Archive of Our Own

Taehyung runs his nails down the front of the toned, wide and muscly pectorals of the dark haired stranger. He tries not to moan at the feeling of the rippling muscles underneath him, tensing from his touch, warm and hard. 

“You’re so fucking hot,” He breathes , his voice quivering and full of desire. the body laughs, shakes under his touch and then picks him up, wraps his legs around his waist and pushes him against the wall.

“God, So are you,” he moans into Taehyung  before attaching his mouth to the junction between his collarbone and neck, beginning to suck at the skin. 

“Oh shit” Taehyung moans and his eyes flutter shut as his breath stutters and he bangs his head back against the wall. He puts his hands on the others shoulders- those wide, thick shoulders and then he’s leaning down and biting the skin, just to get a feel of the other man in his mouth. He then lowers his arms to grab hold of the others forearms, to feel the veins and muscles move underneath him as they grab hold of his ass.

 “Oh god Taehyung,” the voice says,

“I can’t wait to feel you.” 

the boys mouth lowers down his body, pressing kisses into his chest, his stomach and every part in between. Taehyung's body reacts to ever single bit of movement, so receptive to the other.

“I’ve wanted this for so long,” Taehyung tells him and the boy nods desperately.

 “Me too,” He says, through harsh pants, barely getting his words out. “Oh god me too.” 

 Taehyung smiles satisfyingly, “bring me to the bed,” He demands and the boy agrees, carrying him over, no struggle in holding him.

“Oh Taehyung,” He moans as he throws him down along the mattress spreading him out, ready to take all of him.

“Say my name again,” he demands, desperate to hear his name in the boys mouth over and over. 

“Taehyung,” they boys says, a beautiful moan of the other.

“Taehyung-”

“Taehyung-”

“Taehyung-”

“Taehyung?” The voice suddenly changes, it’s higher pitched, softer and not moaning but asking a question. Taehyung blinks a few times and suddenly he’s no longer in his bedroom being ravished by the handsomest man he’s ever seen.

Instead, he is back down on a weight set in a gym that smells like plastic mats and dirty feet, staring at said guy, who’s going through his third set of lifts. The muscles were still there, still glistening from sweat, still on full display and so damn beautiful- but they were distant to him, belonged to the arms of a stranger, a stranger he’s been imagining doing all sorts of ridiculous things to him since the moment he’d seen him in this same building two months ago, at the start of the year, when he promised his best friend he would go to the gym with him for his New Years resolution. Speaking of his best friend....

“Taehyung?” The voice says again. He realises now that it’s Jimin and he finally moves his eyes from the beautiful stranger- god what he’d do to lick those muscles, taste the other in his mouth, just grab hold of him, feel him on top of him, underneath him, ravishing him, holding him, driving him absolutely wild- 

“Taehyung!” 

“Sorry! Sorry,” He says then and he finally actually looks at Jimin who is staring at him unbelievably, his cheeks dust pink and Jimin laughs.

“Really tae? Still with that guy?” 

“Is it that obvious?” He sighs and Jimin nods.

“You’re drooling.”

Taehyung lifts his hand up to wipe at the nonexistent drool on his face and then slants his eyes at his friend “not funny” he says but Jimin shakes his head in disbelief that he fell for it.

“Tae you’ve been sitting on this machine for 20 minutes and you haven’t even lifted the weights once- it’s like as soon as you saw him you froze.” 

Taehyung tries to actually lift the weight and realises hell no, it’s far too heavy and struggles to put it back in to place before getting up and wiping his towel over his face at the very little sweat he had built up from doing absolutely nothing.

“I can’t help it,” He says and he trails his eyes back to the handsome stranger. “He’s just so damn hot.” 

Jimin laughs again and then sits down on the machine Taehyung had just gotten off of. He sets the weights to his standard and begins to pump at them.

“Is this the only reason you still come here with me?” Jimin asks and Taehyung grows embarrassed.

“No,” he lies and Jimin is laughing again. So maybe Tae had thought this gym thing would have faded out after the first week or so. He had no actual desire to get in shape, preferring a life of video games and pizza to protein shakes and morning runs, but as soon as he saw that Adonis, on one of the running machines, so sweaty, so determined, breathing heavily and checking his pulse, all those days ago, he couldn’t stop thinking about him.

He was sold. Just like that. Hook line and sinker. 

“You should just go talk to him already,” Jimin says sitting up after his first reps. 

Taehyung laughs, “Good one.” 

“Well what’s so wrong with that?” Jimin asks and he’s squirting some water in his mouth before lying back down and starting his next count of twelve.

 “Hmmm I don’t know?” He says sarcastically, “He might actually hear me!” 

 At that moment the guy looks over at him and when their eyes lock Taehyung squeaks. The boys eyes are big, round but soft looking, and he has a slight smirk to his lips, crooked and to one side. His face makes him seem young, most probably younger than Taehyung himself, but his body is another story. An enigma he’s desperate to search, desperate just to touch, just once... 

God your beautiful, Taehyung thinks to himself. What i'd do to have you destroy me

The guys eyes widen suddenly, almost in shock and then he looks away awkwardly, grabs his towel and moves over to another machine. Taehyung quirks his brow at the weird action but doesn’t take much note of it, not now that the boy is bending down to lift some weight off the floor and Taehyung gets a perfect view of his wide back, his eyes travel down from his shoulders, along the muscles all the way down to his plump butt, so round, so tight, so, so, so...

“C'mon lover boy,” Jimin says then shaking his head as he stands up, the all knowing smile on his face. “lets go buy you some chicken wings.”

~

It’s not often Taehyung goes to the gym alone. In fact he’s never gone alone before. But when Jimin skips out for the third day in a row, and Taehyung hasn’t seen his mysterious muscle man in almost a week, he feels like he doesn’t have a choice. He has to go to the gym, because he has to see his future husband. Plain and simple and not stalker-ish at all. Nope, not in the slightest. 

The thing is, the gym without a workout buddy is sort of an intimidating place. Why was everyone so sweaty? And why did they all look so mean and judgemental? Was the gym always like this? Had it always been like this? Or was he too distracted by beauty to notice it before? And where was muscle guy today anyway? Taehyung didn’t get up, get dressed, bike all the way to the gym and pretend to workout for him not to be here. Now that was just plain rude. 

C'mon muscle boy, reveal yourself.

Tae says to himself as he turns on his running machine. He keeps it on slow pace motion and lets his legs begin to move. 

You’ve gotta be here somewhere.

And the thing was, he wished he didn’t know when the other boy usually was at the gym but he did. He did because he was a creep and had figured out his schedule. Monday and Fridays were evening workouts, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday were morning workouts and Wednesday he didn’t show up at all. 

C'mon- I did not wake up at 7am on a Saturday morning- A SATURDAY- for you not to be here.

And as if god had heard his prayers, the boy walks in to the gym studio, sleeveless black tank on his body, tight fitted shorts on his thighs, a towel round his neck and a water bottle in his hand 

Oh fuck me 

And the boy looks straight at him. 

Taehyungs eyes widen once more and then he flicks his head down to his machine and begins to press the first button he can see, to make it seem like he wasn’t just checking out the boy he most definitely was just checking out.

Oh god oh god he saw me ooggling his goodies.

The machine begins to move faster under him and he realises he has pressed the speed button three times, moving his casual breeze through the park on level one, to a steady fast paced jog on level 5. 

Oh crap 

Now you see, Taehyung wasn’t a runner. Taehyung wasn’t an anything when it came to sports or athletics or any sort of activity of the sort. He just wasn’t. But he forces himself to keep up, because he doesn’t want to seem like an idiot. Not when muscle boy is walking towards him and he- 

WAIT... WHY IS HE WALKING TOWARDS ME? 

His eyes stay wide on his face, and his long legs struggle to keep up with the machine underneath him. Regardless of the amount of times Taehyung may had seen the other in the gym, he was always sure to keep a good distance from the other. Peering at him from behind weights or several running machines away so not to be noticed. Now though the boy was getting suspiciously close and Taehyung wasn't okay with that.

Oh crap oh crap Taehyung okay play it cool, play it cool you idiot. Pace your breaths, pace your damn breaths- he cannot think you don’t know how to run at the speed, he cannot know how useless you are right now 

The boy moves behind him and Taehyung's follows him with his eyes as much as possible until he slips out of his peripheral vision. he isn’t gone though, oh no, because then suddenly Taehyung feels a body to his left and when he turns himself back forward, he realises muscle boy has gotten on to the running machine right next to his. Literally the one right next door to him. When at least three other ones were free 

Oh shit oh shit oh shit Taehyung don’t ruin this for yourself. So he’s the most beautiful guy you’ve ever seen? Just play it cool, don’t stare and him, just don’t do it Taehyung just don’t. 

He stares. 

He stares long and hard. Right from the minute the boy presses the go button with his long slim fingers.

God he has pretty hands. Is it possible for someone’s hands to be so pretty? And they aren’t even hairy- he doesn’t even have hairy fingers. He must be perfect, he has to be? Only perfectly constructed people don’t have hair on their fingers 

To the precise second he cranks the speed up to seven and starts running fast right beside Taehyung, barely breaking a sweat. Taehyung on the other hand is dying, sweating like mad and desperate for a drink. His multi tasking abilities don’t really let for it though, he can’t run and sip without most definitely spilling his water down him and god knows that’s all he needs to do in front of handsome muscle stranger. Instead he raises a hand up to his head and wipes away with the back of his forearm, the wet pools of his own sweat from his body.

God this is not what I had in mind when I imagined being sweaty and out of breath around this guy 

And suddenly the guy next to him laughs, a short giggle, but one Taehyung most definitely catches and he looks at his face to see the small remnants of a smile still etched into his features.

He better not be laughing at me. You’re hot but don’t be an asshole okay? I’m trying hard here 

And then he looks at Taehyung, looks at him and gives him a curt smile before turning back to his machine and lowering the settings. Taehyung quirks an eyebrow again at the boys weird action, but then follows suit, lowering the speed of his own machines figuring if the buff guy did it, it would be okay for him too. 

Except well now he’s practically wheezing, searching desperately for the breaths he most definitely does not have and clutching the air for his water bottle until his hand lands on it and he’s knocking it back as quickly as possible. Muscle guy next to him seems to notice him struggling, but only watches from the corner of his eye before giving another small smile and focusing back again on his machine. 

When Taehyung finally gets his breath back he realises he must look terrible and he sighs.

How are you supposed to fall in love with me if I look like this? 

The boy runs a hand through his hair and then picks up his own water bottle. Taehyung bites his lip as he sees the boy lift it up to his face and take back the water in quick gulps. He watches the way his Adam’s apple bobs up and down every swallow and it makes him gulp, just seeing his long thick neck, thrown back in such a way 

Holy shit I’d give anything to leave a mark on that neck 

And then the boy is choking and throws his head back up quickly to cough, puts a hand over his mouth and tries to regain himself.

Taehyung looks away again but then cocks his head to the side. 

That was weird. Almost like he knew what I was saying or something- 

Taehyung eyes widen in shock. He thinks about the way the boy has oddly reacted around him a few times now and freaks. Was telepathy a thing? Could people actually have it? He looks back at the boy, who has nonchalantly gone back to running on his machine not paying any attention to Taehyung who is very clearly observing him now, not even trying to hide it anymore.

You can’t can you? 

Of course he couldn’t. That would be ridiculous.

But still Taehyung can’t look away. Eyes still wide, the thought still running through his head. Reading minds is not possible... and yet? 

If you can read my mind, cough once. 

And the next thing he knows, the boy coughs, turns to Taehyung, gives him a smile and says.

“Uhh- hi there...” 

Taehyung loses balance on his machine as he lets out a wide gasp, trips and slides off the back of the conveyor belt, hitting the floor hard. “Oh fuck,” he moans as his back hits the ground and half of the gym turn to look at him. Muscle boy turns round on his machine and his eyes widen. He quickly turns it off and manoeuvres over to Taehyung crouching down beside him.

“Are you okay?” He asks and Taehyung is just about ready to kill himself.

He tries to smile, knows it’s feeble. He looks like an absolute idiot and then he sighs.

God you smell good? Who smells this good after working out? 

No. No Taehyung stop thinking about him. He can hear you! 

He looks into the other boys face who is staring at him concerned. Eyes round and sincere, just about ready to break Taehyung's heart. If they haven’t already. 

No one should have a body like that but then a face so damn cute.

“Can you hear me?” The angelic mouth says and Taehyung nods. 

I can hear you, you can hear me. Today is a wonderful day to die of embarrassment don’t you think?

“Oh me? Oh yeah sorry I uhhh- spaced out for a minute there.” He tries to smile again, but when the other boy gives him a relieved grin he blushes, hard and has to look away Hoping that his face is tinted maroon from the workout he had just done and covers most of the blush up easily. “I’m really sorry” Taehyung blurts our next and the boy looks confused.

“Sorry about what? I should be the one apologising, You’re the one who fell,” he smiles.

You know what I’m taking about.

Taehyung thinks the words, embarrassed and raises his eyebrows knowingly. The boy doesn’t budge though, Just continues to look back at Taehyung waiting for him to talk.  Suddenly Taehyung remembers the weird scenarios he imagined the two boys in and flushes again. If he could read his mind, he most definitely would have heard them and that was probably the most mortifying thing he could ever imagine. Plus it wasn’t like they were NSFW or anything like that, but most definitely cringe and embarrassing- 

Sure There was the scene of them in Taehyung's room but he also picture them meeting on a crowded subway, through the masses of bodies their eyes would meet and they suddenly would only see each other. He also imagined a scene where muscle guy writes his number on a napkin and drops it in front of Taehyung, before he leaves a cafe and hopes he’ll get a call. Or the typical one where they meet in a bar. An annoying drunk guy trying to hit on Taehyung only for muscle guy to come over, save him by slinging an arm around his shoulder and saying “hey! He’s with me!” Only to introduce himself awkwardly after and save his night. 

 Taehyung was a romantic okay? He knew a good drama meet-cute when he saw one. This? This was just a catastrophe. And yet....

“My name is Jungkook by the way” Muscle boy says and Taehyung looks at him again. Jungkook holds his hand out as an offering to lift Taehyung up from the floor. He does so with ease and Taehyung desperately tries to think of anything but the small bit of contact the two men are having.

“Taehyung” he replies once he’s standing. 

But I’m sure you already knew that? 

No reaction again. Taehyung sighs and then runs a hand through his hair. “Look man, I’m really sorry," he makes himself say again and the guy quirks an eyebrow.

“For what?” He asks once more and Taehyung grows embarrassed.

“For what I said,” he tells him with a hushed and embarrassed tone, “You know....” and he points to his head. “Up there.”

 “Uhhhh?” Jungkook looks confused and slightly alarmed.

Oh great he thinks your crazy

“You know... when you coughed?” Taehyung says next.

Please don’t make me say it out loud 

“When I coughed?” Jungkook repeats waiting for Taehyung to expand, drawing out the words.

Taehyung bites his lip. Why wasn’t he admitting it? “You coughed didn’t you?” 

Jungkook nods “yeah?” He says “I had a cold last week, it’s still lingering around a little bit” 

“A cold?”

Jungkook smiles “you know, coughing, blowing your nose, eating soup everyday?” He smiles playfully,  “a lot of people get colds around this time of year?” 

“A cold right...” Taehyung says again.

So you can’t read my mind then? Blink if you just heard me.

Jungkook blinks. Then he’s still staring at Taehyung and then he blinks again. And again. And again... 

Ok maybe blinking wasn’t a good suggestion.

“Hey are you sure your okay man? Did you hit your head because I can take you to the hospital, I don’t mind it’s-"

Taehyung shakes his head “no no, it’s fine, I’m fine. Sorry... again.” 

Jungkook laughs at that. “Well if you’re sure,” and he just looks so charming, so handsome and friendly and Taehyung wants to melt, right there in the middle of the smelly gym. He’s making a complete ass out of himself in front of the hottest guy he’s ever seen and wasting probably the only opportunity he’ll ever get to speak to him ever again. 

“Hey Taehyung?” 

“Mhm?” 

“You wanna maybe go grab a coffee?” 

Holy fucking shit are you kidding me!? Is this a joke!?!???!? Am I being played!?! Am I on punked!?! You wanna go get coffee? Coffee? With me!? Oh my shit are you sure!? Is this happening? Is this actually happening?!!!?!

“Uh sure, I could do that, I think I’ve got some time?” He tries to sound nonchalant and jungkook smiles.

“Great!” He says.

“Great!” Taehyung echoes. 

~

Tap on the table once if you can hear me.

Nothing. 

Sip your drink if you know what I’m saying. 

Absolutely nada. 

Maybe this is one of those soulmate things?

He quickly dismisses the idea and realises he needs to stop reading online fiction and watching anime’s. As much as the thought entices him that perhaps Jungkook could hear his thoughts because they were bound together by some uncontrollable force that allows two people destined for each other to meet ... he couldn’t hear anything, and he was pretty sure that was supposed to be a two way street sort of deal. At least it normally was in the dramas.

“So what do you do?” He decides to ask instead, hands wrapped around his hot chocolate, waiting for it to cool down. Jungkook looks grateful for the question.

You need to stop staring at him and actually talk doofus.

He smiles before taking a sip of his Americano, his large hands bringing the cup up to his mouth. He blows on it slightly (adorable) before he drinks it down and he’s smiling again before speaking. “I’m a student,” he says with a shy smile. Taehyung's eyes widen at what he tells him.

“No way! Do you go to SUCA!?”he asks in disbelief and Jungkook nods. Taehyung puts a hand to his chest, pointing to himself excitably, “I go there too!” He beams.

Is this fate? I feel like this is fate...

“I thought you might do,” Jungkook says still grinning at Taehyung. His face looks so inviting and Taehyung almost flushes from the stare he’s giving him, tries desperately to remain cool.

“How have I never seen you around before?” Taehyung asks next and Jungkook looks like he’s thinking about it but before he gets a chance to speak, Taehyung pipes up again.  “What do you study? You one those phys ed scholarship kids, I bet right?” 

Jungkook shakes his head and laughs slightly. “People always seem to think that” he says and he sips his drink once more. “I’m actually a Chemistry major. Second year.”

Taehyung chokes on his drink. “Your ripped and smart!?” He blurts our and crap that one was definitely not in his head... 

He shuts his mouth almost instantly and runs a hand through his hair. “I mean you know, 'coz... you know,” he sighs and can already feel the words beginning to ramble from his mouth- he knows he won’t be able to stop them, he never can in these situations and then his mouth is moving without second thought. “how about those chemistry textbooks though?” He says awkwardly “Gotta be heavy huh? Good uhhh weights I bet? Yeah... full of those... ummm equations and things?” His eyes drift off like he’s thinking and then he shuts them tight and sighs.

You absolute idiot.

But Jungkook just laughs  and it’s hearty and beautiful and music to his ears.

I could listen to that sound forever. We could play it on loop at our wedding...

Ok too far. That one was definitely too far... 

Once Jungkook has regained some of his composure, he speaks, still through an amused smile. “What about you Taehyungsshi, what do you do?” He’s leaning forward on the table now, clearly engaged in Taehyung and what he has to say, but Taehyung doesn’t realise. He’s never been able to pick up when someone was interested in him. Can’t see the way Jungkook’s eyes are sparkling at him or the way the smile can’t seem to disappear from his face, just from looking at the blonde. Can’t tell that the way he’s playing with his coffee cup is out of nerves from sitting opposite Taehyung and that he’s just as desperate to get to know him as Taehyung was.

“I’m an art major, third year.” Taehyung replies, blissfully unaware, not picking up on the obvious signs.  Jungkook nods along to him.

“That’s probably why we’ve never seen each other around before, you know, other than in the gym.” 

“I suppose so.” He hadn’t thought about that but it made sense. The chemistry and art blocks were nowhere near each other. The only time he was ever on that side of campus was to see his friend Namjoon, who was studying philosophy, and even that building was barely much closer to Jungkook's ones. 

“So are you any good?” 

“Huh?”

“At art. Are you any good?” 

Taehyung considers the question for a minute and then grabs a napkin from the holder on the side of the table. He reaches into his gym bag and scurries his hand around until he manages to find a pen. Jungkook just watches him, waiting to see what he’ll do, so invested in the slightly strange boy sitting opposite him, and after a few minutes or so he hands the napkin over. 

“This was only quick but-"

On the paper was a picture of Jungkook, smiling back at the real Jungkook who was staring down at it in awe.

“You did this that quickly and on a cheap cafe napkin?” He says in surprise and Taehyung tries not to blush.

Well I’ve pretty much been studying your face for the last few months so I think I managed to get it down pretty good.

“This is amazing.” 

“It’s nothing” He says nonchalantly But Jungkook looks up at him.

“It’s not nothing!- can I keep it?” 

Taehyung nods shyly and Jungkook smiles, then takes the napkin in his hand and places it in his bag, careful not to let it crumple. He then grabs hold of another one, and gestures for Taehyung to hand him over the pen. He seems to be writing something down and when he’s done he hands it over. 

“In case there’s ever an art show or something.... or well you know...” He blushes slightly but his voice is hopeful and  Taehyung is ready to just about choke then and there because on the paper is nothing more than the boys phone number, and a little smiley face cutely drawn next to it.

“Yeah, no uhhh yeah, of course.” 

Words Taehyung, use your words.

He takes the napkin and folds it, tries desperately not to kiss it multiple times before slipping it in to his bag and then presses a slight hand to his cheek when he can tell he’s heating up from the others action. 

Not now, Taehyung, please not now.

Of course this doesn’t settle any quarries he has about the boy being able to read his mind. He had imagined something similar after all.

If you can just tell me? I won’t be scared or weirded out. I promise. I won’t try to sell you to some top government secret service or anything like that. Honest! 

But the boy doesn’t say anything. Just stares again at Taehyung with a smile on his face. So ok maybe Taehyung was being extra about the whole thing. Of course people couldn’t read minds, there was no way he could. But how can he just let it go now when it’s all he could think about? He watches as Jungkook looks at the watch strapped to his wrist and sighs.

“Oh shoot,” he says “I’ve got practise in a bit” he tells him and looks up. “Im sorry I-! 

“Can you read my mind?” Taehyung blurts it out, it comes from absolutely nowhere and then his eyes are widening again and he covers his mouth. 

“What?” Jungkook says and Taehyung wants to abort, run away, move to a new town with a new name and new identity. 

“Did you just ask me if I could...read your mind?"

“What no? Who said that? that’s ridiculous....” he pauses, “can you?” He sees Jungkook's brow furrow, as though he’s thinking something over and then his mouth widens.

“That’s why you apologised earlier isn’t it? And pointed to your head.” 

Damn you chemistry majors really are geniuses.

“Uhhh,” and they were so close too. But he had to open his big mouth and make an absolute fool of himself and ruin everything. Jungkook was probably going to think he was mad, or a massive weirdo, curse him or ask for his number back. He peeks a look at the boy across from him, to see the damage. but Jungkook doesn’t look freaked out. Instead he has a hand to his mouth, attempting to cover up a laugh.

“Jungkook?” 

And then he suddenly erupts across the table, in a fit of giggles. Loud and unabashed. Straight at Taehyung. Taehyung puts his head down in shame, the red on his cheeks most definitely noticeable now, if it wasn’t before. He can only hear the loud chortles of the other when he whines 

“Well I don’t think it’s that funny...”

But Jungkook's laugh is adorable, high pitched and full of excitement and in any other circumstance he would be laughing along with him and basking in the beautiful smile spread across his beautiful face. But he doesn’t. Because he’s not laughing with him but at him, and the thought makes him feel like shit. He peeks an eye up at the other and his face is scrunched up cutely, closed eyes and large teeth on full view, its such a beautiful sight Taehyung wishes he had gotten this response from saying a good joke or a witty comment. Not from embarrassing himself by letting his loud mouth move before his mind tells him it’s okay to. He wishes he could get this laugh from this boy for the rest of his life but realises after the mistake he’s made he’ll probably never hear it again. he knows what he said was ridiculous and he feels like he wants to die from the shame of it all. There’s no malice in Jungkook's giggles though, instead he finds Taehyung a breath of fresh air, so ridiculously captivating and so ridiculously beautiful it hurts. But of course Taehyung (just like Jungkook) isn’t a mind reader and he has no idea just how interested the other boy really is. 

“You’re really something Taehyung,” Jungkook says through his laughter and Taehyung bites his lip with a blush. Jungkook stands up then, wipes a tear from his eye and checks his watch again. He sighs once the laughter subsides. “Don’t be a stranger okay? Text me some time,” he gives him a suggestive smile and then he’s walking out of the coffee shop and disappearing down the street.

“Uh-Huh... Yeah... I’ll be sure to do that!” Taehyung shouts back to no one and then slinks in his chair 

What the hell just happened? 

~ 

Taehyung doesn’t text Jungkook. In fact the only thing Taehyung does with the napkin is doodle cute hearts and pretty flowers around the number, takes down a bunch of old pamphlets and takeaway menus from his pin-board and replace them with the tissue. It sits square in the middle of the rectangular cork, desperate to be used beyond Taehyung’s miniature conversations with it, as though it was the real Jungkook, or Longing stares late at night when Taehyung can’t get to sleep and it’s practically calling out his name to be used. 

Still he resists and doesn’t bother. Doesn’t even save the number in his phone because he’s sure that that coffee date with Jungkook was supposed to be nothing more than a one time memory. Plus, by the time he had returned back to his apartment the reality of the situation had dawned on him. He had asked the hottest guy he possibly had ever seen in his life ever- if he could read minds. Who does something like that? Who is stupid enough to make that much of a fool of them self in front of the real life body of a god? He had thrown himself down on his sofa face first and not moved until Jimin had come home and panicked because he thought he was dead. 

Priorities. Make sure your friend stops freaking out over your death first, whine about the pretty boy that laughed at you second. 

“I don’t see what the problem is?” Jimin had said. “So you said something stupid, that’s bound to happen around you sooner or later anyway, at least he got a load of all your crazy in the first few hours. Now he knows what he’s in for.”

But those words don’t console him. They cant make him feel like the digits lying abandoned in his room actually wanted to be used. 

Two weeks had past now since that day. Two weeks of not calling the boy or seeing him (he quit the gym cold turkey the next day), but still thinking about him practically every free moment he had. He wouldn’t  have to see him again, he could instead just revel in what could have been before he had stuck his foot in his mouth. But fate doesn’t work that way. Fate doesn’t pay attention to the what “could have been’s” if they are supposed to be “meant to be’s” and it’s a rainy Thursday afternoon when Taehyung spots him, looking just as godly as the day in the coffee shop and just as beautiful as the first day he ever laid eyes on him. 

“Holy shit!” He yelps and he crouches in instinct behind Namjoon, who just so happens to be the perfect mixture of lanky and long to cover him almost entirely.

“Tae?” The pink haired guy says. “Everything okay down there?” He tries to bend to look at Taehyung but he takes hold of Namjoon's legs and holds him in place. The elder boy wobbles slightly but catches on and quirks an eyebrow at the younger. Thankfully The college corridors were wide enough, long enough and crowded enough to go unnoticed, but Taehyung takes no chances. Instead he peaks out from the leg of  his friend and watches as the buff sophomore walks past, arms covered by a long sleeved black tee but doing nothing to hide the curves and bends of his skin, carrying way too many books someone should be capable of holding, and smiling and talking to a shorter, black haired male who was knocking back a coffee cup like it was the first drink he’d had in weeks.

“Tae? Taehyung what’s wrong? Who are you hiding from?” 

“Shhhh” 

“Tae?” 

“Shhh Namjoon I swear to god just shhhhh.” In an instant Jungkook is gone, and Taehyung actually feels sad when he disappears but then he’s relieved that they didn’t need to have an awkward run in. “Namjoon what building are we in again?” 

“Chem. I told you I’m taking an extra module this year. why?” 

He runs a hand through his hair. Of course Namjoon had decided to take up a chemistry electorate. The stupid brain box. Of course he had. 

“Tae, is there something you wanna explain?” 

He shakes his head but makes a mental note to self. 

Avoid chemistry building at all costs. 

Tell Namjoon to meet at the art centre from now on.  

He was not going to have to deal with that again. 

Accept of course he does. 

Again. 

And again. 

And again 

And again. 

In the cafeteria, on the stairs, in the library, in the courtyard. Suddenly the mysterious and buff stranger from the gym had become the (still ridiculously buff) chemistry college student who just so happened to be everywhere that Taehyung happened to be. 

Everywhere. 

And it had been harder to avoid him too. He swore even one time they locked eyes and Jungkook attempted to wave at him, even seemed to be trying to walk over, before Taehyung had turned around and literally ran back in the direction he had came from. He never got to see the discouraged look on the youngers face as he did so. He starts marking the napkin every day they accidentally run in to each other and soon enough, the thing gets full of little strikes of black ink, further additions to Taehyung's wall of mockery and regret. He stares at them forlornly and sighs a heavy sigh. Oh what could have been.

“Taehyung get your butt out here!” 

He jumps at the voice and peeks his head out the door. Jimin is standing in the hallway, right in front of him, hands on his hips and a stern look on his face. 

“Hey Chimmy, whats up?” He tries to act casual but Jimin looks concerned.

“So you’ll never guess who I happened to run in to today at the gym.”

Taehyung's face drops. “Oh no.”

“Oh yes. Sweet mr Jeon Jungkook. 20 year old, Sophomore at our college! Tae! why didn’t you tell me he went to our school?” 

Taehyung had only briefly told Jimin about his run in with Jungkook because he knew if he had told him about the other boys identity, he would have already tracked him down, found out everything about him and forced the two of them together. 

“Did you know he’s a chemistry major? Did you know he’s on Hoseok hyung's dance team?!” 

“He told you that?” 

“No- I looked him up on my way back here.”

Taehyung nods. Of course he had.

“The only thing he talked about my dear stupid friend, was you!” 

“Me?” 

“He was so cute Tae, wondered over to me all awkward and shy. “You’re Kim Taehyungshi’s friend right?” He says imitating the other boys voice. “He told me that he’s seen you around campus at least six times in the last two weeks and every time, you avoided him!” 

Taehyung looks down at the ground. So maybe Jungkook had seen him that time. And every other time too. Dammit, he thought he was being so unnoticeable. 

“Taehyung you ran through band practise just to get away from him? you made some poor girl drop her food all over herself in the lunch hall?” 

...So maybe he was a little noticeable. He wasn’t James Bond okay?

“Tae what the hell were you thinking?” 

He makes a face and tries to play it cute. Shrugs his shoulders slowly. “I wasn’t?” 

Jimin shakes his head. “Damn right you weren’t. Why are you sabotaging yourself like this?” 

“I’m not- I’m just...i'm so embarrassed.” 

His best friend gives him an apologetic look. “Tae you don’t need to be embarrassed. People say and do stupid shit all the time. You aren’t the first, you won’t be the last.” 

“I know but Chim, he’s so beautiful- and I, I made a complete fool of myself. He probably thinks... I don’t know what he probably thinks...” 

“I tell you what he thinks. He thinks why the hell you’ve stopped going to the gym. He thinks maybe he did something wrong.” 

“Hey, not going to the gym has been hard on me too okay? I've missed out on a whole lot of good exercise because of my stupid mistakes” a pitiful excuse. In actuality, skipping out on gym days meant he had more time for anime and that was a golden plus. 

“You could be getting a whole lot of different exercise right now, if you’d have just texted that number” Jimin says suggestively. Taehyung flushed and then throws himself down on the couch, choosing to ignore Jimin instead.

“What are you doing?” 

“Running man re-runs,” He says turning the TV on but Jimin shakes his head.

“Did you forget?” Taehyung look up at him.

“It’s Jin hyung's party tonight- you gotta get ready.” 

“That’s tonight?” 

Jimins nods. “So get your butt off the couch and make yourself look hot.” He turns off the television and starts to walk back to his room.

“Oh and text that damn boy already!” 

He doesn’t. 

 ~

Jin's parties were the best because Jin knew everybody and everybody knew him. He was a crowd pleaser, and that meant his parties were always exceeding expectations. They were like getting drunk without the hangover afterwards; they never went overboard, but they were just a constant go from start to finish. Jin also kept things classy, made food, had ridiculous amounts of drink and high quality decks and lighting that actually made his three bedder seem like a full on club. They were no ordinary college kegger, where everyone was bored after a few hours and the alcohol had run out. Or, one of those wild, everyone’s high, the curtains have been ripped from the windows and someone’s peeing in the corner types of nights either. Just good vibes the whole time. Normally Taehyung loved going to Jin's because of these reasons. Tonight though, he felt a little cautious, no matter how hard he was trying to push thoughts of Jungkook out of his head. He had done as Jimin had said- pulled on his tightest pants and his hottest shirt. His ass looked impeccable and his first few buttons were undone so that his collarbones were on show. He’d styled his hair so it was perfectly positioned, hanging over his forehead but lightly curled so that it looked the perfect combination of fluffy and purposely messy. That was another thing about Jin's parties. You made an effort- everyone did. It wasn’t your simple throw on a hoodie and sneakers get together. Jimin for instance had spent almost an hour just applying a bit of make up and quaffing his hair for the evening, not to mention pulling on his leather pants. Those things were tough work. 

Still, they knew they had to look better than everyone else- they weren’t Taehyung and Jimin if they didn’t- and by the time Taehyung had arrived at the door he was feeling calmer-he was feeling excited. He was good at parties because he was fun. He couldn’t embarrass himself too much because.. well... everyone was embarrassing at parties. Thinking with their alcohol infused brains often did that to people. Hoseok opens the door to them, greets them both with a scream and a hug and then guides them to the kitchen where he’s already filling up glasses and shoving them into their hands. The place is already packed out. So much so that he knows it’ll be a while until he even sees Jin, or gets his hands in any of those amazing snacks he would have baked for the night. Dammit- they were always the best.

“So Chim, you’re still denying me your service on the squad huh?” Hoseok asks and Jimin laughs embarrassed. His cheeks turn pink and he chews his lip nervously before answering.

“You know I only dance contemporary hyung. I’m not even sure I’m any good at hip-hop.” He runs a hand through his hair nervously and shifts slightly on his feet. This topic of conversation often made him nervous and Taehyung knew he was a little self conscious about himself and his dance. Add that to the fact Jimin clearly had a huge crush on Hoseok, and he’d found almost every excuse in the book not to join his dance group. Taehyung thinks it’s ironic now, after the speech Jimin has given him about avoiding Jungkook. Taehyung throws an arm around his shoulder.

“Don’t listen to him Hobi, I’ve seen him freestyle. Don’t take no for an answer!” 

It had been two years since the best friends had met the dancer, and also two years since Hoseok had been trying to get Jimin to join his dance team. Jimin blushes at Taehyung's words and Hobi squeals.

“Well that settles it then! You’re coming to our next practise, just come and vibe with us for a bit. See how you feel? We’ve got loads of new recruits this year anyway, you don’t need to feel left out.” Hoseok was sweet and kind and Taehyung honestly thought that maybe he had a soft spot for Jimin too. Why else would he be so persistent with him? 

“I’ll think about it hyung,” Jimin says blushing again and then he pauses for a second when he realises what Hoseok has said. 

“New recruits? Say, is that Jeon Jungkook one of them by any chance? I don’t remember seeing him at your showcase last year.” 

Taehyung’s eyes widen at the sneakiness of his friend and he’s almost ready to back away from the conversation, knowing all too well what it would be turning and wanting no part of it. That’s until he hears Hobi say: 

“Kookie?” 

And his heart melts. 

Kookie? His nickname is kookie? That’s just about the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard.

Jimin nods and Hoseok smiles. “Yeah he joined us this year! Have you seen the kid dance? guys got crazy skill! Better than some of our original members.”

Taehyung’s head fills with images of Jungkook body rolling and hip thrusting and suddenly he gets hot under the collar. 

Really Taehyung? You’re gonna go there Now? 

“He’s a great kid, Jin introduced us- met him last year when he was a freshman - was a bit like you... took me a while to convince him to join the team...” he’s smiling fondly at the thought of the boy. “So how’d you know him anyway?” And then Hoseok‘s eyes widen and he looks at Jimin. “Hang on a second- you’re not the guy from the gym are you?” 

Taehyung feels himself turn green. Jungkook has told Hoseok about him. Which meant he’d probably told the whole team about him. Which meant he was probably mocking him, telling them all about what Taehyung had said and laughing about it over cool dance tracks and fancy pop and locks or whatever the hell dance moves were called these days.

“Not me,” Jimin says and then Hoseok is looking at Taehyung as he shoots down his drink.

“Well boys would you look at the time-"

“Tae!” Hoseok says, and he winces at the shrill shriek of his voice.

“Hobi please- I don’t want to know.” 

Hoseok looks confused, “What do you mean?  Jungkook said that-"

“hyung!”

“But-"

“No!” 

“Come on, He-"

“Please?”

The elder deflates a little and turns to Jimin with a questioning look. He just shakes his head and mouths “we’ll talk later,” to which Hoseok nods.

“Does this have something to do with why you keep avoiding him?” 

Taehyung doesn’t say anything. But by Hoseok's question it seems like maybe he doesn’t actually know the full story. But if not, what exactly had Jungkook told Hoseok about? And just how much had Jungkook been talking about him at all, if Hoseok is aware that he’s been avoiding him?

“I don’t know what the issue is Tae, but Jungkook’s here tonight, if you want the heads up.”  

His eyes widen and he feels his stomach drop once more. “He is?” He asks and Hoseok nods. “Chim!” He screeches nervOusly, turning to look at the shorter friend with a sick ridden glare on his face. 

“It’s fine," his best friend replies, trying to calm him. Do you know how many people are here tonight? We haven’t even seen Jin yet- I doubt we’ll even see him at all.” 

Taehyung nods, “you’re right,” he says, “sure,” and he almost feels like he can get over it- almost- until Jin walks in to the kitchen, with two guys behind him and suddenly time slows down... 

Because right in front of him, in a tight white shirt and tight black ripped pants, with his soft brown coloured hair styled off his face, and his skin glowing perfectly in the ever changing lights, was Jungkook. Jungkook who was staring straight back at him, with just as wide eyes and just as shocked a glare. For what felt like minutes time was stuck. Everyone else in the room clearly aware of the awkward meeting, if their shared glances were anything to go by. 

“Taehyung,” Jungkook breathes out, noticeably alarmed at the others presence and time click starts once more. The elder opens his mouth, but no words come out. He looks at Jimin, looks back at Jungkook and then does the first thing he can think to do...

 Salutes the boy and then bolts straight for the door.

“Taehyung!” he hears again and he picks up his pace as he tries to manoeuvre through swarms of bodies and hide from the voice that was calling him. That beautiful, soft, yet manly, strong, charming voice, that Taehyung wanted to hear for the rest of his life, call him and talk to him and- crap crap crap. There’s too many people and he’s stuck. Stuck and he feels a hand touch his shoulder and it makes him jump because he’s been caught. Been had. This was it. This was everything he was dreading. He sighs and turns around and Jungkook is there, looking at him, slightly concerned, slightly embarrassed, but ultimately hopeful. 

He gives him a small smile, “Hey,” he says and Taehyung's heart swoops. 

He figures he has no choice, he needs to reply. He can’t keep running and so he smiles. Or at least attempts to, What with how much he feels like he’s going to panic and He’s just about ready to say something, anything back, when he feels a force push into the back of him, shoving him and sending him tumbling forward. his face drops when he knows what’s coming and he wishes more than anything that he could stop himself. Wishes his feet wouldn’t fail him now but it’s too late. He goes flying into Jungkook, all arms and body and ends up dashing the cup of whatever it was Jungkook was holding, right over his white shirt, straight all over his chest.  

“Taehyung are you okay?” He asks, ignoring the stains and dropping his cup, taking the elder by the shoulders. He looks behind him and sees a drunk and staggering boy and sighs.

“Hey watch where you’re going man!” He says to the boy and the guy turns round slowly, ready to make a shitty comeback and start a petty argument, until he sees the size of Jungkook and backs away nervously, holding his hands up in surrender. 

“Oh crap!” Taehyung says, shimmying out of Jungkook’s grip. The younger lets him go and he looks straight at his top. “I’ve ruined your shirt!” He mumbles. He looks around him to see if there’s any tissues around, anything he can use to soak up the mess and manages to grab hold of a napkin or two, under a plate that had been left on the side and instantly begins to press it in to Jungkook's chest.

Oh crap indeed.

His fingers come in to contact with the muscle and his whole body turns stiff. He can’t look Jungkook in the eye as he pats at the stain, but also can’t help himself from slowing down his movements, letting the pads of his fingertips linger slightly at each touch, just to get hold of that muscle, he’d only dreamed of feeling.

Shit oh shit you’re huge. You’re actually freaking huge! 

“Tae?” Jungkook says.

“Hmm?” But his hands don’t let up. They can’t, in a world of their own slowly caressing the other boy right there in the middle of a crowded party.

“Tae?” Jungkook says again, and there’s amusement lacing his voice now, clearly aware of whats happening. When Taehyung doesn’t stop a second time Jungkook’s hand comes up and takes hold of his wrist. His eyes shoot upwards, and he looks straight in to the other boys face, who is looking back at him and smiling. 

“It’s gonna stain,” he says “come on." He then begins pulling the elder through the crowd (which seems to just part for him, like he’s Moses or something- I guess that’s what happens when you look like that) and bringing Taehyung in to one of the bedrooms. 

“What are you-" Taehyung tries to ask but Jungkook heads straight for the bathroom conjoining and opens the door. 

“Jin doesn’t let anyone in to his rooms,” Taehyung says, “we have to use the bathroom in the hallway.” He sits down on the bed as he sees Jungkook flick the switch to the bathroom on and begins to open up the cupboards.

“The main bathroom always has a queue,” he replies, shuffling through the drawers. “And besides, Jin won’t mind.”

“What do you mean?” 

He seems to grab hold of something in one of the cupboards and places it on the kitchen sink before moving in to the doorway and giving Taehyung a smile. 

“I’m his cousin,” he says. “Most people aren’t allowed in his rooms, yes- but I’m not most people.” 

“His cousin?” And he briefly remembers him mentioning a cousin starting university last year and moaning about him eating all his food but before he can ask any more on the situation Jungkook starts to undo the buttons on his shirt, and when Taehyung realises he shoots his eyes down to the floor and his face turns beat red.

Tell me this is a dream? Surely I’m dreaming right now? This can’t be happening? 

“What are you doing?” He questions, flustered keeping his eyes to the ground as he talks. Jungkook smiles at his reaction, shrugs his shirt off his shoulders and heads back to the sink.

Holy shit holy shit holy shit he’s topless. He’s freaking topless! 

Taehyung peaks one eye up as Jungkook's back is turned and is just about ready to ascend in to the heavens when hes met with the broad muscles, wide shoulders that travel down to a thin waist, two back dimples smiling back at him. A body that was so much better than the one his feeble mind has conjured up.

 Fucking hell. 

“I’m gonna wash out the stain before it settles,” he tells him. “Jin hyung has something for everything. I saw the stain remover thingy in here a few weeks ago.” He starts scrubbing at the top, holding it over the sink, his body jolting slightly from the movement and Taehyung can’t look away. “Do me a favour would you?” Jungkook asks, “in the bottom drawer down by the bed, there should be some t-shirts, grab one for me?” Taehyung nods but he’s barely listening, just about making out the command but unable to pull his eyes away from the beauty standing only a few feet away shirtless and cleaning. 

“Taehyung?” Jungkook turns his head round to stare at him and when he sees his face again he jumps.

“Oh” He flushes “right- a shirt, Yep, got it.” He walks over to the drawers and pulls it open, pulls out the first one he sees, just a plain black tee and cautiously walks over to the younger. He settles in the doorway and his breath hitches, the closer he gets to the bare skin of the other. “Uhh- here,” He says and he holds it out, at arms length in front of him. Jungkook, who finishes scrubbing at his shirt, rests it along the sink, dries his hands and then turns to Taehyung.

“Thanks” Jungkook replies, with a full toothed, close eyed smile- clearly trying to make the other feel comfortable. As he grabs the shirt however, he can’t help but purposely lets his hands brush against the elders. But Taehyung again, can hardly register his words because if he thought Jungkook's back was nice, his front was even better. All he can see is muscle, toned abs, toned biceps, toned pecks, and god bless two nipples, one with a shiny hoop circled through it. Taehyung thinks it looks dope, wonders briefly what it would be like to pull on it with his teeth and then flushes another dark shade of red.

“Your Nipple,” He says and Jungkook looks down confused for a second.

“Oh that?” Hes smiling, “got it this year.” 

Nipple? Did you really just say the word nipple? That’s such a weird word-nipple- what the hell Taehyung you're only making things worse!

Jungkook then pulls the t-shirt over his head and down his body, slower than someone would normally get changed, clearly letting Taehyung savour the last bits of his skin before it’s gone for good. Taehyung eyes return to his face then and Jungkook shakes his hair out a few times before smiling. He leans against the door frame on the opposite side and crosses his arms 

“Hey again,” he says and Taehyung bites his lip.

Okay stay chill Taehyung. Just play it cool, just say hi back, that’s all you have to do. 

“I ruined your shirt,” He blurts our a little awkwardly instead, staring anywhere but at the others face, too incapable of meeting the others eye-line without his face flushing bright red. Jungkook shrugs his comment off with a smile, un-phased about the shirt.

“I’m really sorry,” he tries again and this time Jungkook laughs.

“You seem to like apologising to me a lot huh?” 

Taehyung blushes. “I should get going.” He turns on his heel but Jungkook's arms reaches out and stops him once more.

“No wait,” he says. Taehyung turns round to look at him, bottom lip tucked in to the top. “Could we maybe talk?” He asks and he sounds so sincere, so sweet and Taehyung realises how unfair he is being. A second passes and then he nods nervously. Jungkook lets go of him, walks over to the bed and sits down. Taehyung stays standing and just stares at the boy in silent awe. He was really so beautiful, so perfectly constructed. Could get any girl or boy in the world falling at his feet and yet he was sitting in a bedroom talking to Taehyung. It almost felt surreal.

“You never texted me,” he begins and he sounds reserved. Nothing like the confident guy taking his top off only moments before. Instead he seems a little apprehensive, slightly unsure. It makes Taehyung feel guilty. It makes Taehyung want to grab him into a hug. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable- that was never my intention-“

“Uncomfortable?” Taehyung asks. “You didn’t make me uncomfortable.” 

Jungkook closes his mouth and then scratches the back of his head awkwardly. “Oh,” he says and he looks up at the elder, nervously “I just thought... because well you’ve been avoiding me so much and-" 

“I haven’t been avoiding you.” Taehyung sighs. “Okay well maybe I have been. But it’s not because you made me uncomfortable. You did nothing wrong.”

“Oh,” Jungkook says again and Taehyung misses the blush that dusts his cheeks. “I felt like maybe I needed to apologise. I shouldn’t have forced you to take my number if you weren’t interested. You didn’t have to.” 

“Not interested?” Taehyung feels mind-blown. 

Who would possibly ever in a million years be uninterested in someone like you? 

Now he really feels like an asshole because Jungkook was being so honest, so wholesome, apologising for doing absolutely nothing wrong and honestly he seems kind of insecure? And it’s so stupidly endearing, so ridiculously sweet that Taehyung’s sure he may have just met the most perfect human being in the whole entire world. 

“Please don’t apologise to me” He says next. “I didn’t avoid you because of anything you did. It was me- I was.. embarrassed.” he lowers his head in shame.

“Embarrassed? Embarrassed about what?” and he genuinely seems confused for a second, and like he’s trying to figure out what could possibly have embarrassed Taehyung until his eyes widen slightly.

“Oh,” He says and Taehyung nods, looking up at the other again. 

“Oh,” Taehyung repeats and the shame swells up inside him again as he thinks back to that day and that stupid question. If Jungkook had forgotten, he’d surely remembered now.

Jungkook on the other hand just smiles and then shakes his head.“I think we should start over, don’t you?” He asks.

“What?” 

“Yeah- you said something embarrassing, I said something embarrassing, let’s just pretend like it never happened.”

Tae stares at him confused. “But you never said anything embarrassing?”

“Huh?” Jungkook says and he scratches his head again. “Well then let me think.” He stands up and paces once or twice in the room, with his hands on his hips, deep in thought. 

“One time when I went to camp, we were telling these horror stories, late at night. I ended up getting so scared I cried and rang my mom to come pick me up. It was the third day in.... and I was 13.” 

“Jungkook-“ Taehyung tries but he’s smiling, trying not to giggle at the confession.

“Another time- and you’ll like this one- another time, when I a bit younger, I got so obsessed with Iron man- like super obsessed, and I went round my school and told everyone he was my dad and that I could fly. No one believed me and I was dared to prove it, you know? Jump off of one of the jungle gym things and just fly away. I ended up in the ER room- 16 stitches.” He lifts his elbow to show a scar, and then points to his cheek where another one sits elegantly. 

“Jungkook-"

“I can go on if you like? When I was 16 I-” but Taehyung is laughing now and when Jungkook realises, he smiles.

“See? Nothing to be ashamed about right?” He giggles, “and anyways, like I said- that’s all in the past. We’ll start a new.” He holds out his hand.

“Hi there, I’m Jungkook, it’s nice to meet you.” 

Taehyung's laughing subsides and then he looks at the boy opposite him. His eyes have a glint and his lip is upturned although it’s clear he’s still a little unsure. Unsure whether Taehyung will accept him this time or not. Taehyung on the other hand is no less than smitten, already so taken by the boy behind the body. He intakes a breath and smiles. 

You can do this Taehyung. You’ve got this. 

“Hey there, I’m Taehyung.” 

~ 

“So then what happened!?”

 Taehyung is trying hard not to let the smile break from his face, to try and seem completely cool about the situation but he was anything but. 

 “Then I don’t know we started talking and we didn’t really realise how late it had got.” He’s staring off in to a dream land, replaying the events over in his head. They engaged in conversation straight away after their second introductions, easily and without hesitation. Jungkook was attentive and connected, always listening, always interested. The perfect gentleman. After a while he left the room and returned moments later with trays of the party favours Jin was so famous at making. They stayed next to each other, just eating the snacks, laughing and listening to the others voice. Talking about everything and nothing and having a great time doing so. 

“That was it?” Jimin's voice snaps him out of his daydream.

"well yeah sorta?” 

“Sorta?” 

Taehyung's cheeks heat up and Jimin's eyes widen. “Did something happen?”  

 Taehyung blushes bright red and looks down at his hands in his laps, which are fumbling helplessly. “Almost," he says to his fingers, before looking back up at his best friend who is waiting in anticipation."Something almost happened."

Jimin squeals loud and unabashed and it rings through their apartment. “Spill everything now!” 

“Well we were lying next to each other on the bed- just talking. I was embarrassed because I told him about that time I got my foot stuck in that bucket of red paint, do you remember?” 

Jimin nods, “of course, they needed three guys to pull it off you. It went everywhere.”

“Well He was laughing and then he said something like..."

*****

“I could listen to your stories all day.”

Taehyung laughs slightly, “you mean the tales of my unfortunate life? They’re really not that interesting.” 

“But you are though.” 

Taehyung bites his lip nervously.

“I’m really looking forward to getting to know you better.” Jungkook says next. It makes Taehyung smile and he tries not to gush at the sweet words from the guy lying next to him. Of course Taehyung was the definition of awkward and so instead of finding the words to say back, he holds out his palm in front of him. 

“Everyone always says I have really big hands.” he blurts out stupidly, the first thing he can think of. Jungkook doesn’t mind the turn in conversation and instead he turns to face the elder, leans his head on his arm and brings the other hand forward, palm outstretched, gesturing for Taehyung to place their palms together, a silent competition. 

Taehyung hesitantly turns his body the way Jungkook had and stares into his beautiful brown eyes. He places his palm atop the others and when their hands meet, he feels giddy. Jungkook smiles at the contact and they stay still for a few moments, just staring at the other, hands raised and joined together. Taehyung's nerves grow within him from the tension he can feel between them. It’s a strong force keeping him so still, so captivated by the other. He tries to break the feeling by finally moving his eyes over to their touching palms.  

“Looks like I win,” Taehyung says but his voice is barely registering above a whisper. The ability to talk practically snatched from him the moment they touched. His finger tips slightly peek over the top of the others, only by a few inches and he can’t help but find it absolutely adorable. Jungkook nods but then smiles, wide once more, teeth on full display, and shrugs his shoulders. 

 “Maybe,” He muses. He interlinks their fingers together and brings their hands down in between them, joined as one. “But why am I’m feeling like the winner right about now?”

 Taehyung flashes red and then can’t help but giggle at the words, which only makes Jungkook beam back at him. Their hands do not move but instead Jungkook tightens his grip and then shimmies his head slightly closer to the blonde boy beside him. Taehyung does the same, as though a magnet is pulling them together. This was going to be it. He could feel it- they both could. The moment he had been waiting for so desperately. They stop only centimetres away, faces so close, noses practically touching. Jungkook smiles again and Taehyung tries hard not to ruin it now. Not when everything had been going so smoothly. 

“Taehyung?” 

“Hmm?” He can’t say anything more. Jungkook's eyes flick from Taehyung's eyes down to his mouth and Taehyung's breath hitches.

“Can I-“ 

“THERE YOU ARE! what the hell Jungkook, me and Yoongi have been looking for you everywhere!?” ...

*****

“Seokjin That interrupting piece of shit, I’ll kill him!” Jimin shouts. 

Taehyung nods back at him in agreement. “you and me both,” he says, reliving the moment in his head.

“You were so freaking close. He was gonna ask to kiss you. The boy you’ve been fantasising about for the last 2 months was gonna ask to kiss you!” 

They both begin to squeal together like a couple of high school girls. 

“Jimin He was so perfect? I’ve never felt like that before. I’m kind of terrified? I didn’t think someone could be so...?” So? so what? He couldn’t even find the words. Jungkook was everything Taehyung could have ever possibly wanted from a person. He was so much more than just the hot body he had seen working out. He was kind and gentle, kind of dorky but sweet and endearing. The had so much in common, they liked all the same things. It’s like they just had to meet. They just had to. 

“So what happens now? Are you at least gonna text him?” 

He smiles again, “no need,” he says. He holds out his cell and shows Jimin the number saved on his phone...

*****

Both of them look at the doorway where Jin is standing, clearly not giving to shits about the fact he had just walked in on something very clearly intimate between the two boys. But it’s just like Jin to react this way. If they weren’t naked and under the covers, he could do what he wanted. Taehyung is the first to disconnect their fingers and then he’s putting his hand over his face in embarrassment.

“Jin you-" Jungkook starts but then another guy comes barrelling to the door.

“Kook-ah there you are! You’ve been gone for like 2 hours what the hell? I’ve been looking for you.” 

Taehyung recognises him as the shorter guy Jungkook had been walking with through the chemistry building and his embarrassment flares up even more. This guy also doesn’t register the two of them, and instead continues talking casually as though nothing has happened.

“Hoseok and that guy he always talks about challenged me to a beer pong contest and I’m not playing without you.” 

Taehyung sits up on the bed and turns his body off the edge of it. He hears but doesn’t see Jungkook shuffle and sit up himself, sigh and then run a hand through his hair. “Hyung? Can’t you see i'm a little busy right now?” He uses his eyes to point to Taehyung and the black haired boy smiles.

“Oh- hey, I’m Yoongi, nice to meet you!” He’s completely nonchalant about the whole thing and Taehyung looks at him and gives him an awkward grin back.

“Uh hi I’m-"

“Taehyung!” It’s Namjoon's voice now and he’s peeking his head into the door along with the other two guys. He looks at Taehyung then at Jungkook and then gives the younger of the two a casual ‘sup’ nod. “Oh Hey Kookie whats up?” He asks, and Jungkook stares dumbfounded before slapping his arms down on the bed.

“Really? Really?” He moans but no one takes notice of him, instead Namjoon turns his head to Taehyung, who is burning bright fiery red.

“Taehyung, Jimin has been looking for you- you busy?” 

Busy? Am I busy? What does it look like to you hyung? 

He wants to say something along those lines. Instead all that comes out is a very long, and very high pitched, “Uhhhhhhmmmmmm.” 

Namjoon looks over at Jungkook and he smiles brightly, as if only just realising what he’s just walked into. “Oh I didn’t know you two knew each other!” and then his eyes widen. “Oh Wait Tae! Is Jungkook who you were hiding from in the corridor that day? I didn’t realise! Oh my god no way! What a small world!”

Taehyung slaps a hand to his face again as he hears someone- most likely Yoongi because the sound isn’t familiar to him- burst out in to laughter. “Oh my god and you must be the cute guy Jungkook keeps going on about from the gym. Seriously he won’t shut up about you! Always says your so-" 

“Hyung!” Jungkook shouts abruptly. Now it was his turn to grow embarrassed and his face turns a bright shade of red to match Taehyung’s complexion.

“Guys I think we’ve clearly disrupted something pretty important here,” Jin says and he’s got a knowing smile on his face. “Let’s give them a sec to regain their composure.” He pushes the other guys out the door- who are both still revealing ridiculous truths about the boys in the bed, and then stares at them once more.“You know I tried to introduce you two several times last year?” He tuts and shakes his head and the two boys look at each other as though they had no idea they had missed one another so many times in the past. Jin sighs and then smiles. “Well no matter-you’ve found each other now,” He says, more to himself than to anyone else. “Anyway- USE PROTECTION!” He shout before winking and closing the door behind him- shutting them off from the world once more having to have the last embarrassing say before they were alone once more. 

A few more moments of silence pass as the two boys come to terms with what has just happened. After a second or two Jungkook turns to face the other. “Talk about embarrassing huh?” Jungkook says and he laughs slightly trying to dispel the clear shame in the room. He’s trying to be casual, brush it off like nothing, but Taehyung’s embarrassment meter has just about broken and he fiddles with the sleeves of his shirt before turning to Jungkook. 

“We should probably head back out there,” he says next and Jungkook nods although he looks a little disappointed.

“Yeah. You’re right.” 

Taehyung pulls out his phone to see several text messages from Jimin asking where he is. He suddenly feels bad for abandoning his best friend, even if he was having the night of his life with the boy in front of him. He stands up from the bed, just about to put his phone back in his pocket, when Jungkook stops him.

“Just one more thing” He says and he points at the phone. “May I?” 

Taehyung raises an eyebrow but hands his phone over and Jungkook takes it with a smile.

“Just in case you change your mind again. Especially after that nightmare. I swear I’m gonna kill them when I get the chance.”

That makes Taehyung laugh and he relaxes a little, Jungkook already finding a way to calm him down. He looks over at the younger to see what he’s doing and he realises he’s writing his number into his phone and then sending it a text. Taehyung inwardly coos when he sees him save it as ‘Iron man’ and adds the little bunny emoji next to it and then Jungkook’s holding up his own phone that pings in his hand. 

“So now, I can message you,” he says through his smile and Taehyung is blushing for the millionth time that night...

*****

“Taehyung why is your life a literal joke?” Jimin asks, shaking his head in defeat.

Taehyung shrugs his shoulders, “if only I knew” he mutters, but then a smile decorates his face. “But at least there was a plus side to that humiliation. He’s already text me” 

“Already?!” 

“Uh-Huh!” 

Jimin gestures for Taehyung to give him his phone and he drops it in his best friends hand and opens the message:

Hey Taehyung! Last night was really great, I had a really nice time with you. 

Now I know you’re supposed to do that whole obligatory, ‘wait a few days to message the guy you met at the party’ thing to seem cool or whatever but I think we both established last night that that the word doesn’t really register with me. 

I was hoping maybe I could see you again soon? Let me take you out on a proper date? 

~ 

The Han river in spring time was beautiful. The sky was so clear that when the sun hit the water, it made it sparkle and illuminate brightly. The blossom trees were in bloom and every so often the leaves would dwindle from the trees, scatter on the ground and create A thin blanket of pink. There were barely any clouds in sight, just the stunning blue that swarmed above, comforting and calming. There were few people around, young families with children, laughing and playing, a few couples, holding hands and staring admirably at the other, groups of friends basking in each other’s ambience, glowing from each other’s company. Just all in all, it was a beautiful picturesque sight. A sight perfect for a first date. 

Which is why Taehyung is freaking out. 

When was the last time he had been on a date? He couldn’t even remember. At first he had been excited, overjoyed with the thought of seeing Jungkook again. But then he remembered his inexperience, his tendency to embarrass himself and his general foot in mouth syndrome. Yeah he wasn’t exactly a model companion. 

Jimin has guided him through what to do and say, helped him pick his outfit and given him the pep talk of a lifetime:

“Go and get yourself your man!” He had said, “show him all your charms, be funny and cute like you always are. Taehyung you’re the greatest person I know- Just be yourself- you’ve got this!”

“And if that isn’t enough?” He had asked back nervously. Jimin had pretended to think and then clicked his fingers.

“Then just show him how big your mouth is.”

Taehyung had almost choked at the words, words that were delivered along with a very insinuative wink and then Jimin was smacking his butt several times and pretty much pushing him out the door screaming “fighting!” Down the corridor of their apartment complex. He left waving at him like an embarrassed child on the first day of school, and then cringing at Jimin's words the whole way there. 

He looks up at the sky, follows an aeroplane leaving a ribbon of white behind it and sighs. He uses it to focus, tries to channel all his energy into thinking about the plane and not the boy who’ll be greeting him in any second. How many people were on it? Where were the flying to? He doesn’t register the body line itself up next to him and also peer up at the vast space, squinting from the sun and covering his eyes with a hand.

“So what we looking at?” It says after a few moments and Taehyung Jumps.

“Holy crap!” He says on reflex and jerks awkwardly from the scare. His eyes meet with Jungkook’s and he can already see the fond smile peppering his lips, turn into a bubbling laugh.

“yah!” He shouts and he nudges him, but he barely moves- body of bricks and all that. “You scared me!” Taehyung muses but he can’t help but smile too. When Jungkook looks at him he lets his eyes settle and then the fond smile is back, along with that familiar twinkle in his eye that has Taehyung turning to mush in a second. 

“Hey,” he says, softly and Taehyung intakes a breath because-

 shit- the date is starting, its happening... right now and Jungkook looks amazing. 

His hair was soft and fluffy, splayed along his forehead, a casual oversized white t-shirt with jeans and Timberlands, his usual bunny smile and wide eyes so greeting and warm. 

You’re perfect boyfriend material 

He wants to tell him such. He goes with a “Hey” Instead and nervously bites his lip. Everything was bubbling up inside him, his nerves, his excitement, his attraction, and he could barely stand it. He was doing this, and god dammit he was going to do it well, if it’s the last thing he ever does. 

Mission make Jungkook fall in love with me is a go.

~ 

“I didn’t get to tell you, but you looked unbelievable at the party the other night.” 

Taehyung flushes from the compliment and diverts his eyes from the boy beside him awkwardly. He can hardly look at him for more than a few seconds without heating up and he’s struggling badly. They had started walking after they had met, Jungkook telling Taehyung that there was somewhere in particular he wanted to go, and Taehyung was more than happy to follow the other,  super touched that he had actually planned something for their date, extremely hopeful that it would be something he wouldn't ridiculously embarrass himself at. 

“So did you-" he tries to say back, “you looked great in that white shirt... not that you didn’t look great in the black shirt afterwards. You did. you looked great in both- exquisite actually. Amazing.” 

Exquisite? What the hell kind of word is that? 

He feels himself rambling and he sighs and bites down on his tongue to stop himself. He had done this a few times- grown awkward anytime Jungkook had so much as thrown an innocent compliment his way. He couldn’t help it though- he just wasn’t used to someone so attractive actually listening to him and finding him interesting! The thought made him spew stupid words out and gawk like the weirdo he was. Jungkook however doesn’t mind it and is just staring at him with such admiration. He doesn’t focus on Taehyung’s nervous disposition- instead finding it cute above everything else. 

“Thank you” He says genuinely and Taehyung nods. “So I had an idea for today, that I thought I’d run by you?” 

“Shoot,” Taehyung agrees with a smile, attempting to dispel his awkwardness 

I’d do anything with you. Wanna rob a bank? I’m down. Wanna skydive? Hell I’d even do that. 

Which is why when Jungkook points to the skate rent shack by the side of the river, Taehyung nods his head enthusiastically, gulps down his nerves and tries not to think about the fact that he hasn’t roller skated since he was 7 years old. 

“Need some help?” Jungkook asks, already geared up, helmet and knee  pads on, skates attached to his feet. When Taehyung had handed in his shoes, for the skates he was slightly hesitant- aware of his ability to constantly make a fool of himself, but honestly skating was fun and it was cute and the first thing he imagined was holding Jungkook’s hand, as they skated past the beautiful lake and scenery into the sunset where they live happily ever after.

No problem. 

expect one very big problem.

Taehyung was never good at skating. At all. Not even a little bit. 

But when Jungkook had asked him if he could roller skate he had nodded and smiled, acting like he was totally cool and he was totally the roller skating equivalent of Tony hawk- whoever that may be. Jungkook has asked again, told him they could get bikes, or a pedal car, anything- but then Taehyung imagined them hand in hand and he couldn’t think of anything better. Taehyung nods, still struggling with the clasp of his helmet- a very pink and very bright and flowery power puff girls helmet that one would probably think would embarrass him but hey, Its 2018, gender is a construct - and Jungkook rolls over to him, graceful as ever and sits down beside him to grab hold of the straps. When he leans into Taehyung space, he intakes a breath and his eyes lift to watch the younger, looking so focused, tongue sticking out in concentration as he tightens the helmet. 

“Is it okay?” He asks and Taehyung, being the idiot he is pretends to choke and gasp for air. Taehyung?” Jungkook asks alarmed and then Taehyung is laughing slightly.

“Sorry- I don’t know why I thought that would be funny.” He blushes and then gives an embarrassed smile. 

Jungkook playfully rolls his eyes and then chuckles slightly, mutters how Taehyung is “so cute” and then is standing up again. “Ready?” He asks and Taehyung can only hope his body knows what it’s doing as he lifts himself from the bench. How hard really can it be?

“Ready!” He shouts and he puts his first foot out.... 

...only to drop in less than three seconds later... 

Jungkook catches him, mid fall, his forearms under his armpits and his legs splayed our extremely ungraceful behind him. His face goes bright red again and his helmet slightly tips on his head so that it’s covering half of his face- which honestly he doesn’t mind because he doesn’t want to witness the train wreck unfolding before him. 

He lifts him up, lifts up the helmet and then Taehyung slowly lifts his gaze back to the darker haired boy.

“You don’t know how to skate do you?” He asks, and there’s a playful smile on his lip.

“No I do, I do, I just... was getting warmed up and....” Jungkook quirks an eyebrow and Taehyung looks down, tries to tuck a part of his bangs from his face and into his helmet and then relents.

“Nope. Not really. Not at all.” He can’t look back up at the younger but he hears him ask.

“Have you ever skated?” 

“I owned a pair- once- as a child. Used them in my back garden all the time. Of course I did fall and break my wrist...but it healed pretty quickly!” 

“Tae, we could have got something else, I don’t want you to hurt yourself- why didn’t you tell me?” 

He sighs, “because I thought it would be cute,” he says, “something we could look back on and say ‘hey remember that time we skated around the Han river with power puff girls Helmets and no inhibitions- just two boys, their skates and the path ahead of them?” 

He’s pulling words from thin air and he knows he sounds ridiculous and so he sighs again. “I’m sorry. You paid for this and I ruined our date and messed everything up.” He looks back at Jungkook and the younger reaches out and places his hands on the others arms.

“Tae what are you talking about?” He’s giving him a reassuring smile,  “you haven’t ruined anything,” he tells him.

“I haven’t?” he asks confused and Jungkook nods.

“So you don’t know how to skate? Well then I’ll teach you, how about that? I’m an excellent teacher.” 

“You’d want to do that?” 

“Sure why not?” And then he leans in even closer, another playful and alluring smile dazzling his face- a cheeky glint in his eye. “Anyways- I heard the student is super adorable” Taehyung tries not to blush again at his words but Jungkook can see that he’s visibly relaxing a bit more. “plus when you teach someone how to skate there’s a lot of hand holding involved-"

“Hand holding?” Taehyung perks up at that and Jungkook gives him an overly enthusiastic nod.

“A whole lot of It” He affirms “non stop, practically all the time, hand in hand 24/7. Tight grip, sweaty palms- the whole shabang. What do you say? Think you can manage that?”

Taehyung smiles and pretends to think about it, “hmmm I guess I’m up for the challenge?” He says pretending to sound wary but then he flashes a huge wide grin, the one that makes his eyes practically disappear and  Jungkook smiles back and then takes both of his hands in his own. The contact instantly makes him flush and he tries not to show his obvious reaction but who is he kidding? Just holding the others hands was enough to have him writing sonnets, and love poetry and declaring his feelings all over the county with a bullhorn. 

They start slow, both hands clasped together, Jungkook facing Taehyung and skating backwards, only moving a few centimetres at a time with Jungkook in complete control, stopping and moving them as one. Taehyung makes little screeches and cute little faces where he scrunches up his nose and eyes and clamps down on his jaw, in fear or nerves. Jungkook finds it stupidly endearing and gives him constant praise with every single thing he does right. It’s surprisingly fun, Taehyung slowly getting the hang of it and Jungkook, teasing but ultimately supporting him through it all. He never once lets go of his hands, never once tries to knock him off focus or push him too hard. In fact he really was a perfect teacher... he really was just all round perfect.

After a while, when Taehyung’s feet get the hang of the back and forth movement, Jungkook let’s go of one hand and manoeuvres himself to the side of the elder, still tightly grabbing hold of the other hand securely. It’s almost exactly like Taehyung had pictured it, except with a few more added wobbles and concerned looks from Jungkook every time Taehyung slightly shakes on his feet. Still they only go slowly, and they manage to even continue talking about things other than roller skating as they do so, playing little games...

(“McDonald’s or Burger King?”

“Burger King- I’m not an idiot.”) 

...and finding out more little quirks and fact about the other...

(“Wait so the rumour about the first year who almost flooded the art building was you!?”).  

They’re actually starting to look like the perfect pretty little cliche couple by the time they near an ice cream cart and Taehyung’s face lights up.

“You want?” Jungkook asks and Taehyung nods quickly, up and down in rapid movements, eyes practically bulging. 

“Okay wait here,” Jungkook says and then he skates over to the cart, leaving Taehyung to lean against a streetlight as he waits. He watches as the boy easily glides through the air, casually stops his foot at the cart and then begins talking to the salesman. He knows he’s smiling to himself as he checks him out, but he doesn’t care and he can’t help it. He was having a really great time with Jungkook. Maybe one of the best days he’s ever had... ever. He knows he’s falling ridiculously fast- his crush on the handsome stranger  becoming so strong in such a small amount of time, but people always say when you know, you know, and there was something about Jungkook that Taehyung felt sure of. He was kind and protective, funny yet geeky but ultimately just a softie. Plus he was going out of his way to do these things for Taehyung that someone has never done before. People usually give up with his terrible bad luck and weird demeanour pretty easily. But somehow Jungkook hasn’t been deterred and he was grateful about that. 

Jungkook pays for the ice cream and then turns round, two cones in hand, with several scoops of the sweet concoction on top. He smiles at Taehyung and then licks his ice cream, completely innocently but it makes Taehyung divert his eyes anyway, and then he’s about to walk back when a small dog appears at his feet. He gushes and tries to place both of the cones in one hand so he can pet the dog, who instantly begins to lick at him and jump excitedly just from the boys attention, tugging on his lead so much so that his owner- a short and blushing (at the sight of the man that is Jungkook) young girl probably no older than 13 years old,  loosens the leash so he can fully jump up at Jungkook with no restriction. He gives the girl a genuine smile, which Taehyung sees her gawk at (Taehyung can 100% relate) and then he crouches down to stroke the pup lovingly. Taehyung can relate to that too- he absolutely adored dogs. His heart begins flipping wildly in his chest at the sight of the huge muscly boy getting super soft at the sight of a tiny little pup and his smile gets even wider.

Taehyung, He likes dogs. You have to marry him. You just have to. Then you can adopt three, no four dogs.... We can take turns naming them- I like the name Soonshim, ooo and Yeontan, we have to have a Yeontan...  

But then he suddenly feels left out because Taehyung is a dog person and Taehyung would pet dogs morning noon and night if he could. He figures he can make the short journey without Jungkook holding on to him. It’s not very far, at least, and he was doing so well before anyway, so he sets out his foot and begins to skate over. he thinks he’s doing pretty well at first, and so he speeds up slightly, assuming he can manage it. He’s pretty close when he notices a fundamental flaw in his plan and his face drops from giddy about petting the dog, to realisation that he’s messed up. Because as wonderful as a teacher Jungkook was, and as beautiful as Jungkook is (which isn’t related but Taehyung can’t stop thinking about that nonetheless), he had never actually taught Taehyung to stop. His hands fly out in front of him and a look of absolute terror christens his face as Jungkook slowly turns to see him, his own smile dropping when he notices Taehyung's disarray. He leans up from his crouching position but it’s too late before he can do anything. Taehyung comes crashing into his body, much like he did at Jim’s party. Only this time, the ice cream in Jungkook’s hands, stop him from being able to steady the older and the wheels on his feet prevent him from having a firm grasp on the floor. He loses his balance, they go barrelling backwards and drop to the ground, ice creams in a puddle beside them, and limbs tangled in a big mess. Luckily they landed on a patch of grass, which cushions them a lot more than the hard gravel, but even still- Taehyung is mortified, he’s pretty sure his arm is bleeding and there’s a dog somewhere in the distance barking wildly. 

He clambers up and leans over Jungkook, in panic, scrambling to move with those god damn knee pads on and the stupid helmet which he now realises is probably too big for him, hanging halfway off his head- again.

“Jungkook are you okay? Oh my god I’m so sorry. I thought I could- I thought it would be-" He invades the others personal space, looks down in to the youngers face and then sees the wide smile etch across it. It begins to turn into another boastful laugh and his body shakes on the floor as he chuckles, before he leans up and looks Taehyung straight in the eyes. Taehyung has to move with him as he sits up, and his eyes widen at the close proximity Jungkook has created.

“Are you okay?” He asks again and Taehyung sighs.

“Jungkook I just barrelled in to you, pushed you to the floor and ruined our ice cream. I should be asking you that.” He re-positions the helmet on his head feeling terrible, but Jungkook is un-phased and tilts his head slightly to the side. His eyes are still full of affection and then he smiles cutely at the boy  pouting in front of him.

“You’re really clumsy,” he says, and Taehyung bites his lip.

“I keep screwing up,” he replies but Jungkook shakes his head.

“Says who?” He moves some of Taehyung's hair from his face, that peeks out from his helmet and uses one hand to lean himself back slightly whilst the other lingers on Taehyung's face, causing the elder to look over at him once more. 

“I’m having a really wonderful time with you Taehyung,” he tells him. But Taehyung looks unconvinced and he sighs. “You don’t seem to realise it do you?” Jungkook then continues and Taehyung quirks his eyebrow which makes Jungkook sit up a little further. “Nothing you could do- not know how to skate, drop our ice cream, knock me out- not anything, would make me not want to be on this date with you.”

Taehyung flushes and giggles nervously at his words.

“You’re seriously too nice for your own good,” He says and Jungkook laughs.

 "And you’re seriously too cute for yours.” 

Taehyung shuffles himself slightly so that he can look Jungkook properly in the face and when he does he notices how Jungkook is already staring at him and his heart swells. Their eyes don’t falter and the air around them shifts slightly. Taehyung can no longer hear the hustle and bustle of the Han river but can only focus on the sounds of his breathing and the slight rise and fall of Jungkook’s chest beside him.  Jungkook takes his hand and places it under the crook of Taehyung's chin slightly tilting his face towards him. Taehyung feels himself short circuit when Jungkook begins to lean in to him and he hastily closes his eyes,  mirroring the other, allowing himself to get completely swept away from the moment. 

This was it. Finally we’re gonna do it!

He can smell the others cologne now, their bodies so close, only inches apart and he begins to purse his lips into the perfect kissing pout when suddenly a wet lick applies itself to the side of his face. 

Jungkook?

He opens his eyes one at a time to repeated licks and the giggle of the soft boy beside him and the moment is ruined when he realises the cute dog from before had climbed on to Taehyung’s shoulder and was repeatedly sending sloppy kisses to his cheek. Jungkook is laughing sweetly, noticing what had happened and then he lets go of Taehyung’s chin to continue stroking the fluffy creature once more. Taehyung looks behind him to stare at the owner on her phone, completely unaware that the dog had managed to ruin the moment between him and Jungkook but he can’t be mad at it when he lifts his hand to stroke the cute little thing and it nuzzles itself into his hands desperate for the contact. 

“You’re bleeding,” Jungkook says then when he looks at the outstretched hand of Taehyung patting the dog and he quickly grabs hold of his arm and turns it slightly to get a look at the blood stained sleeve by his elbow. 

Huh so maybe I was bleeding after all? 

Jungkook rolls up his sleeve to get a proper look at the graze and Taehyung looks at him as his eyebrows furrow. “Does it hurt?” He says and Taehyung shakes his head. That wasn’t entirely true. Now that he had realised the cut, it was actually stinging quite a lot, but it was nothing he couldn’t handle.  Jungkook lifts his butt slightly to pull out a packet of tissues he had stored in his back pocket and proceeds to take one out to apply to the area. His hands are gentle as he swabs at the cut, and Taehyung just watches him in awe as he tends to him so carefully. 

“C’mon,” he says once the bleeding settles, “let’s get you cleaned up.” 

They head to the sinks in the park, where they wash their hands and clean up Taehyung’s arm. Thankfully the cut stops bleeding but as they walk back to the rent shack- no more skating for Taehyung thank you very much- Taehyung can’t help but notice all the times Jungkook’s eyes drift to his arm curiously, to make sure he’s okay. When they get their shoes back and  Jungkook waits for Taehyung to put his back on, he’s staring down at his phone with a bright smile on his face.

“Are you ready?” He asks as Taehyung stands up next to him and gives him a firm nod. “Great! because I have a surprise.”  

~ 

“Jungkook What is this?” 

The younger looks shy as he nibbles on his bottom lip and then runs a hand through his hair nervously. Taehyung's eyes scan the patch of grass in the park that Jungkook had brought him to, that perfectly overlooked the Banpo bridge. He can hardly believe the blanket laid out on the floor, surrounded by twinkling lights and little lanterns. There’s pillows and a basket, as well as a cool bag and then other countless takeaway foods laid out like chicken wings, pizzas and jajjangmyeon. 

“I thought maybe we could eat and then watch the banpo rainbow light show?” Jungkook eventually says. His nervous exterior is only amplified by the slight shake in his voice and when Taehyung turns to look at him, he can see he’s clearly nervous. “I thought... I don’t know.... maybe it would be nice and... I brought all your favourite foods- like you mentioned the other night, and there’s even drinks and I got Jin to make some more of those little pastries he served and-” his voice falters when he sees the look Taehyung is giving him and he swallows and lets his eyes drift to the floor before looking back at the elder.“Is it too much? I- I didn’t want to do something too big- I just thought that-" 

Taehyung breaks out into a smile and then Jungkook's words trail off again. Taehyung leans in and delivers a soft kiss to Jungkook's cheek, and when he pulls away the younger is a bright red and it makes Taehyung giggle.“This is the sweetest thing anybody has ever done for me,” He says softly, “I honestly, I don’t even now what to say.”

“You like it?” 

“Like it?” He lets out a breath of exasperation. “Jungkook I love it. I’m speechless, I don’t think I could ever ask for anything better.” He takes hold of the younger's hand and lets himself settle closer to him.

“Thank you,” He says genuinely “Jungkook seriously, thank you so much.” 

The youngers face is etched with a worldly smile at the others words and he blushes again, and looks down as he smiles to himself, relieved and proud that his plan had worked out well. He leads Taehyung over to the romantic picnic laid out for them and when they sit down, Taehyung instantly grabs hold of one of the pillows and places it between his arms,  hugging it to his chest, as Jungkook begins opening the basket of (more) food. 

“How did you have time to arrange this? When did you arrange this?” Taehyung asks still in awe. 

Jungkook begins getting several different fruits from the basket along with Seokjin's famous platters and he tries hard not to lick his lip at the thought.

“I uhh actually got some help from Jin hyung and Yoongi hyung. You know, payback for disrupting us the other night.”

“They did this for us?” His eyes widen in surprise.

“It’s their way of saying sorry,” he tells him, “plus I kinda asked Jin about whether you’d prefer burgers or jajjangymeon, because I know you said you loved them both, and he wouldn’t drop it until I told him why I wanted to know. As soon as I mentioned the word date, he went crazy- you know how he gets.” 

Taehyung laughs and nods because it’s true. Jin was nothing but not an organised freak. His heart also begins to flip again wildly in his chest at the thought of Jungkook nervously asking his hyung's for help and advice and remembering little things about Taehyung he had only mentioned in passing. 

“Yoongi hyung was a bit more reluctant but he practically squealed when I asked for help. He pretended like he didn’t care but he’s a big softie really. He recommended the lights.” 

“He seems like a great guy,” Taehyung adds and Jungkook smiles, “I can’t wait to properly get to know him.”

Jungkook smiles even more at that because he knows what the meaning of those words held. Taehyung was telling him that there would be other times they would be doing this, that they would get the chance to meet each other’s friends and all grow closer.

“Likewise” Jungkook says to him, “you and Jimin seem really close.” 

Taehyung nods, “he’s my soulmate” He states, adding “platonic of course,” on the end of it when Jungkook's eyebrow raises. 

 The discuss further how weird it is that they had friends in common, Namjoon, and Hoseok, even Jin, but how weird it was that they had only managed to meet now and how they wished it had been sooner. They make their way through several of the foods Jungkook had brought- Taehyung wipes a bit of loose cheese that sticks to Jungkook's lip from the pizza he devours and later, Jungkook feeds Taehyung strawberries cutely, bringing them close to his face, having Taehyung open his mouth, only for him to quickly throw it in to his own and laugh as the elder pouts when he does so. 

When Jungkook notices Taehyung begin to shiver slightly at the dropping temperatures, the more into the evening they get, he gives the elder his oversized sweatshirt and pulls it over him, after he protests countless times that he’s fine. Jungkook's heart triples in size when the thing hangs too big on his body, and when Taehyung pulls the hood up to cover his eyes and begins to make cutesy faces whilst flapping the sweater paws around, Jungkook's just about ready to explode. He tries to roll his eyes at Taehyung silliness but he can’t help but beam at him instead, indulge in the quirky charm the elder carried so well.  As the sun drops lower in the sky, they huddle closer together, Taehyung fitting in to the crook of Jungkook’s arm like he was born specifically just to fit in to the other, and Jungkook wrapping his arms around him, to hold him close to his chest. It feels perfectly right for the both of them, like they’ve done this multiple times in the past. Taehyung never wants the moment to end, having never felt so warm before in his whole entire life. 

When darkness begins to surround them, and the glow from the lanterns and fairy lights begin to illuminate their surroundings more, Taehyung can’t help but think Jungkook looks beautiful in the orange hues, his features almost too perfect to be real. 

The light show eventually starts and soon enough, the colours of the rainbows begin to dance across the land, perfectly in time to the sounds of a sweet melody playing in the background. Taehyung doesn’t turn to watch them however, too engrossed in the way the colours sparkle on the other boys face, too amazed at the fact that he’s actually lying in the arms of the handsome stranger he had spent so long wishing to only talk to. Jungkook is staring in wonder at the Bridge and lights and humming along quietly under his breath to the music. Taehyung thinks he sounds beautiful, Taehyung knows that he’s beautiful and he’s so so overwhelmed in the moment. Jungkook's eyes flicker down and they meet the elders, whose own widen when he gets caught staring. He blushes slightly but Jungkook only smiles at him lightly. Suddenly though, the light show holds little interest to both boys, who can do nothing but stare and smile at the other. A smile that holds a future in it, a smile that holds a promise. Taehyung is ready this time when the younger begins to lower his head towards him, and he wastes no time anymore in closing the gap.  When their lips meet, Jungkook brings a hand to Taehyung’s face holding him in place, so perfectly, so gently, that it makes him lean in even further. His own hand comes up to rest on Jungkook’s chest, and then they’re kissing properly, Jungkook opening his mouth, to allow the other to taste him fully. It’s sweet and passionate, full of admiration and desire, full of something more than just lust but still perfectly tame for a kiss in public. It’s everything Taehyung could have ever wanted from his first kiss with Jungkook. So much more than he ever dreamed about. They stay connected for minutes at a time, only separating to smile or giggle, catch their breath, before they join again, in each other’s arms at last. It takes them ages to eventually realise that the light show has ended. Those lights dimming out, turning to a null, whilst another was only beginning, a new burst of illumination to signify the start of a new relationship.  

~

Four months later: 

The sun creeps through the morning curtain and the blonde shifts himself on the bed, closer to his boyfriend. Jungkook lets Taehyung rest his head on his bicep, and the elder immediately curls up into the younger, slinks an arms around his bare waist and hooks his legs in between his own. Jungkook lifts his hand up to run it through Taehyung’s hair and then applies a little peck to the edge of His nose. Taehyung’s face scrunches up cutely at the contact and it makes Jungkook smile.

“You know something hyung?” He says.

“Hmm?” Taehyung replies, his eyes still closed.

“You never explained to me why exactly you thought I could read minds.” 

Taehyung’s eyes shoot open. War flashbacks. Terrible war flashbacks.

“I’m gonna go make breakfast.” Taehyung tries to roll out of the other boys arms but as soon as he moves Jungkook is giggling and grabbing Taehyung by the waist, pulling him down, back on the bed. He re-positions himself so he’s hovering over the other and he smiles down at him.

“You aren’t getting away that easy,” he tells him and Taehyung pouts, tries to use his puppy eyes as a get out of jail free card but Jungkook shakes his head.

“Nope, not gonna work on me,” He affirms. “Spill.” 

 Taehyung bites his lip and clenches his eyes shut for a second. “Okay, okay,” He says and Jungkook’s arm manoeuvres down his body and grabs hold of his waist. “But where has this come from? What’s made you ask this now?” 

Jungkook gives him a wide smile and then brings his head down to Taehyung’s cheek and plants a kiss there. 

“Because.” 

Another kiss delivered to the other cheek.

“I was just thinking about how amazing you are,” 

He moves to his forehead and leaves a kiss right between his eyebrows. 

“How sweet you are,” 

And a kiss to the top of his head.

“How absolutely undeniably crazy you are.” 

A kiss sent to his lips, that Taehyung chases, as he pulls away. His face is tinted red from the compliments and he stares at Jungkook with such adoration, he can barely stand it. 

“And then it occurred to me... you were really embarrassed that day, which means you were thinking things you most definitely didn’t want me to know. So now I’m curious.” 

Taehyung pouts again, “you know that was really romantic right up until you revealed your little scheme. I get it now, butter me up, be all sweet then try to toss me in the oven. I take back my kiss.” 

Jungkook quickly pecks him on the lips again.

“Hey no fair I-" 

And again.

“Jungkook-"

One more kiss, straight to the others mouth.

“Firstly- you can’t take back any of those kisses, secondly- don’t try and change the subject, I know you as well as you know me.”

Taehyung, feeling light headed because damn, it’s been months and Jungkook’s lips on his still manages to make him dizzy, stares up in to the younger's eyes.

“You’re really not gonna drop it huh?” 

Jungkook shakes his head cutely.

“Okay fine.” He lifts himself up slightly so his back is leaning against the headboard and Jungkook moves out of his space, sits back and crosses his legs to the side of the other and then intertwines their fingers together, just like that time at Jin’s party so many months ago. 

“So maybe.... after the first time I saw you... I might have thought you were sort of...” 

“Unbelievably attractive?” 

Taehyung blushes but then slaps the other playfully on the chest. “Don’t be cocky now. You were okay.” 

“Only okay?” He’s smiling and Taehyung is trying to play it cool but he feels like he’s going to explode, replaying the awkward thoughts he had had all the way back when- many of which have now become a reality that he still can’t even believe.

“You were satisfactory.”

Jungkook puts a hand to his chest in fake pain. “That hurts,” He says and Taehyung rolls his eyes.

“Anyway. That day you joined me on the running machine, you were acting all weird and, well I was thinking... things... and it was like you were picking up on what I was saying.”

Jungkook blushes slightly and Taehyung tilts his head to see the younger get embarrassed.

“Then I said to myself- and don’t laugh okay? Everyone has said this at least once in their life so don’t act like I was being crazy-"

Jungkook giggles again.

“I said- if you can hear me cough- and then you freaking did it!” 

Jungkook starts to laugh and Taehyung playfully hits his bare chest once more. “It’s not funny,” he says defensively, “It was perfectly rational- you coughed! What was I supposed to think?” 

“That it was a coincidence!” 

Taehyung's mouth opens wide. That... was a good point? Why didn’t he think it was just a coincidence?

Jungkook continues laughing and Taehyung pouts once more.

“You’re mean,” He says but Jungkook just stares at him affectionately.

“Taehyung, do you know why I acted so weird around you? And no it wasn’t because I could read your mind.” He laughs again at the last words and Taehyung stares at him waiting for his answer. “It’s because I was desperately trying to work up the nerve to talk to you, I got so nervous because I was embarrassed, I even choked on my water because I freaked out.” 

Taehyung stares at him wide eyed and Jungkook runs a hand through his hair.

“I thought you were so hot, the first time I saw you in that damn gym. I even started going more often in hopes that I could see you more.” 

“Wait a second?” Taehyung says. “you thought I was hot!? Me!? You thought I was hot!? Have you seen yourself!?” 

Jungkook laughs, “Taehyung, we’ve been going out for four months now. I think it’s a pretty well established fact that I think your hot.” 

Taehyung blushes again. “So that whole time I was pining for you, you really were pining for me too huh?” 

“Badly. Desperately” Jungkook affirms. “Bad enough that even you’re crazy, couldn’t chase me away,” he jokes. “I was so far gone from the second you fell off that machine and smacked your ass straight on the floor- I knew there was no turning back.” 

“That’s weirdly one of the most romantic things anyone has ever said to me? And also... I think I’m slightly offended?” 

Jungkook laughs and then leans in to the elder, “Taehyung. Whether you could read my mind, or whether I could read your mind or whatever it is you had thought up that day, there was only one thing that I was thinking for sure,” he moves his face closer to his boyfriends so that they’re barely inches away. 

Taehyung purses his lips, “What’s that?” He says and he feels shy under the gaze of the other boy.

“I knew 100% that I wanted you and I wasn’t gonna give up until I got you.”

Taehyung smiles ridiculously, his wide boxed grin spreading across his face delightfully. “That was incredibly corny,” he says through his grin but he’s wrapping his arms around the younger's muscly back, the one he had imagined for so long, the one he had wished to just touch, even once, and brings their faces closer together.

“You love it,” Jungkook mutters staring down at Taehyung's mouth and he rests his forehead on his boyfriends.

“You love me,” Taehyung says and then he’s closing the gap between them and kissing his love, softly and passionately all at once. So warm and enticing, the feeling he has longed for, the feeling he never wants to let go of. The feeling that had now become his sanctuary. 

“I do.” Jungkook confirms and Taehyung giggles under him.

“Me too,” he says back. 

Jungkook kisses him again, slowly and sweetly, full of the passion and love they have for each other. When he pulls away this time, it takes him a while to opens his eyes, still stuck on the thoughts of the elders mouth on his. 

“Breakfast?” Jungkook asks once he regains himself and he leans his head back on the others.

Taehyung brings a hand up to Jungkook's hair, runs his fingers through it a few times and then smiles, “You read my mind”.