Work Text:
Taehyung picks at the ratty tablecloth hanging off the sad excuse of the coffee table in his apartment, his eyes locked on the black of his phone screen. It’s sitting there, right against the white of his mug, which had been filled with cereal and instant coffee. “ Breakfast efficiency ”, he had captioned the picture taken, before sending it to Hoseok with a slew of emojis. He had proceeded to finish the cereal and the coffee before realising that Hoseok hadn’t replied instantly like he usually did.
He frowns at his phone over the screen of his tablet, scattered with unfinished sketches for group projects. Hoseok usually replied within five minutes. White-collared workers and their efficiency in communication. Hoseok had probably never sexted in his entire life.
Wait, had he?
Taehyung stares at his phone, the tip of his stylus tapping in a slow rhythm against the surface of his drawing tablet. Surely Hoseok had sexted before; he himself had spent a generous amount of his first year in art school sexting some of the people he had slept with on and off. Bogum from engineering had liked it enough that he had made Taehyung create a private Snapchat where a lot of dubious photos were surely stored on the cloud. Taehyung no longer logs into that account, but all the photos are saved on a folder on his old computer, unsuspiciously named “project for photography thing”. No one had ever asked him what it was, he never had to answer any questions about it; the past was in the past.
He grabs his phone, unlocks the screen, and pulls up the chat with Hoseok. There is still a small “1” next to his message, indicating that it hadn’t been read, and Taehyung wonders what Hoseok is doing on a Saturday morning. From their conversations, he didn’t have any plans, and he had even asked Taehyung if he wanted to try the new ice-cream bar just around the corner from where he worked. Taehyung would have wanted to do nothing else but that, but unfortunately, he had a client to deal with, and two more essays on visual communication to submit this weekend, and he hadn’t started on either. So he had sent a slew of sad emojis to Hoseok, coupled with a “sorry work”. Hoseok had just replied with a “it’s okay, fighting”, complete with selfie with him holding a thumbs up, telling Taehyung to work hard.
He doesn’t usually leave Taehyung’s messages unread for long, and while Taehyung is lost in thought, the “1” disappears. Hoseok replies with a picture of his own, of one hand holding a coffee cup, the other holding a bright red leash. Taehyung zooms in on the picture to pick up on small ball of white and brown fluff barely visible on the edge of the picture, the corners of his lips unconsciously pulling up when he recognises it. Hoseok always complained about not being able to spend time with his family dog, work taking up most of his time, and Mickey isn’t getting any younger. Taehyung hasn’t seen Mickey in person, just pictures here and there, from Hoseok’s photo albums and phone gallery.
awh cuties , he replies, grinning as Hoseok sends him a series of photos that have Mickey curled up in his lap, chasing her own tail, and bounding after a ball. He sends back a series of hearts and tugs his blanket tighter around his knees. The question is still lingering at the back of his head, a nagging curiosity on the tip of his tongue.
He hasn’t had sex with Hoseok yet, not since the first time they had slept together. There had been a few moments where the air had been thick and heavy on Hoseok’s couch, where Hoseok’s hands were tangled in his hair, and he didn’t know where he started and Hoseok ended. But that was all that it had been; Hoseok had gently pushed him off, and asked him breathlessly if he wanted something for breakfast the next morning. Taehyung’s tongue had been tied, and he had just nodded, and stared blankly at the black screen of Hoseok’s TV until the older man had tugged on his hand as a sign for him to leave.
Is Taehyung sexually frustrated? Maybe. Does he miss Hoseok? A little too much, perhaps. He hasn’t seen the other in a week, with school and work taking up so much of his time. He misses Hoseok, his simple dinners, his heart-shaped smile, and playing with his messy dark brown hair. He frowns at the chat, the latest message from Hoseok still there on the screen.
You eaten yet?
no, not yet, he texts back. Just before he chickens out, before he can convince himself that it was an utterly terrible and stupid idea, his fingers tap out a second message before his thumb hits the “send” button almost immediately.
hyung
have u ever sexted
Taehyung shakes his head, blinking at the messages that are now in the yellow bars on his side of the conversation. Ah, well, that is that. He surprisingly doesn’t feel panicked or anything. He’s not even sure how to feel at this point.
Okay, maybe Hoseok is going to hate him. Taehyung clicks the lock button of his phone, scowls at himself in the reflection of the black surface riddled with cracks. He needs to get a new screen protector, this one wasn’t going to last longer than it has.
He’s startled when the screen lights up with a message from Hoseok. He hadn’t expected the older to reply so quickly. Maybe Mickey is off chasing a ball or something and Hoseok isn’t bothered to run along with the dog. Lazy Hoseok.
Maybe. Why do you wanna know ;)
He snorts at the response. none of ur business hyung go run with mickey
He watches the “1” disappear almost instantaneously. Hoseok seems to be free at the moment, and his reply makes Taehyung roll his eyes so hard that he slumps against the couch behind him to watch Hoseok’s replies pop up on his phone screen.
Awh, why?
Are YOU into sexting?
Anyways, aren’t you supposed to be writing your essay?
Taehyung pouts at his phone screen. As if Hoseok could see it, and he needs to get back to work anyways. He taps out a quick “ ok” , pushes his phone across his table, and taps on his tablet to light up the screen pulling up his essay. He’ll text Hoseok later.
---
Taehyung blinks at the time winking at the bottom right hand corner of his tablet, stretching out the kinks in his shoulders. It’s been five hours since Taehyung last looked at the clock, also five hours since he last ate. His stomach is rumbling now, protesting the lack of food in it. He stands up, grabs his empty mug and phone, heads to the kitchen for a refill of caffeine.
As the hot water jug starts to heat up, he checks his phone for messages. A quick plea to stop by the supermarket from Jimin (what’s the point, he is staying over at his boyfriend’s this weekend, asshole), a random promotion being held by the art store just two streets away from school, but no more messages from Hoseok. He blinks, pulls up the chat with the older man. The last message was his “ ok ”; Hoseok hadn’t responded since.
That’s weird.
He shakes his head, taps out a quick “ i’m done with the day ” and sends it off to Hoseok. As he lifts up his new cup of coffee to his lips, his movements stilled as he thinks of his texting with Hoseok. Was he bothering the older man? Taehyung had never thought much about it. Since that date at the barbeque place, they had been texting constantly. They had gone on a few more dates, a movie, dinner at Hoseok’s place, and a few more. Hoseok’s life is much more organised compared to his; Taehyung often felt like a child relying on an adult.
Is that how Hoseok feels like dating him?
Taehyung feels a lump rise in his throat at the thought. He sets the mug of coffee down on the kitchen counter, his appetite suddenly gone. Hoseok might be a year older, but his life is so put together, so stable that it makes so many other older men green with envy. Taehyung isn’t like him; he had spent about three years after high school working odd jobs and spray-painting walls before he had decided to send in a portfolio to art school. He hadn’t thought much, just gone along with Jimin’s suggestion, and when the acceptance letter to one of Korea’s most prestigious art academies arrived in the mail, he could barely believe his eyes. So here he is, in his last year of university, with a stable portfolio, his future almost secure due to the long list of clients that he has gained from commissions.
Regardless of how much success and security he had in his future, he feels inferior to Hoseok. Hoseok with his six-digit salary, with a comfortable apartment and a fancy car, Hoseok, who could have anyone he wanted, but instead, chooses to date an art student who likes to wear berets and oversized dresses. A student who acts more like a child wanting attention from his favourite elder brother rather than a mature adult who knows better than to bother his significant other with frivolous aspects of his life.
Maybe Taehyung is just a passing fancy in Hoseok’s life. Surely Hoseok doesn’t meet a lot of people like him; he knows people who know numbers, who hold a business degree and specialise in micro-managing. Taehyung isn’t anyone like that; in fact he’s the exact opposite. He’s messy, is going to graduate with a degree in fine arts, specialising in visual communications and graphic design, and can barely remind himself to eat three meals a day.
A burden, that’s what Taehyung is. And Hoseok’s dating him.
He’s startled out of his thought by a knock on his door. He blinks at the clock, Jimin shouldn’t be back yet; he would have texted Taehyung. He skips around the kitchen counter, ignoring his coffee, and wrenches the door open.
“Hey, Mr. Sexter.”
Taehyung’s greeted with a sight of Hoseok, dressed in a plain t-shirt with black jeans, holding an armful of white and brown fluffy fur. He’s beaming at Taehyung, a bag stuffed to the brim on his back, and he’s gorgeous. Taehyung feels his heart skip a beat, but his brain is still logged up with his thoughts from just now, heavy and lurking at the back of his eye balls.
Hoseok frowns, leans in closer to look at him in the eye. Taehyung blinks, looks away to squint at the pile of fur in the accountant’s arms. He’s pleasantly surprised when a brown nose tilts up, and two brown eyes open to look directly at him curiously before a small fluffy head rises up.
“Mickey, meet Tae. Tae, meet Mickey,” Hoseok lifts up the pile of dog in his arms so that the eyes are level with Taehyung’s. “C’mon darling, say hi to Taetae.”
Mickey sniffs, leans forward and nuzzles into Taehyung’s face. Taehyung blinks at the animal, looking from it to its owner. Hoseok smiles at him gently, just as Mickey licks at his jaw before squirming to get out of Hoseok’s arms. Her owner merely laughs and rearranges her in his arms easily before looking back to Taehyung again.
“Hey, mind if I come in? Is Mickey allowed on the floor?”
“Yeah,” Taehyung swallows, steps back, and watches Hoseok put the squirming dog on the floor. Immediately, the dog sniffs at his shoes, pawing lightly at Taehyung’s ankle before tottering off into his apartment. Taehyung watches Mickey find his blanket pile on the floor, sniffing at it cautiously before curling up in it, brown eyes sliding shut contentedly.
Taehyung feels Hoseok’s fingers slide into his, but he still doesn’t turn around to look at the older. The thoughts are still a dark film in his brain, blocking out the happiness that he had felt the moment he saw the other. He pulls his lips together, slides his fingers out of Hoseok’s hand.
“Come in, I’ll make you a drink. Is coffee good?”
He heads straight for the kitchen, not even waiting for Hoseok to take off his shoes. He catches a glimpse of Mickey, the dog having fallen asleep on his blanket pile, her tiny torso heaving with her steady breaths. He blindly gets a cup, and reaches for the hot water kettle before a hand catches his wrist, pulling it back.
“Tae? Is everything alright?”
Hoseok’s pressed against his back, his breath warm against Taehyung’s ear, and his fingers gentle on Taehyung’s wrist. Hoseok’s always gentle with him, holding Taehyung like he might break any moment, like he wants to be sure of Taehyung’s approval with everything that he does, even if it doesn’t concern Taehyung in the first place.
Just like how one would treat a child , the voice in his head supplies helpfully.
He bites his lower lip, continues reaching for the hot water. “Nothing, just, tired.”
Hoseok grasps his hand a little more firmly this time, his other arm wrapping around Taehyung’s waist. “No, Tae, there’s something more. Aren’t you happy to see me?”
“I am,” the words leave Taehyung’s mouth in a rush, and he curses himself silently for sounding so desperate, “I missed you, Hoseokkie.”
Hoseok noses at his ear, his fingers drawing lazy patterns on his wrist. “I missed you too, Taehyungie. A lot. I’m glad you let me come in.”
“I wasn’t going to let you stand at the door forever,” Taehyung scoffs. There is no point in trying to escape Hoseok’s hold; he stands there and lets the other hold him, Hoseok’s breath warm on his skin, stirring up old memories of a night of passion and gentleness.
“Tell me what’s wrong, Tae,” Hoseok’s voice is gentle in his ear, his thumb rubbing across the back of Taehyung’s hand gently. Taehyung swallows down the lump in his throat, blinks back the pricking sensation behind his eyeballs.
“Don’t you feel tired dating me? Does it feel like you’re dating a child instead of an adult?”
Hoseok’s thumb stops its motions on Taehyung’s thumb, and the younger feels him take a sharp intake of breath. Taehyung feels the coldness sink to the bottom of his stomach, feels the dread pooling there. There it is, Hoseok’s resignation and tiredness. The truth is out now, Hoseok is going to break up with him right here.
“Why do you think that, Tae?”
Taehyung blinks. That wasn’t what he had expected.
Hoseok spins him around, presses him to the counter, take Taehyung’s face in his hands. He searches Taehyung’s face for a while with his eyes, his own face expressionless. Very slowly, he leans in and presses lips to Taehyung’s, holding it there for a while.
Taehyung kisses back. It’s an automatically reaction, honestly. He had been getting used to kissing Hoseok back, and kissing Hoseok without the other initiating it. Taehyung had realised somewhere along the way that he loves kissing Hoseok; if he could choose to do one thing forever, it would definitely to kiss Hoseok forever. He had become dependent on those kisses for encouragement, addicted to them like they were strawberry Pocky, become addicted to Hoseok and everything about him as a whole.
Hoseok breaks the kiss, wraps his arms around Taehyung, presses their foreheads together. Taehyung lets out a shallow breath, looking up at the accountant cautiously through his fringe. He is a mess, with unstyled hair, his breath smelling of coffee, and Hoseok still looks stunning even though his hair is free of product and he’s out of his formal work wear.
“Taehyung,” Hoseok’s voice is so low, that if they weren’t pressed together in the closest proximity possible, Taehyung thinks he wouldn’t have been able to hear him. “Taehyung, please, don’t ever ever think that I’m tired of you.”
“But you have every right to be,” Taehyung scrubs at his eyes roughly, blinking back the tears angrily. Damnit, he had not been planning to cry, what the heck was wrong with him. “I’m a burden, like a man-child, I’m just relying on you, and you’re just pandering to me.”
“Taehyung,” Hoseok’s fingers are on his face, holding him gently, his expression a mixture of confused and concerned, “you’re not a burden. I don’t know who told you that, but you’re not.”
“I am!” the words burst out from him, like a dam that had just broken down from the force of the stream that it had been holding back. “I’m messy, I can’t take care of myself, and you have to remind me to eat and do my homework. I can’t help it, I just feel like a burden to you, but god I love you so much . I wouldn’t know what to do if you broke up with me and just left me here to deal with the aftermath. I don’t think I could ever recover .”
The outburst leaves him shaking, and the tears are running down his face now. Taehyung rubs at them angrily, pressing the heel of his palms into his eyes. God, he had just spilled his entire heart out to Hoseok, and they haven’t even been dating for three months, but yet he had just told Hoseok that he loves him. Great job, Taehyung, way to scare off the guy.
There are warm arms holding him, cradling him lovingly, and Hoseok’s pressing his lips to his cheek. Taehyung lets out a dry sob, and his arms automatically reach out, wrapping around Hoseok’s leaner body, clinging to the older like a lifeline. Hoseok soothes him, rocking him back and forth, peppering warm kisses to his face and hair.
“Taehyung, I won’t leave you, I won’t. You’re not a burden, and I love dating you. I love you. I love you so much too.”
The words only make Taehyung sob harder. Hoseok holds him tighter, presses kisses to the corner of his mouth, whispers the words into his skin.
“I love you Taehyung. I love you so much.”
---
“I’m sorry for being a mess this evening.”
Hoseok looks at Taehyung from his side of the bed, his dark brown hair messy and soft in the dim yellow light of Taehyung’s bedside lamp. He smiles, reaches out a hand to card through Taehyung’s hair gently.
“There’s no need to apologise, honestly, Tae. You didn’t do anything wrong.”
Taehyung nods dumbly, looking down at his hands. Mickey was sound asleep in the living room, wrapped in Taehyung’s pile of blankets and a small pillow. Hoseok had held him until he had no more tears to cry, sent him to shower and ordered Chinese takeout. They had ate dinner at the kitchen counter, shoulders nudged snugly against each other, picking at each other’s food, and Hoseok had made sure to tell Taehyung that he loves him between every single bite. Taehyung had blushed so hard that his ears were warm, and stolen Hoseok’s mushrooms as revenge. It had only made the other laugh harder and dive in to steal kisses from Taehyung, claiming that he was only trying to get his mushrooms back.
Hoseok leans in to kiss Taehyung now, slow and gentle, pressing his tongue cautiously against Taehyung’s. Taehyung giggles into his mouth, reaches out to thumb at the silver of skin peeking just above Hoseok’s sweats. The older had brought over a change of clothes and some dog food, explaining that he had intended to keep Taehyung company, complete with strawberry Pocky and Mickey who “always brought cheer to everyone”.
“She likes you,” Hoseok hums as Taehyung breaks away to nuzzle at the inside of Hoseok’s wrist, pressing lazy kisses to the skin there. He lingers on Hoseok’s pulse, stroking his lips carefully across the delicate spot before kissing it gently. “I knew she would, Mickey loves people like you, Taehyungie.”
“You know, you never answered my question.”
Hoseok raises an eyebrow. “The one about sexting?”
“Yeah,” Taehyung cocks an eyebrow at Hoseok, his lips still pressed to the inside of the accountant’s wrist. “To answer your question, I’m not against it.”
Hoseok’s smile turns into a full-blown smirk as he reaches out with his other hand for the hem of Taehyung’s shirt. His fingers are warm against Taehyung’s skin, and Taehyung feels the heat burst through his veins as Hoseok scrapes his fingernails lightly, playfully just right above the band of his shorts.
“Oh? That’s interesting? Hm, so what else do you like , hmm?”
Taehyung surges forward to kiss Hoseok, letting the older man shuck up his shirt, straddling him with a fervour that makes him so excited. As Hoseok’s fingers find a nipple and their hips roll against each other’s, Taehyung moans openly into his boyfriend’s mouth before breaking off the kiss to grin down devilishly at him.
“How about you find out?”
Hoseok growls, flipping Taehyung over with such force that the breath is knocked out of his lungs before attacking his mouth again, his hips grinding down onto Taehyung with just the right amount of pressure that sends pleasure careening through Taehyung’s entire being.
He pulls away to whisper into Taehyung’s ear, thrusting at just the right angle to make Taehyung’s mouth fall open in a soundless gasp of pleasure.
“I do sext. For your information, so how about we try that next time one of us is stressed?”
Taehyung can only grin stupidly up at Hoseok before pulling him down to kiss him again.