Chapter Text
“Road trip.”
“Seriously?”
Taehyung sighs, standing with his arms crossed a few feet away from the bed they’ve shared last night and waiting for Jungkook to finish picking an outfit for the day.
“Yes, seriously,” Taehyung deadpans, “We’re in Jeju and I want to have a road trip around town, sue me. You’re free to stay, but I think the whole ‘bonding’ thing is going to be pointless if we refuse to do stuff together.”
Jungkook’s nose wrinkles, “I’ve told you the ‘bonding’ thing won’t work, didn’t I?”
“Yes, you did, and yet, here you are,” Taehyung points out, arching up an eyebrow, “I’ve told you this trip is supposed to bring us closer. We don’t have to be friends, but I don’t want this rivalry to go any further either, so, please, could we collaborate at least once?”
Jungkook sighs. He knows Taehyung has a point, but it doesn’t make it any easier to agree with him in something. It’s not even like Jungkook feels so much hatred towards him, it’s more about the fact that old habits die hard, chiefly when someone’s not used to having habits killed out of the blue like that.
“Fine,” He spits out, “How much time do I have to get ready?”
“Thirty minutes,” Taehyung replies simply, “I’ll be downstairs, at the lobby. If you’re not there by the second the time’s up, I’ll leave without you.”
Jungkook clicks his tongue, but it’s barely audible against the sound of the door closing behind Taehyung. He isn’t exactly sure that leaving for a road trip with Taehyung will, indeed, be a good idea, but he needs the commotion to convince his parents that he isn’t as unmanageable as everyone thinks — even if, deep down, he is.
He’s ready in twenty minutes, and then he sits in bed for a second and grabs his phone to check if there’s anything new. There’s plenty of texts, some of them from people that he hasn’t talked to for years, like always, but the only one he pays attention to is Namjoon’s.
From Hyungie:
hey how’s it going
can i make a bet with myself
i bet you’ve slept with him already
first night is the best night, right?
Jungkook groans, rubbing his face with his hands and rolling his eyes impatiently before typing an answer.
To Hyungie:
indeed slept with him
not the way you think so, tho
literally just slept
and that’s all i’m gonna do, so forget it
Unsurprisingly, Namjoon replies immediately.
From Hyungie:
woah you guys are indeed fast
you wanna know who i ran into yesterday?
yeah, exactly
To Hyungie:
i’m not psychic, hyung
From Hyungie:
his manager
my message was being sent, little shit
the signal’s not so good around here
To Hyungie:
where’s ‘around here’?”
From Hyungie:
i’m paying yoongi-hyung a visit
his house is a lost cause
To Hyungie:
sounds pretty bad
are you sleeping with him?
From Hyungie:
get your head out of your ass
he told me to wish you good luck in spending at least a week with taehyung
To Hyungie:
ask him why
From Hyungie:
Hey kid
Taehyungie’s pretty annoying when he wants to, that’s all
To Hyungie:
“taehyungie”?
From Hyungie:
Jealous?
Don’t be
All Taehyung and I have in common is the interest in my own relationships
To Hyungie:
ahhh so he’s your cupid
From Hyungie:
More like my arch nemesis
I’ll be leaving Namjoon’s phone now ‘cause he keeps complaining that there’s nothing for him to do in mine, so
Good luck
Tell Taehyungie I said hi
To Hyungie:
will do
From Hyungie:
now this is namjoon
To Hyungie:
so
what did you talk about with taehyung’s manager?
From Hyungie:
listen my friend the connection is like really shitty right now so i’ll just go
talk to you later
have fun
Jungkook sighs, aware that that’s the end of the conversation and that Namjoon won’t be paying him any more attention. But then he looks at the clock and realizes it’s been ten more minutes, which makes him late to go downstairs and meet with Taehyung.
“Shit,” He mumbles to himself, jumping out of the bed and barely locking the door behind him as he hurries towards the lobby. He knows Taehyung’s enough of a jerk when he wants to be and it wouldn’t exactly be a hard task to simply leave Jungkook behind. He confirms it as he reaches the lobby and sees Taehyung leaving through the front door, causing Jungkook to squint annoyingly at him, “Kim! Wait.”
Taehyung looks above his shoulder, smirking at him, and it makes Jungkook’s blood boil a little, “Got caught in traffic or something?”
“Sorry to break it to you, but I have a life outside this trip,” Jungkook hisses, “I was texting Namjoon. Yoongi said hi, by the way.”
Taehyung smiles a lot more genuinely this time, “I’m glad he’s hanging out with your friend again. It’s been a while because, y’know, you had Namjoon only to yourself for too long.”
“Oh, shut up. He’s my best friend. Don’t you have Jimin ‘all to yourself’ for long too?”
“No, because Jiminie and I actually have other friends,” Taehyung says, shrugging, “Either way, we should get going. Jeju is big and I want to see a bit of everything.”
“Literally, you wish.”
They take the car that drove them from the airport, but Taehyung goes for the driver’s seat, and Jungkook hesitantly takes the seat beside him.
“Do you know Jeju enough to drive around?”
“No, but my driver doesn’t either,” Taehyung shrugs, “That’s what GPS is for anyway, right? In case we get lost.”
Jungkook squints, “I think it’s more of a ‘don’t get lost at all’ kind of point. Besides, what’s your plan? Wander around Jeju in a car rather than visiting the beach or something?”
“I mean, we could stop by the beach, there’s nothing officially scheduled,” Taehyung says, frowning as he starts driving towards the road that leads to one of the beaches, “It’s all up to us today. That’s the fun part of having a break, Jeon.”
“I get it,” Jungkook strikes back, “Let’s just go around and find ourselves something that makes being in each other’s company more bearable.”
It turns out Taehyung is a quite good driver. Jungkook has been in a car with him before, but he wasn’t exactly as concerned as now. He decides to look outside the window and try to keep his thoughts positive.
The last time he travelled to any place with a beach, guards and paparazzi surrounded him. He’s not sure whether it’s a good idea to go out with a famous model so unprotected, but there’s no exactly turning back now. Besides, it kind of feels good. The rare, calm moments when media isn’t able to reach him. He has always thought the moment he set a foot outside his house the most exciting of his entire day, because it always felt like an adventure. The media didn’t look for people like him for the same reason it looked for people like Taehyung, but it was there nonetheless. He felt free whenever they weren’t around, and he felt thrilled whenever he was sneaking off their sight.
He wonders if his parents are missing him or thanking the Heavens that he’s away. It would be difficult for him to cause any drama in Jeju while having a break, mainly when his future it’s kind of up to it. They should be happy. He’s away and incapable of ruining their reputation.
He wonders if there’s any traces of their work in Taehyung’s proposal.
“So,” Taehyung starts, pulling him off his thoughts, “Do you feel like talking?”
“Do I have a choice?”
“Yeah, of course.”
“Then no.”
“Okay, so,” Taehyung proceeds, and Jungkook raises an eyebrow at him, “I think we should try.”
“You said I had a choice.”
“You do, but—“
“But you want to be bffs or something?”
Taehyung smiles humorlessly, “I intend to be your friend, yes.”
“Did my parents give you money for this?”
“Yeah, right,” Taehyung laughs, “Like I need their money. Pleasured to meet you, I’m Kim Taehyung, South Korea’s most successful and well-paid model.”
“Fine, fine, I get it,” Jungkook sighs, folding his arms as he looks outside the window again, “I’m just saying, this is all really weird. You’re really weird.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“You shouldn’t.”
“Sorry hun’, already took it.”
Jungkook rolls his eyes, “You can’t get enough, can you?”
“No,” Taehyung smirks, “And I don’t really want to, either. I like the way I am, thank you very much.”
“Oh?” Jungkook looks at him and grins a bit more mischievously than the normal, “Do you really?”
“What’s it now?”
“If you like the way you are so much, why are you so different when you’re in front of cameras?” He boasts, “Why are you so nice, so lovey-dovey with everyone? Someone who’s proud of who they are wouldn’t act like that, like they’re someone else.”
Taehyung rolls his eyes, “It’s not acting like someone else, it’s called being polite. You should take some lessons.”
“No, no, no, you’re all nice and lovely,” Jungkook proceeds, unbothered by Taehyung’s hands tightening around the wheel, “You’re not like that with me. You’re not like that when you’re being yourself.”
“Perhaps you just bring out the worst in me,” Taehyung suggests, “You get on my last nerve and that’s how I act about it.”
“And you’re proud of it?”
“It’s been a really useful defense system so far, and most people are on my side rather than yours, so, yes, I’m proud of it.”
It snaps right in front of Jungkook’s face, the realization that Taehyung’s words are true, and his grin dissolves into pure displease. He chuckles pompously, shaking his head in disapproval, “Kim Taehyung, you’re such an actor. I can’t believe you’re a model when you’re so good at acting.”
“Shut up, Jeon.”
“Is the whole ‘I’m a cool guy who donates for living’ a lie too? Or is that actually genuine?”
“You wouldn’t know,” Taehyung strikes back, “The only donations you’ve ever heard about were the one the other companies transferred to your parents’ account all those years.”
Jungkook frowns, “Now, you shut up.”
“Nice to hear something saying shit about you, right?”
“Oh, please, like you haven’t done that before,” Jungkook declares, “Why are you so offended, anyway? Something to hide, Kim? Is the money you donate legit?”
“I won’t deal with you right now,” Taehyung says.
“Tell me, is it truth that all of your money goes to unknown families?” Jungkook proceeds to ask, “It is all actually transferred to people you don’t know? Can you tell me it’s a hundred percent given to people from far, far away places from yours?”
Taehyung clears his throat, spinning the wheel in a way that makes Jungkook’s breath get caught in his throat for a few seconds, but then the model pulls over with an abrupt movement and practically kicks the car’s door open. Jungkook doesn’t get the chance to reach for his arm before he’s storming out.
“Hey, Kim!” Jungkook exclaims, cursing under his breath as he leaves his own seat and looks at Taehyung above the car’s ceiling. The model has his back against the closed door and he seems to be typing something on his phone, “Kim, seriously, is this necessary? What are you even doing?”
“None of your business.”
“Get back in the car, come on.”
Taehyung doesn’t even move as a small “no” comes out of his mouth.
“Kim,” Jungkook tries again, and then he sighs, “Taehyung, come on. We can’t just be here, in the road, when the media can catch up any second.”
“Terrible for you.”
“Taehyung,” Jungkook insists, walking towards him and trying to put his hand on his shoulder. Taehyung dodges him easily, “Taehyung. Taehyung, please. Taehyung.”
“Leave me alone, dammit,” Taehyung growls, startling Jungkook a bit by how upset he sounds, “You wanted me to get mad, you got it. You don’t want to be friends? Fine. I’ll call Seokjin and have him getting you a ticket back to Seoul in less than twenty-four hours. Congratulations, Jeon Jungkook. You’ve made it.”
Jungkook stares, a bit in shock. He meant to annoy Taehyung, yes, but he had never figured any of his comments could have brought him to the edge like that.
He flinches as he remembers all the times his father made him feel like that, small, terrified, with only a few words that might not sound harsh to him, but that definitely hit Jungkook the hardest.
Jungkook doesn’t know much about people, but if there’s something he knows is that no one gets so freaking riled up if it isn’t for something really deep and important to them, and even he wouldn’t mess with something so serious on purpose. That’s something his father would do, and he doesn’t exactly dream to be like his father.
“I probably said something really bad back there, didn’t I?” He asks, not surprised to find his question ignored, “I thought it was normal. Our bickering towards each other. I didn’t know I had crossed a line.”
“You never know, Jeon,” Taehyung snaps. “Wanna know why? It’s because you don’t care. You don’t try and think before talking because you don’t think it might hurt someone. I shouldn’t be surprised at you for being such a selfish idiot.”
Jungkook’s lips purse, “I guess I deserve that. I’m sorry.”
“Like I’m going to believe you.”
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m really sorry,” Jungkook proceeds to chant, and it surprises him that every word comes from the bottom of his heart. He guesses that’s the effect of being too guarded because of his father and still wanting to be different from him. He knows his limits. He knows when to stop. It’s too bad he has only learned it now that he’s already screwed up, “I never meant to hurt you, okay? I wanted to make you mad, but I didn’t want to hurt you.”
Taehyung squints at him, “You can’t just go around talking without thinking of the consequences.”
“I know,” Jungkook sighs, “And I’m sorry, alright? I’m really sorry. I never thought any of that could’ve hurt you. I thought it was all basically all the same we’re always arguing about.”
“You thought.”
“Yes, I thought, and I was clearly wrong.”
“This needs to stop, Jeon,” Taehyung tells him, stuffing his phone back into his phone to stare directly at him, “I know you’re not used to being nice to me, and I know we’re not even close to being friends, but if this doesn’t cease, I won’t be able to have a single moment of rest during the time that’s supposed to be my break. It might’ve been fun so far, but it’s crossed a line and it needs to stop.”
Jungkook feels terrible. Whatever line he crossed, it must’ve been really bad.
“I’ll stop,” Jungkook says, “I’ll stop, okay? I’m sorry.”
Taehyung looks at him, shaking his head, “Seriously, what’s with you and the sudden mood changes?”
“I just—“ Jungkook starts, “I hadn’t realized I was actually telling you something that’d hurt, and, now that I did, I want to apologize truthfully.”
“Why? You don’t like me.”
“You’re still human, though. I might be really bad, but I still have some respect in me.”
Taehyung squints, breathing deeply, “I can’t comprehend you.”
“That makes two of us,” Jungkook laughs out in an attempt to brighten the mood, but Taehyung’s eyes never leave him and his lips never form a smile, “Alright. Listen, I’ll stop trying to annoy you, okay? I don’t know where your boundaries begin and I don’t want to break into them again.”
The model’s gaze is heavy on him for a few more seconds before he sighs, clicking his tongue, “Fine. I get it, you’re sorry. I don’t know if it’s actually being sorry or just fearing what your parents would do if you came back home with a scandal, but if this happens again, Jeon, I won’t hesitate in texting Seokjin and letting him take care of your situation.”
“I’m—“
“If you say sorry again, I’ll cut your head off,” Taehyung threatens, but there’s a tiny bit of humor into it, “Now let’s get back in the damn car before the paparazzi finds us and create a story.”
“They’re more creative than screenwriters.”
Taehyung pauses to look at him, almost like he can’t understand Jungkook at all, but then he nods, almost like he’s recognizing his small attempt to gain his sympathy, “Yeah, they’re the composers of the musical world.”
Jungkook hides his sigh with relief with the back of his hand once they’re back in the road.
***
“We’ve seen the whole city.”
“Already tired?”
Jungkook’s nose scrunches, “Kind of, I guess. We haven’t left this car for hours and I feel like my legs are giving up on me.”
“We can always go back,” Taehyung suggests, shrugging, “I don’t mind. You’ve been an angel for hours, I think I should get upset more times.”
“Taehyung.”
“Alright, alright, it’s just unusual,” Taehyung says, “I still think there’s a reason behind it, y’know? The way you turned apologizing and regretting when you noticed it had hurt me. I won’t ask, ‘cause I’m respecting your limits, but I do think there’s more to it than simple humanity.”
Jungkook pokes the inside of his own cheek with his tongue, looking outside as he mumbles, “It’s because I thought I looked a lot like him.”
“What?”
“My father,” He speaks louder this time, “He’s not as bad as people think, sometimes, like, he has never ever laid a finger on me or anything like it, but he has always been severe, and, sometimes, he hurt me with words without noticing that he was hurting me, y’know? Like, saying I should be proud to be their son, ‘cause I wouldn’t have found my friends otherwise. It was never meant to hurt, but it did, y’know? It stopped with time, because I started telling him it hurt, and my father wouldn’t just keep on going with something that hurt me, but then I guess I learned people’s boundaries are different. I just wasn’t used to worrying about crossing them.”
Taehyung nods, and Jungkook can tell by the way he’s driving that they’re going back to the hotel, “I see. People think a lot worse of you father, by the way.”
“They do. I guess they’re just used to think I need a reason to be such a brat.”
“Do you?”
“What?”
“Do you need a reason?” Taehyung asks, “I believe that they haven’t hurt you, but isn’t it something different?”
Jungkook frowns, “Like what?”
“Like seeking their attention,” Taehyung suggests, “Wanting them to pay attention to you so badly that you acted like a brat all around so they would give it their time.”
Jungkook falls into silence, pursing his lips as he looks down, playing absently with the hem of his shirt. Taehyung seems to notice his lack of intention to respond to that, so he simply shrugs.
“I guess people are different. We act differently. It’s okay.”
Jungkook furrow his brows, looking at him, “It’s okay?”
“As long as you’re not a jerk to people, yeah,” Taehyung says, “It’s okay. We all learn eventually, anyway.”
With a surprise look on his face, Jungkook nods.
He guesses Taehyung won’t stop surprising him after all.
***
By the time they’re at the hotel, another room has been prepared for Jungkook, and he’s more than glad to take his stuff there and leave Taehyung’s room. Albeit they’re in some kind of truce, sleeping on the same bed again certainly couldn’t be a wise choice.
He has dinner in a different time than Taehyung, because Taehyung is solving business stuff with Seokjin on the phone and Jungkook is hungry. When he leaves back to his room, Taehyung is walking downstairs, but he’s still on the phone, so he simply nods at Jungkook as he walks past him.
Jungkook is still kind of concerned that he might’ve pissed Taehyung off more than an apology would fix, but he decides to let it go for a while.
He’s getting ready to go on-line and maybe give Namjoon an update about the day when he hears soft knocks at the door.
As expected, it’s Taehyung.
“Hey,” Jungkook says, frowning, “Can I help you?”
“Yeah,” Taehyung says, “I’m bored and I wanna do something. Come to my room.”
Jungkook’s eyes widen a bit, “That sounds like a really bad idea.”
“Oh, shut up, that’s not what I meant,” Taehyung laughs out, “I have a few ideas that are not related your dirty mind. Come on.”
That’s how Jungkook gets dragged gently by his wrist to Taehyung’s room. Again.
“Pepero Game.”
Taehyung nods enthusiastically despite how shocked and incredulous Jungkook sounds. If sharing a bed with Taehyung was bad idea, this is way beyond that. Out of all the dangerous games that can bring people to being closer than they’re supposed to be, Pepero Game is right at the top, fighting for the spot against Chicken and Truth or Dare.
“You’re insane,” Jungkook deadpans, sounding as composed as he manages to.
“Why?” Taehyung asks, “It’s a nice game and we have literally nothing better to do.”
“We’ve got plenty of things to do,” Jungkook says, squinting, “We’re in Jeju, dude.”
“Alright, let me rephrase it,” Taehyung says, “I don’t feel like going out right now, and, while we’re stuck in the hotel, that’s the only fun I’m going to have, so, come on? It won’t hurt?”
Jungkook huffs, “I doubt you even have Pepero with you.”
Taehyung quirks up an eyebrow, standing up without a word and reaching for his Gucci bag on the ground, supporting it on his knees as he grabs a Pepero box from inside it. Jungkook blinks in disbelief.
“Did you plan this shit?”
“Uh, no?” Taehyung frowns, “Some people actually enjoy eating Pepero?”
“That’s a lie and you know it,” Jungkook says, “That thing tastes horrible if it’s not for fun.”
“Shut up, you taste horrible if it’s not for fun,” Taehyung strikes back, and it doesn’t make sense at all, which almost makes Jungkook leave a short laugh escape his lips at how defensive Taehyung turns towards the Pepero, “If you don’t want to play, alright, but don’t insult my food.”
Jungkook sighs, “Ugh, fine. Let’s just— do this.”
Taehyung’s smile is so wide and bright it almost makes Jungkook feel glad for accepting.
“Sit on the bed.”
“I give up.”
Taehyung rolls his eyes, “Here, I’ll go first.”
He places one of the stick’s tips between his teeth delicately, and he holds it in front of his face while gesturing for Jungkook to approach. He does, hesitantly at first, just supporting his hand on the mattress while leaning forward and swallowing thickly as he remembers there’s a huge chance this game will end up in something else, mainly if Taehyung keeps on staring at him through his eyelashes like that. Just as Jungkook feels Taehyung’s gaze starting to grow impatient, he catches the other end of the Pepero with his teeth and stills.
Taehyung hums, satisfied, and raises five fingers between their eyes. Then, slowly, he puts one down, then another, then another. Jungkook knows a countdown when he sees one. When Taehyung gets to zero, he starts moving his face forward, biting on the cookie just enough to make it shorter. Jungkook remains frozen, although he knows it doesn’t exactly work that way. Either way, Taehyung takes care of practically all the work of making the Pepero shorter and shorter, and, when their noses brush, Jungkook nearly feels like giving up. He knows it’s what he should do, rationally. But then, his eyes are wide open and he can see Taehyung’s face inches away and the only thing he actually wants to do is cup his face, get rid of the Pepero and kiss all those smirks and grins out of him.
“Hah,” Taehyung exclaims as he pulls away, holding the tiny stick left between his fingers and smiling, “I’m great at this kind of stuff. You can’t beat me.”
Jungkook huffs, “I’ve made it shorter before.”
Taehyung’s eyes fly to him with a sparkle of amusement, “I’ll take that as a challenge.”
He grabs another Pepero from the box and holds it with his teeth, wiggling his eyebrows at Jungkook teasingly. Jungkook swallows thickly and hopes Taehyung doesn’t notice it as he starts biting on the other side, barely able to taste the chocolate or enjoy the feeling of the candy against his tongue, because, while he’s close to Taehyung like this, the only taste he wants is the model’s taste. He knows this is just the beginning of said ‘friendship’ Taehyung wants to build, but whatever Jungkook feels has nothing to do with feelings. It’s about the fact that Taehyung is too hot for his own good and only about that.
“We don’t have all day,” Taehyung speaks between his teeth and the stick, and Jungkook blinks, giving into the provocation. He practically surges forward, biting off half the Pepero that isn’t gone yet and freezing for a few seconds, nose an inch away from Taehyung’s. If he stops now, Taehyung wins.
Usually, when people don’t want their lips to touch the other player, they are as careful as possible so only their teeth gets involved in case of touching. Jungkook, however, doesn’t give a single shit about it, so he moves faster and bites off an even bigger part, but, this time, when his nose bumps Taehyung’s, instead of stopping there, he tilts his head to the side and proceeds. He is very aware of Taehyung’s slightly widened and completely focused eyes on him. Then, just when he’s about to say he gives up, his bottom lip brushes against Taehyung’s bottom lip, and Jungkook doesn’t know what gets into him, but he uses that opportunity to bite what’s left of the stick outside Taehyung’s mouth. Their lips get fully pressed against each other for a seconds, and then Jungkook moves away, finishing to chew the chocolate in his mouth and smiling as he swallows.
“There,” He says, stretching out his hand in front of Taehyung’s face, “Give me the rest back so we can compare.”
The model’s gaze is still fixed on him and he hasn’t moved an inch, but Jungkook thinks he can see the shadow of a smirk on Taehyung’s face as he reaches to cup Jungkook’s face, pulling him closer and whispering, “Come and get it,” before kissing him intensively.
Taehyung already swallowed the candy, because his tongue is pretty available to make its way into Jungkook’s mouth as he pliantly opens his lips. Jungkook doesn’t waste any time this time, finally throwing all of his worries about the nature of their new relationship away and giving into the feeling of having Taehyung’s lips against his. Jungkook reaches for the model’s waist and pulls him closer as Taehyung’s teeth scrape gently and slowly on his bottom lip.
“I love this game,” Taehyung whispers before sticking his tongue inside Jungkook’s mouth again, and, honestly, Jungkook has never agreed so much. However, he still needs some stuff to be clear, so it’s the only thing that motivates him to pull away just a bit, two fingers under Taehyung’s chin, taking his breath for a second.
“Listen,” Jungkook starts, “This whole thing means nothing, do you get it?”
Taehyung chuckles softly, “Yes, Jeon. What happens in Jeju stays in Jeju.”
“Isn’t it Vegas?”
Taehyung shakes his head and cups Jungkook’s nape to bring him closer and kiss him again, “Don’t care.”
***
Jungkook kind of expected a walk of shame or something after leaving Taehyung’s room, but, in the end, things don’t really go that bad. They make out some more with the excuse of playing the game and then Jungkook says it’s late and Taehyung agrees and he leaves. There’s no good night kiss, but there’s absolutely no bickering either. If turning Jungkook’s attraction against himself was Taehyung’s plan to get them closer, it’s most definitely starting to become successful.
The next morning, Jungkook goes downstairs for breakfast and finds Taehyung laughing at something a woman beside him says. Her entire outfit seems expensive although it’s only morning and most people aren’t exactly looking forward to show off, but, if Jungkook’s supposed to be honest, he doesn’t think that’s the reason Taehyung’s talking to her. In fact, he’d bet half his fortune that Taehyung’s the kind of guy to smile at every single bad joke someone makes so they can be happy about it.
Jungkook blinks, shaking the thought away from his head as soon as he realizes he’s actually thinking something good about Taehyung.
“Oh, I know you,” A new voice comes to his ears as someone makes their way towards him. Jungkook is taken away from his thoughts by the figure of an elegant, well-composed man, who looks not that much older, probably not more than five years, and who comes to stop before him, “Jeon Jungkook, correct?”
“Yes,” Jungkook responds, “I’m sorry, do I know you?”
“I don’t think so,” The man says, “You know my father, though. At least, your parents do.”
Jungkook nods, uncomfortably shifting his support from one leg to another. That’s never good news. People who know his parents tend to expect frequently from him the same behavior as his father wears to talk to everyone, but Jungkook has already given up on that mask.
“That’s great,” Jungkook says, “But, listen, I really have to go right now, so—“
“So, it’s true. You really did come with your boyfriend to have some vacation from work.”
Jungkook stops, squinting at him, “I’m sorry, is it any of your business?”
The man chuckles humorlessly, “Still got no respect, do you, Jeon?”
“Hey, what’s going on here?” A new voice joins in, and Jungkook is half-grateful, half-annoyed by Taehyung’s approach. He knows it’s for the best if he deals with those people by himself, but he also can’t bring himself to care, “Jungkookie, who’s this?”
He stops by Jungkook’s side, their shoulders pressed together, and Jungkook barely bother to gesture at the man, “What’s your name again?”
“Oh, don’t mind me, I’m a nobody,” The man grins, “Wouldn’t want my name on your mouth the next time an interviewer decides you’re worth their time.”
“That’s not nice,” Taehyung says, clicking his tongue, “Are you a business man?”
“So what if I am?”
“You should know how to treat people,” Taehyung strikes at him, “I don’t like it when assholes like you try and disturb my vacation by doing what you do best.”
The man squints, “And what would that be?”
“Discharge your lack of love on people,” Taehyung says, crossing his arms, “Got problems at home, sweetie? Need to talk about something?”
“You’re a prick.”
“Creative,” Jungkook mumbles, rolling his eyes, “Could you leave? Please?”
“Whatever,” The man spits out, “I didn’t want to talk to two kids, anyway.”
Taehyung waves at him as the man spins on his heels and walks away, and then, just as soon, he steps away from Jungkook’s personal space.
“I presume you deal with that a lot,” Taehyung says, tilting his head.
Jungkook sighs in frustration, “You have no idea, Kim.”
“Well, shake that negative energy away, I’ve got some news,” Taehyung says, smiling mischievously, “I got us a really nice place to go today. Perfect for bonding. I’ve never been there before, and I doubt you’ve had, so it’s going to be a really nice experience for us to become closer.”
Jungkook squints, “That sounds suspicious.”
“Don’t you trust me?”
“No,” The younger says, “Where is it?”
Taehyung smirks.