordered food?”
Jungkook straightened casually from beside the scooter, wiping his hands on a rag.
“Maybe.”
“You didn’t mention you were hungry.”
“I wasn’t.”
Taehyung blinked.
“…Then why’d you order noodles?”
Jungkook took the paper bags from the driver before answering.
“You looked hungry.”
Silence.
Small.
Soft.
Dangerously warm.
Taehyung stared at him.
Jungkook suddenly looked suspiciously shy for someone usually incapable of embarrassment.
Not fully shy.
Just quieter around the edges.
Like he hadn’t meant for the gesture to become noticeable.
Hoseok watched the entire exchange with the expression of someone witnessing a man accidentally fall in love in real time.
“God,” he muttered under his breath.
Taehyung stood slowly from the couch.
“You ordered because of me?”
Jungkook shrugged one shoulder casually, refusing to look directly at him now.
“You’ve been here for hours.”
“That doesn’t mean you needed to buy me lunch.”
“You said that about the scooter too.”
“That’s different.”
“How?”
Taehyung opened his mouth.
Then paused.
Because honestly—
He didn’t know.
Jungkook set one of the noodle containers gently in front of him atop the small table near the couch.
Steam curled softly into the air carrying warm scents of broth and garlic and spice.
“I got non-spicy,” Jungkook said. “You look like someone with weak spice tolerance.”
Taehyung gasped quietly.
“That’s profiling.”
“You denying it?”
“…No.”
Hoseok barked out another laugh.
Jungkook looked unbearably smug.
Taehyung sat back down slowly, staring at the noodles like they might emotionally overwhelm him.
Nobody had ever done things like this so naturally before.
Not dramatically.
Not performatively.
Just… thoughtfully.
Like taking care of people came instinctively to Jungkook despite all the leather jackets and cocky smiles.
It confused Taehyung a little.
Because Jungkook looked like someone reckless.
Someone careless.
But every small thing he did carried strange gentleness underneath it.
Making sure Taehyung had coffee.
Fixing his scooter immediately.
Remembering he might be hungry.
Taehyung’s chest felt oddly warm.
Across from him, Jungkook sat on a nearby stool and opened his own noodles casually.
“You’re staring again,” he murmured.
Taehyung looked down quickly.
“I’m not.”
“You absolutely are.”
“Maybe your face is just distracting.”
The words slipped out before Taehyung could stop them.
Silence.
Hoseok slowly lowered his drink.
Jungkook blinked once.
Then very slowly—
A grin spread across his face.
“Oh?” he said softly.
Taehyung immediately realized his mistake.
“Oh my god.”
“You think I’m pretty.”
“I did not say that.”
“You implied it beautifully.”
Hoseok actually clapped.
“Progress! Emotional progress!”
Taehyung buried his face briefly in his hands.
“I hate both of you.”
“No you don’t,” Jungkook replied instantly.
And annoyingly—
He sounded certain.
The three of them eventually settled into eating together while music drifted softly through the garage.
Outside, the city remained bright and noisy beneath afternoon sunlight.
Inside, warmth gathered quietly around paper noodle containers, shared teasing, and the growing ease between two people who were beginning to fit around each other naturally without even realizing it.
At one point Taehyung laughed so suddenly at something Hoseok said that noodles nearly slipped from his chopsticks.
Jungkook reached out automatically to catch the container before it tipped.
His hand brushed lightly against Taehyung’s wrist.
Both paused.
Just briefly.
When Taehyung looked up,
Jungkook was already looking at him.
And there it was again—
That feeling.
Soft.
Careful.
Growing steadily between them in ways neither seemed fully prepared for.
Jungkook smiled first.
Small this time.
Real.
Taehyung felt his heartbeat stumble embarrassingly hard.
Meanwhile, somewhere deep inside his chest, Jungkook realized something terrifying:
Sabotaging the scooter might’ve started as an excuse to see Taehyung again.
But now?
Now he genuinely just wanted reasons to keep him around.