Chapter Text
They’ve been dating for three months. Three. Months.
Neither Jeongguk nor Taehyung knows how they’ve come this far in pretending to be into each other, but in retrospect, it was bound to happen. Both too nice to deny anything, both to dumb to admit anything. That’s the only way they’ve survived this long.
Even during a fated, albeit short, terrifying conversation.
____________________________________________________________
“So...we’ve been dating for awhile,” Jeongguk says.
“Yeah...,” Taehyung nods, not knowing where the conversation is going.
“Did you want to, like...go...all the...way?”
Taehyung blurts it before anything else.
“I’m a virgin, actually.” Jeongguk breathes out.
“Okay, good, me, too, so we can agree to hold off on it, right?”
“Yes, God, definitely.”
____________________________________________________________
Taehyung’s met Hoseok, and Jeongguk’s met...no one. Taehyung’s entire family is in America and no one has any intent of plane flight to the other, so Taehyung settles for showing Jeongguk pictures instead.
It’s okay, in Taehyung’s opinion, because it doesn’t mean he has to fake coming out, and as for Jeongguk, Hoseok already knows the deal and just simply plays along. He’s officially turned sixteen in February and has decided he knows everything there is to know, despite the fact that he still doesn’t know how taxes work yet.
“Pass the chips, Guk,” Taehyung says, his eyes trained on the screen as he sits next to said man on the couch in his house.
“Here,” Jeongguk replies, equally distracted, and puts the bowl in Taehyung’s lap. Taehyung goes for the chips and his hand meets practically nothing other than crumbs.
“Hyung,” he says, and Jeongguk hums. “You ate them all.”
“Yeah.” Jeongguk chews on his thumbnail, still watching the baseball game on the screen, and Taehyung looks at him, making Jeongguk finally look away. “What?”
“Are you listening?”
“Yeah.”
“What’d I say?”
“You wanted the chips.” Jeongguk points and looks down, then realises his mistake. “Shit, sorry, Tae.” Taehyung rolls his eyes and ruffles Jeongguk’s hair.
“You’re lucky I like you,” he mutters as he goes back to the screen. “God, why are we so behind?”
“Because Minho struck out,” Jeongguk says, “and what’s-his-face on the other team hit a home run with the bases loaded.”
“All I understood was home run.”
“Striking out means they either got three strikes or they hit the ball and someone else caught it in the field without it touching the ground, bases loaded means there’s one person on each base, and if you get a home run with bases loaded, you get four runs.”
“You mean points.”
“No, I mean runs.”
“So we have two runs and they have six?”
“Yes.” There’s a silence as Taehyung tries to figure it all out until he hums.
“M’kay.”
The door opens as Hoseok slips inside.
“I’m home!” he announces to the empty silence, save for the TV, and waits for someone to respond. “I said, I’m home!”
“Sh,” Taehyung and Jeongguk say together.
“What’re you guys doing?” Taehyung leans towards Jeongguk.
“Maybe if we’re quiet, he’ll go away,” he says, and Jeongguk nods, throwing an arm around Taehyung’s shoulders.
“Fine, don’t love me,” Hoseok frowns, trudging away to his room.
“It worked, good job, babe,” Jeongguk says, and Taehyung nods. Honestly, they’re so immersed in the baseball game they don’t notice half the shit that comes out of their mouths, so Taehyung doesn’t give a second thought to being called babe by Jeongguk.
The fact that they’re faking it, but they don’t know the other one is, is one of the most frustrating things to Hoseok. That his and Jeongguk’s mom doesn’t know ‘Tae’ is a guy, and Taehyung’s family doesn’t know anything. He can’t believe it’s gone on for so long, and he can’t believe there hasn’t been a slip-up.
He forced Taehyung to tell him the truth, but keep it a secret, and Jeongguk forced him to keep it a secret, so Hoseok holds the greatest thing in his hands: the absolute truth that could literally solve everything.
The only problem is, he doesn’t think he wants to. He hasn’t seen his older brother this happy for awhile, even if it’s a fake relationship, and he likes Taehyung’s company an alarming amount.
He’s sure that sometimes, Jeongguk forgets he’s faking it and treats it as something real. Like calling Taehyung babe without thinking and wrapping his arm around his shoulders. And he’s sure Taehyung’s in the same boat, spending most of his time with Jeongguk or texting Jeongguk.
“I’m exhausted,” Jeongguk sighs after Taehyung leaves, flopping on the couch. Hoseok eyes him. “I don’t know how much longer I can do this.”
“What, be in a healthy relationship where you’re in love?” Hoseok asks, not teasing.
“I’m going to have to do it, I can’t string it along anymore.”
“You’re not even stringing it along, hyung, you’re completely committed.”
“I am not. I’m just waiting for the right moment. Like a fight or something.”
“You’d kiss and make up before the fight even started and you know it.” Jeongguk frowns and crosses his arms, slouching on the couch more.
“Quit that.” Hoseok raises an eyebrow.
“What?”
“Being right.” Hoseok laughs. “I’m serious, you’re ruining the fact that I’m not supposed to be dating him.”
“But you are.” As Hoseok says this, Jeongguk’s phone rings out with the custom ringtone he chose just for Taehyung (“It’s weird, like he is.”).
“Hey, babe,” Jeongguk says immediately as he walks towards his room, and Hoseok rolls his eyes. It’ll happen eventually.
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Eventually, it happens. Eight more months down the road.
It’s been nearly a year and Taehyung’s officially moved in with Jeongguk. Partially because it was cheaper, partially because it was easier, and partially because he’d gotten a part-time job and offered to move in and help pay rent and bills.
As it nears the end of November, Jeongguk having just turned twenty-six and Taehyung nearing twenty-two in December, it’s a large shock to each of them, in their own way, that this has been happening for nearly a year. They spent Christmas, New Year’s, Valentine’s, Fourth Of July (requested by Taehyung), Halloween, and Thanksgiving (also requested by Taehyung) together, and they realise they’ve spent an immense amount of their free time together, too.
Hoseok has to give it to Jeongguk, though, for stepping up to the plate first. No baseball pun intended.
to taebabe
when you get home can we talk???
from taebabe
yeah what about???
is it bad??
to taebabe
if im honest itll depend on you
but i dont wanna do it over phone or text
cause its too important for that
from taebabe
ok youre scaring me but well talk
promise
love you
to taebabe
love you too
“So you’re finally doing it,” Hoseok hums.
“Yeah,” Jeongguk says. “But it’s... It’s not what you think.”
“What d’you mean?” Jeongguk waves his hand dismissively as Hoseok grabs his bag for school.
“You’re too young,” he mumbles.
“I’m sixtee-”
“Yeah, yeah, too young, go to school, and don’t you dare skip your physics class. I know you’ve been skipping it.”
“They told you that?” Hoseok whines.
“They sure did, they called me. So you go to class or I’m coming to the school.” Hoseok pouts but leaves with a silent promise, solely to honour his word like he hopes Jeongguk will honour his own.
When Taehyung gets home, Jeongguk greets him with a smile, a kiss, and a hum.
“Hi, Guk,” Taehyung chuckles. “I wasn’t gone for that long, did you miss me that much?”
“Let’s talk,” Jeongguk says instead, and Taehyung gulps but nods, setting his bag down next to his shoes and following Jeongguk to the couch.
“What’s going on?” he asks immediately, nearly terrified, as if he’d done something wrong.
“Well, we... It’s almost been a year, right?” Taehyung nods. “And we... We’ve moved in together.”
“Yeah, we... We have, where is this going?” Jeongguk bites down on his lip, a habit Taehyung’s noticed he does when he’s either nervous, guilty, or both. “What is it?”
“I wasn’t... Fuck, please don’t get mad at me, okay?” He takes a deep breath, “When I asked you out, that day at the mall, I... I did it because...” He closes his eyes and says it all in one go, “I said it because I thought you were into me and I didn’t want to hurt your feelings and now I really love you.”
Taehyung hangs his mouth open in complete astonishment, and Jeongguk waits to be yelled at.
“No, wait, what?” Taehyung furrows his brows. “Wait, hold on, you asked me out because you thought I was into you?”
“Y-Yes? What, why’re you...”
“No, wait, what the fuck, I said yes because I thought you were into me!” Taehyung throws up his hands in the air, “Fuck, I didn’t want to hurt your feelings by turning you down or- Or being that guy who’s, like, “Oh, sorry, bro, I’m straight as hell, not into gay dudes.””
“What the fuck,” Jeongguk responds. “I thought you wanted me to ask you out!”
“I thought you wanted to ask me out!”
There’s a full minute’s silence, just them staring at each other, looking for lies, deceit, maybe a joke, before Taehyung starts smiling and Jeongguk follows his lead.
It leads to them laughing their fucking brains out on the floor, unable to breathe because they can’t believe how stupid they’d been.
“W-Wait,” Taehyung giggles uncontrollably, “you- What’d you say ‘bout... ‘bout love?”
“What, when?” Jeongguk breathes out, a smile etched on his face as he struggles to sit himself up. Taehyung takes a deep breath.
“You said you loved me.”
“I say that all the time.”
“No, I mean, like- Like, after you said the truth you still- You still love me.”
“Oh, that.” Jeongguk rolls on the floor towards Taehyung and lies on his shoulder and chest halfway. “Yeah, I love you, still.”
“Okay, good, I love you, too,” Taehyung says, closing his eyes. “‘m tired, can we go to bed?” Jeongguk clears his throat and lifts himself up to kiss Taehyung.
“N’more secrets,” he mumbles.
“Okay, here’s something: our first date at that theatre, when we shared a soda, I wanted to kill you because I hate sharing my drinks.”
“You didn’t want to kill me.”
“Well, I was grossed out.”
“Are you still?”
“No, but I was.” Jeongguk hums and kisses him again. “Okay, bed, now.”
With much effort, Jeongguk carries Taehyung bridal style to their bedroom - their bedroom - and lays him down before he gets in the other side and lays across his chest again.
“‘s get married,” Jeongguk mumbles.
“‘kay, but you have to wear the dress,” Taehyung responds, voice slurring into Jeongguk’s hair.
“Gladly.”