Archive of Our Own

If Taehyung ever comes across a magical being, he would ask for one thing and one thing only: the power to manipulate time. 

It’s pretty unlikely, he knows. 

But on days like this one, days where he somehow sleeps past not one, not two–but three of his morning alarms, he can’t help but think how handy it would be. 

It’s his own fault, really, because he accidentally stayed up longer than he realized catching up with the latest episodes of the Buzzfeed Unsolved series he’d found on YouTube a few days ago, and suddenly, the clock hit 3 am and Taehyung was supposed to be at work in four hours. 

Not only was he running on too little hours of sleep, but Minho–Taehyung's right hand and friend, really–had officially left the company on Friday, which meant that Taehyung was the one in charge of handling all the current and future orders until the new guy came in. 

He was already tired in advance just from thinking about having to train a whole new person, and it made him dislike Minho a little bit more for leaving. 

There was only so much work he could transfer to their intern. Because sure, he could leave him in charge of answering the phone or dealing with the customers and taking new requests, but as the one in charge of actually making the designs, he couldn’t escape that one. 

Deep down, Taehyung knew he wouldn’t give it away even if he could. For one, he loved his job. He loved coming up with different ideas for the designs and pitching them to Yoongi at the end of the day. He loved the thrill of inspiration hitting him right when he needed it, that electric feeling coursing through his veins and the excitement that comes with it. 

That, added to his own lack of trust when it comes to interns in general. 

But in his own defense, it’s really not his fault that lately all the interns they’d been getting just downright sucked. Or maybe Taehyung just had high expectations for them, ever since last summer happened and his standards had gone a little higher–ever since the biggest eyes and the sweetest smile Taehyung had ever seen completely ruined internships for him. 

His stomach growls then, reminding him that in his hurry, he forgot to have breakfast before leaving. Normally, he would just have it at the office, but since their department’s new intern had screwed up his coffee order four times in a row, Taehyung set it as a personal rule to never leave the house without it. 

It wasn’t even a hard order–just a simple Chai Tea Latte with an extra pump of sugar–and yet, Soobin always seemed to get it wrong. 

His co-workers have teased him about his obvious disdain towards interns so many times, that Taehyung has stopped trying to defend himself anymore, now choosing to just ignore Hoseok when he jokes about Taehyung only hating Soobin because he’s actually not that bad. Aside from taking coffee orders, of course. 

Taehyung wouldn’t say he hates interns, per se, they just always seem to get on his last nerve–and Soobin is just incredibly good at it, apparently. He’s also not on Jeongguk’s level of good interns, but Taehyung thinks that holding that against him is a little too much. 

He can feel the second growl building up in his stomach when he gets to the elevator doors, his right foot tapping anxiously on the floor as he waits for them to open again. He’s already almost fifteen minutes late, and while he doesn’t think Yoongi would particularly mind since Taehyung has never been late before, he's still not the biggest fan of tardiness–that added to the fact he feels like he’s gonna pass out if he doesn’t eat something soon. 

As he looks at his reflection in the elevator mirror, Taehyung raises a hand to his head in a poor attempt to fix his hair, but gives up pretty quickly when it ends up looking even worse than before, and chooses to just accept his rumpled state instead. His hair has been getting longer than it has ever been before, but Taehyung can’t really say that he hates it. 

Seokjin is standing by the front desk when he finally reaches his office, chatting animatedly with their department’s secretary. Taehyung walks over to them with heavy feet, ignoring the way Seokjin’s lips stretch into an amused grin as soon as he notices him. 

“Good morning.” Yoona greets, smiling up at him as he gets closer. 

Taehyung smiles back before repeating those same words to her, but still lets out a groan when he turns to face Seokjin and sees the look in his eyes. 

“I’m tired hyung, please don’t,” Taehyung says in advance, his lips jutting out when Seokjin snorts quietly to himself. 

“Having a bad day Taehyungie?” he asks, getting another groan in return. “Wait until you hear who the new hire is.”

Taehyung frowns at that, head tilting in confusion when he says, “I thought Jimin didn’t find anyone yet.”

Seokjin just shrugs, the smirk never leaving his face. Maybe, if Taehyung had at least one cup of caffeine in his system right now, he would say something to make the other guy stop smiling like that. But he hadn’t, and all he can think about now is how much he needs one, or maybe even two. Three if Seokjin doesn’t stop smiling at him like that. 

Taehyung groans again, eyes falling shut for only a moment. “I’m not ready to start training someone today,” 

“I don’t think he’ll need training,” Seokjin says right away, his voice sounding amused when he adds, “And I don’t think you’d mind giving it to him, either.”

He’s not awake enough to even try to understand the meaning behind his co-worker’s words, so he chooses to just stare at him instead, thinking about how completely unprepared he is to deal with Soobin and a new guy on top of that. 

Taehyung narrows his eyes at Seokjin, “You’re enjoying this too much and I don’t like it.”

Seokjin just nods, his expression somewhat resembling a proud one, and Taehyung really doesn’t know what to expect because Seokjin hasn’t smiled like that since the new samgyeopsal place opened down the street and the owner, Namjoon as Taehyung came to learn a few moments later, complimented his taste in scarves. 

“Don’t worry,” he says, raising a hand to pat him on the shoulder, but it ends up being scarier than it is reassuring. “You’ll see for yourself.”

Taehyung feels the sudden urge to run, turning to Yoona for support when Seokjin starts leading him to the staff room. 

“Why are you pushing me hyung, I was going to come in here any–" his words trail off as they stumble into the room, and Taehyung closes his mouth shut in an instant when he feels too many pairs of eyes turning to them. 

His eyes land on Hoseok first, frown deepening when the man wiggles his eyebrows at him, an all-knowing smile on his lips–and Taehyung is only confused for as long as it takes him to realize who the new hire actually is. Until he sees him, that soft smile tugging at the corner of his lips. Taehyung would probably notice the way his cheeks flush a faint pink, too, if it weren’t for how focused he was on keeping his own mouth shut. 

Because there, in the middle of the staff room, stands Jeon Jeongguk. 

And not only is Jeon Jeongguk in the middle of his staff room, but Jeon Jeongguk is also holding Taehyung’s favorite mug ever. The one Jeon Jeongguk himself had gifted him on his last day of internship almost a year ago as a going-away present. It was a pretty mug, obnoxiously green and with giant frog eyes on the front, but pretty nonetheless. 

Taehyung would never admit it at loud– especially nowhere near Jimin–but he had never let anybody else come even near that mug, protecting it from every clumsy soul who could potentially break it in half. 

“Hey hyung,” Jeongguk says, hiding a smile behind Taehyung’s hideously beautiful frog-shaped mug. “Long time no see.”

Taehyung can only nod, straightening his back when he feels Seokjin’s hands leave his shoulders, and he smiles back at Jeongguk. Small, but still there.

As he said, Time Manipulation would sure come in handy right about now. 

⤙▵⤚

The thing about Jeon Jeongguk and his almond eyes is that he kind of snuck up on Taehyung. 

During his first few weeks at Bangtan Studios, he was just like any other intern. He did everything wrong, or took too long to do the things he could do right. He was just as quiet as every new guy usually is, trying to impress the people in charge, but not stand out too much at the same time. 

If you ask Taehyung, he would say Jeongguk was a pretty good intern. He was smart, took notes of everything, and was always trying to do better. He was still clumsy at the beginning, and even to this day, Taehyung sometimes finds himself wishing Jeongguk would have stayed that way. But of course, he hadn’t, and soon enough Jeongguk was participating in the team meetings and getting Taehyung's coffee order just right, leaving it by his desk every morning before he even asked for it. 

After that, it was a little hard to ignore the looks Seokjin threw his way every time Jeongguk so much as walked past him, and it was a lot harder to ignore the way his cheeks turned bright red almost immediately after it, too. 

Taehyung had tried to fight it at first, because interns were annoying and clumsy and they always got on Taehyung’s nerves, and he was definitely not supposed to like one of them. But then Jeongguk came along, with his notepads and his terrible jokes, and he always remembered to put extra sugar on Taehyung’s coffee.

The worst part about having a crush on his intern was the fact that Taehyung felt like everybody knew about it. He remembers having to threaten Jimin to stop him from accidentally saying something in front of Jeongguk, because the only thing worse than his friends knowing about his crush, was Jeongguk knowing about his crush. 

He ignores the look Hoseok sends him when he walks past his desk but smiles at him anyway before heading to Jimin’s office. Taehyung is by no means in a hurry, but he is ready to throw something at him, maybe even revoke his best friend card because he just somehow failed to mention Jeongguk would be coming back to work with them. 

Jeongguk, the same guy Taehyung had a crush on last summer. The same crush that went on for a few months after his internship ended, too, but Jimin didn’t need to be reminded of that. 

"You know, research says it takes the average person 3 seconds to make a decision," Jimin cuts in before Taehyung can say anything, looking down at the watch on his wrist. "I'm impressed Taehyung, very impressed. It took you a little less than that to come in here–well, minus the twenty minutes you spent–" 

Taehyung waves a hand in the air, "What are you talking about?" 

"The three seconds rule," Jimin says with a shrug as if that explains everything. 

It kind of does, a little bit, at least. Back in their college days, when days got too long but the hours still didn’t seem to be enough, Jimin always liked to be a little bit poetic about everything and he’d explained that theory to him about a million times. But still, Taehyung really doesn’t think it applies to this moment in particular, and he shakes his head in his attempt to calm himself, feet pacing around the room. 

“Why didn’t you tell me?” he asks after he plops down on the chair in front of Jimin.

His friend smiles at him, wide and innocent, and Taehyung would believe that if he didn't know him so well–maybe, if he didn’t remember the time Jimin somehow tricked him into spoiling himself the entirety of the Friends series, maybe then he would fall for his tricks. 

"Tell you what?" Jimin asks, his tone soft. 

But Taehyung knows Park Jimin too well for his own good, courtesy of almost ten years of friendship, and he knows he loves to make Taehyung suffer a little too much, probably more than he should. 

"Fine, of course I didn’t tell you. I wouldn’t be able to see this right now if I did,” Jimin’s smile grows, leaning back into his chair when he admits, “To be fair, I probably wouldn’t have told you even if I had to tell you–which I don't, by the way, so.” 

Taehyung huffs, because of course Jimin would use this opportunity to poke fun at him. 

"And also, I was afraid you'd quit if you knew he was coming back to work here," he adds. “You know, full time.”

"We've worked together before," Taehyung argues. 

"More like you spent the three months of his internship making lovey eyes at each other without actually doing anything about it." 

"We were at work!" 

"He gave you a mug on his last day," Jimin deadpans. His amused smile disappears then, making space for lifted brows and teasing eyes. "Let me rephrase that: you were the only one in the entire office who got something from him on his last day and you still didn’t ask him out." 

"It was just a mug," Taehyung tries, but he can’t stop the blood from rushing to his face. 

Jimin huffs, "I hired him and I still didn't get a mug." 

"Do I sense some jealousy Park Jimin?" he says, teasing his friend too. "Should I get you a mug? Or better yet, should I tell Yoongi to get you a mug?" 

"You do that and I'll fire you." 

Taehyung snorts at that, the sound coming out easier now that he's more relaxed, and he sits back on his chair, puffing out a deep breath. 

Jimin snorts then, straightening his back before he puts on his serious work face, the one where he’s less smiley and a lot scarier, sometimes to the point where it makes even Taehyung feel uneasy. He would never say it out loud, but he’s always thought that if there was anyone in their friend group who could get away with murder, it would probably be Jimin. 

Most people would say it would be Yoongi because he’s usually quiet and scary around people he doesn’t know, but Taehyung has worked with him long enough to know he’s just a giant teddy bear. Well, maybe not giant, but close enough. 

“You already know how it works but I still need to say this for obvious reasons, okay?” Jimin says, reaching down somewhere under his desk until he's taking out a paper and bringing it up to his eye level, covering almost his entire face.

He looks at him, peering over the paper’s corners, his brows arching. 

“You ready?”

Taehyung nods, even though he’s not sure about what he apparently knows and he has no idea what he’s talking about. 

Jimin clears his throat. 

“No funny business during work hours,” he states, causing Taehyung to promptly erupt in a coughing fit. “You need to be professional at all times–"

But even in Taehyung’s deathbed, he doesn’t miss the way the corner of Jimin’s lips hints at a smirk. 

“Will you stop dying for a sec?” Jimin asks. “It’s my job to tell you this.”

Taehyung starts coughing again, choking on nothing but his own embarrassment. “Jesus christ Jimin, please stop talking, oh my god.”

“It’s company policy! You can date if you want but just–” he argues, but even though he’s trying to look serious, Taehyung can hear the amusement in his tone. “You know, keep it in your pants?”

“We won’t date!” Taehyung manages to get out, leaning forwards to take the bottle of water Jimin is offering him. “Just, you don’t need to tell me– nothing is going on in my pants–just, please shut up, like. Just stop. We won’t date. Ever.”

Jimin snorts. “Sure you won’t.”

“He doesn’t even like me Jimin, stop it.”

Jimin opens his mouth then, like he’s about to say something but changes his mind at the last second right before he does it, and closes it again, making room for a shit-eating grin that almost makes Taehyung start choking again. 

Taehyung almost wants to ask about what is it that he knows that's making him smile like that, but he doesn’t think he’s ready for it, so he keeps it to himself. After all, curiosity did kill the cat. 

“Alright,” Jimin mumbles, his smile only growing bigger.

But then again, they do say satisfaction brought it back. 

“Do you–"

“So if you won’t under any circumstances date him whatsoever, do you mind giving me the mug?” he cuts in before Taehyung can get his question out. “Or is that still out of the question?”

Taehyung stares at him for a moment, a burst of bubbly laughter coming out of him when he stands up, heading towards the door again. 

“Get your own frog mug,”

He smiles, his hand finding the doorknob right before he swings the door open and walks out, not without getting an earful of Jimin’s overdramatic scoff. 

Over the sound of the door closing behind him, he hears Jimin voicing out a, "It's an ugly mug anyways!" 

Taehyung shakes his head, laughing at his friend’s antics, and heads to his office again, ready to face the rest of his day. 

⤙▵⤚

He thinks he’s doing a good job. 

In fact, he thinks he’s doing a great job. 

Monday goes by faster than he realizes, and before he knows it, he’s back home thinking about how absolutely professional and totally cool he was when he shook hands with Jeongguk and welcomed him to the team. 

On Tuesday, he’s even more proud of himself when he casually invites Jeongguk to join them over lunch, ignoring the look Seokjin throws his way and using Jimin ditching on them as an excuse. 

Wednesday finds Taehyung hunched over his desk, typing hurriedly on his keyboard as he tries to finish his project before Yoongi gets to the office. 

It’s currently 8:37 am, so that means Taehyung has exactly twenty-three minutes before he has to pitch his idea to him. There’s a small thud then, causing him to raise his eyes from the screen. 

Jeongguk is standing there, a small grin on his lips. Taehyung stares at him for a second, his eyes shifting between him and the mug he just set down on his desk. He tilts his head to the side, a chuckle running past his lips when he doesn’t understand. “What’s this?” Taehyung asks after a second. 

“It’s coffee,” he replies with a shrug, and Taehyung has half a mind to admit that likes that playful smirk a little too much. 

“I can see that, thanks,” he says in between laughs. “But, um, why–"

It’s not like he’s his intern anymore, so Jeongguk really doesn’t need to keep bringing him coffee. Technically, coffee runs were Soobin’s job. Or part of it anyway. Jeongguk really shouldn’t worry about it anymore, but yet here he is, standing in front of Taehyung’s desk with his hands behind his back as he shifts his weight from one leg to the other every once in a while, eyes looking back at Taehyung expectantly.

“Some habits die hard, I guess?” he tries, eyes flicking around the room. 

It shouldn’t make sense, because they haven’t seen each other in almost a year and this is the first time he’s brought him coffee in the three days he’s been back–but Taehyung’s stomach twists all the same, a warm feeling washing over him, and he reaches for the mug, taking it in his hands.

“Hopefully this one won’t though,” Jeongguk mumbles, “I kinda like bringing you coffee, hyung.”

It’s quiet, the way he says it. Like he’s not expecting Taehyung to hear it. But of course he does, because he wouldn’t miss it, not with how close attention he’s been paying to the man in front of him, even if he’s supposed to be finishing a project. 

His eyes snap up, only to catch Jeongguk’s smile before he leaves, and Taehyung settles on taking a sip from the mug, frowning when he feels a piece of paper against his skin. 

Setting the mug back on the table, he takes out the post-it note attached to it. Have a good day!! Jeongguk had written on the note. Taehyung feels his cheeks go warm, and he bites down a smile as he reads over the words again, only to smile even harder when he notices the small doodle of a frog at the bottom of the paper. 

It used to be kind of their thing, back when Jeongguk was still an intern, to leave random notes around the office for the other to find. 

It started out with normal notes, attached to the stack of papers Jeongguk would ask him to read through before submitting them to Yoongi and Taehyung would send the papers back to him, with post-it notes all over the documents with tips and things to change, so many of them you could barely even see the white paper under the bright yellow notes, and the smallest, tiniest Good luck written on the corner. 

The first one came in late hours of the evening, with a green sticky note on top of it. Taehyung almost hadn’t noticed it at first, way too focused on what he was doing at the time, but then Jeongguk had knocked on his desk as he was leaving for the day, pushing the coffee cup closer to him. 

I made sure to put extra cream on this one. Go home soon hyung! Jeongguk had written.

Taehyung remembers being so glad the office was empty at the time, allowing him to scream into his hands without having to worry about anyone seeing him, cheeks burning hot. 

After that, they were just everywhere. 

If Jeongguk didn’t leave them for him on the printer machine, then Taehyung would stick them to the fridge in the staff room. Always making sure to put them on Jeongguk’s lunch box so Jimin wouldn’t accidentally see it. 

Seokjin walks by and pokes fun at his red cheeks, burning hot even after Jeongguk’s been gone for several minutes, refusing to go back to normal. Taehyung pays him no mind, giggling to himself when he thinks about the post-it note sitting at the back of his desk drawer. 

And if on Thursday, he sticks a post-it note onto Jeongguk’s lunch box with the words Don’t work too hard! written on it, then no one has to know. 

⤙▵⤚

It’s a Friday night in the city, and Taehyung is on babysitting duty. 

Not with actual babies though, although he thinks that handling babies would be easier than this, easier than five grown men–and occasionally six, when Namjoon sits with them during his breaks between shifts–loudly yelling at each other to pass the rice. 

It’s all because of the alcohol, Taehyung knows, but in his undoubtedly sober state, due to being the designated driver for the night, he can’t help but laugh at how ridiculous his friends look. 

Yoongi is almost falling at sleep at the table, leaning in closer to Jimin as he whispers something Taehyung can’t quite make out, and Jimin leans in, too, probably for entirely different reasons. He doesn't look as drunk as he looked a few hours ago when he was clutching his chopsticks to his chest, wholeheartedly whispering that they were God’s greatest invention. Seokjin is sitting in front of him, quietly eating and nodding along to anything Hoseok yells loudly. Jeongguk just smiles, widely, without a care in the world, out there for everyone to see. 

And it’s pretty, the way his cheeks blush pink from drinking too much, the way he turns to look at Taehyung every once in a while, quickly looking away when he catches Taehyung staring. It should probably be embarrassing, Taehyung thinks, to be caught like that– but Jeongguk is right there, cheeks turning bright red, beaming at whoever’s speaking at the moment, and Taehyung can’t really find it in himself to care.

So he stares. He stares and cheers when Hoseok yells something he can’t understand again, turning his head to look at Jimin just to check that he hasn’t passed out on the table, looking back at Jeongguk when he laughs, his head falling back as he presses his eyes shut, and Taehyung laughs, too. 

Namjoon comes back somewhere during the next round of random cheering, setting Taehyung’s soda on the table before he smiles at him, and Taehyung smiles back, but not without missing the way Seokjin’s eyes trail after Namjoon until he’s back at the counter, speaking to one of his employees. 

Something clicks in Taehyung’s brain then, and suddenly everything makes perfect sense; why Seokjin insisted on coming here for Jeongguk’s welcoming party, even though Yoongi had voted for the new bar a few blocks down, and Jimin had sided with him almost immediately. He was outnumbered, yet Seokjin managed to convince them all the same.

Taehyung smiles delighted to be sober enough to find out this crucial information, and he leans his cheek on his palm, smiling at Seokjin across the table, letting himself feel smug.

“So hyung,” Taehyung starts, his tone gleeful. If Seokjin can tease him about Jeongguk bringing him coffee every day, then Taehyung can tease him about this, too. “How did you say you found this place again?”

Seokjin frowns, and Taehyung knows it’s because they’ve been coming to Namjoon’s bar for a few months now, so it really wouldn’t make sense for Taehyung to ask about it now. But his eyes still flick nervously to where Namjoon is standing with his back turned to them, and Taehyung’s smile grows wider. 

It serves him right for all the fun he’s been having at Taehyung’s expense. 

“Uh, well,” Seokjin starts, his head snapping to the table when Namjoon moves again. “He hired us? I think. I’m pretty sure.”

“Namjoon needed a new logo for this place. He said wanted a new look.” Hoseok speaks from his place next to Jeongguk. “So hyung and I came to check it out. He won us over with the japchae.”

Taehyung knows he should probably pay attention to what he’s saying, but Jeongguk is looking at Hoseok as he speaks, and his eyes are wide open and adorable and his cheeks are red from the alcohol and Taehyung has to keep his eyes set on the bowl of rice in front of him to stop himself from staring too hard.

“Hyung’s japchae is good,” Jeongguk states with a sharp nod, and he says it so seriously one would think he was talking about a life or death matter. 

Yoongi nods next to him, his eyes falling shut as he nods harder, and Taehyung feels tempted to record them all right now, because when’s the next time he’s gonna be around a drunk Min Yoongi who can barely keep his eyes open? 

He’s almost about to take his phone out when Jimin’s head drops to his shoulder, making Taehyung jump a little in his seat. 

“You okay?” he asks. 

Jimin nods, his eyes falling shut. “M’fine, just tired.”

Taehyung raises a hand to pat him on the shoulder, laughing when Jimin sits up straight again, a scowl on his face. 

“Cheers to Jeonggukie!” Hoseok suddenly cheers, startling Yoongi awake as he holds his glass up. “The newest addition to our team!”

Jimin raises his glass. “Yoongi’s gonna work the shit out of you–have fun!” he adds before tipping his head back as he takes a shot. 

His words are drowned out by the loud yell they all let out at the same time, something so inaudible Taehyung couldn’t understand it if he tried. He hides a smile behind his glass, quietly taking a sip of his drink as his friends scream around him. 

If he thinks about it, he really doesn’t understand how Namjoon didn’t kick them out. But somehow, they make it to closing time, stumbling out into the streets and towards Taehyung’s car. 

“Jeonggukie could you take the front seat?” Jimin asks, and Taehyung rolls his eyes at the fake pout on his face. “I’ll get car sick if I do.”

And Jeongguk, poor innocent Jeongguk who’s unaware of Park Jimin’s evil tricks, can only nod and head to the passenger seat. Taehyung opens his door, mouthing an ‘I hate you’ to Jimin before he gets in. Jimin winks at him before following right after. 

Taehyung turns the ignition on, waiting for all of them to get in. He watches as Jeongguk settles in, shifting in his place over and over until his face is pressed against the headrest, eyes looking at Taehyung. 

“You comfy?” Taehyung asks in between laughs. 

He doesn’t know why he chose to word it like that, and he’s ready to kick himself for it, but it doesn’t matter when Jeongguk smiles softly at him. 

“Very,” he mumbles quietly. 

Taehyung snorts, letting a smile stretch across his face. “Good.”

They wait for a little while like that, Jeongguk staring at him through half-lidded eyes, and Taehyung staring back as he tries not to melt into a puddle of goo in front of him with Hoseok and Jimin making small talk in the back. 

Seokjin gets in almost twenty minutes later, and Taehyung really wouldn’t know this if Jimin wasn’t counting the minutes from the back seat. 

“You know hyung, if you just wanted to flirt with Namjoon-hyung tonight there was no need to bring us all as chaperones,” Jimin snarks, and Taehyung can see the scowl on his face from the rearview mirror. 

Taehyung snorts, mumbling out a, “Don’t be mean Jiminie, hyung’s just in love or something.”

“You’re no different Kim Taehyung,” Seokjin retorts. “Aren’t I right, Jeong–"

“Finish that sentence and I’ll leave you here to freeze,” Taehyung cuts in, his eyes opened wide, but he starts the car anyway. 

Jimin actually laughs at that, his momentary anger slowly dissipating. 

He doesn’t know if the streets are busier–which doesn’t really make sense, given that it’s almost around two in the morning–or if the drive just somehow feels longer under Jeongguk’s starry eyes. 

Taehyung can’t explain it, but every time he sneaks a glance at the younger man and he finds him staring up at him, through those pretty eyes that look like they’re trying so hard to stay open, he feels something jump in his chest. He grips at the steering wheel tighter, focusing on the way to Hoseok’s house instead of the things Jeon Jeongguk and his bright eyes are making him feel. 

For the most part, the ride is almost completely quiet. Taehyung can barely hear Hoseok’s faint whispers as he tries to tell Yoongi something, failing to realize he was fast asleep on Jimin’s shoulder. 

Taehyung bites his lip to muffle a laugh, locking eyes with Jimin through the rearview mirror, who simply narrows his eyes at him before closing them, nuzzling Yoongi’s hair. 

He turns his attention to the road again, careful to avoid Jeongguk’s gaze. 

It’s not that he minds Jeongguk’s eyes on him, not at all. It’s quite the opposite, actually. It’s the fact that he likes it so much that he wishes he could do something about it. But for all he knows, Jeongguk could be coming home to someone. It’s only been a week since they’ve seen each other again, and just because he still remembers his coffee order and makes his heart skip a beat doesn’t mean that they actually know each other. 

It’s only when they drop Seokjin home that Jeongguk finally speaks, asking him if he had fun tonight. It’s vague, almost impossible to understand from the way his words slur together, and Taehyung has a hard time figuring out if Jeongguk is still drunk or just sleepy. 

Taehyung raises his eyes to the rearview mirror again, checking to see if Jimin is still sleeping in the back before he answers. He smiles, making a turn to head to Jimin’s place first and drop Jeongguk off last, but only because Jeongguk’s place is the closest to his, he swears. 

“Of course I had a good time,” he answers in a whisper, his words sounding loud in the quiet of the night either way. “It’s good to have you back, Guk.”

The nickname slips past him before he can stop it, and he almost wants to take it back because he’s never called him that and they were never really that close. Not back then, and definitely not now. 

“I meant–”

“Guk,” Jeongguk cuts in, and he smiles again, his round cheeks coming up as he presses his lips together. “Just Guk is fine. Guk is perfect.”

Taehyung chuckles, taking a second to smile at Jeongguk. His mood seems to pick up after that, and it’s like he’s suddenly more awake, asking all kinds of questions, his eyes still on Taehyung even after he shifts in his seat. 

First, he asks about the new interns, and giggles when Taehyung assures him that in the whole year he’s been gone, no one has reached Jeongguk’s level of efficiency. Jeongguk argues that Soobin is a pretty good intern and that he’s sure he can get better before he asks about how he’s been in the past few months. Taehyung tells him he got a dog, and Jeongguk’s eyes double in size as he asks all about Yeontan. 

Somewhere along the way, they get to Jimin’s place. Taehyung turns around in his seat to gently nudge at his knee. Jimin grunts, waving a hand their way as he gets out mumbling a sleepy, “You kids have fun,”

Jeongguk chuckles, saying his goodbyes before he turns around back to Taehyung, eyes big and curious. 

Between Jeongguk giving him directions to his place, Taehyung gets to ask him a few questions himself. He learns that after graduation, Jeongguk went home to spend some time with his parents. He was originally planning to stay in Busan, Jeongguk tells him through a quiet laugh, but decided to come back when Jimin called to offer him a job. 

It goes by significantly faster than the rest of the drive went, and suddenly, Taehyung is stopping the car and looking at Jeongguk’s apartment building, trying to ignore the disappointed knot at the bottom of his stomach. 

“Can I tell you a secret?” Jeongguk asks, his voice coming out so quiet that Taehyung barely catches it. 

He nods. “Yeah, sure.”

“Last summer, when you were my boss–"

“I wasn’t your boss,” he cuts in, laughing at Jeongguk rolling his eyes at him. 

Jeongguk snorts, shaking his head against the seat. “Everyone’s your boss when you’re an intern.” 

He tilts his head at that, considering it. While Jeongguk might be right, he also technically wasn’t his boss. Yes, he could order him around but he couldn’t actually fire him, so Taehyung thinks he could win this one. 

He’s about to voice this out, ready for this argument that wasn’t really an argument, but more of a different version of small talk. 

Jeongguk lets out a deep sigh, a smile slowly making an appearance. It looks too much like a sleepy one, maybe even a dreamy one and Taehyung really doesn't know how to feel about that. 

“I had the biggest crush on you last summer.”

Taehyung chokes, on nothing in particular, again. 

“No you didn’t,” he says, shaking his head. 

Because he didn’t, he couldn’t have. Jeongguk was always attentive and kind to him but he never ever showed any kind of sign. Surely Taehyung would have picked it up. 

Jeongguk laughs then, all bubbly and young, and it’s one of those moments where Taehyung can only stare at him, not really knowing what to do next. Not really wanting to do anything–knowing that he couldn't, even if he tried. 

“I did,” Jeongguk mumbles through a smile. “But I was just the intern, I didn’t really think you’d notice me.”

“I noticed you,” Taehyung says, his voice coming out in a whisper and probably a little faster than it should have. But since he's feeling bold, he adds, "I really noticed you." 

For a moment, he doesn't think Jeongguk heard him, with how quietly he said it. But then Jeongguk’s blinking at him, slowly, his head falling to rest against the seat again, and he asks, 

"Do you notice me now?" 

Taehyung is just thankful for the dark of the night, allowing him to blush in peace without having to worry about Jeongguk noticing it. 

“It’d be kind of impossible not to,” Taehyung says, while he still can. 

Jeongguk lets out a laugh, and he sits back on his seat, turning his head to the window, and while he’s not looking, Taehyung takes a moment to appreciate just how good he looks under the moonlight. 

The clock is nearing 3 am, and Taehyung really needs some sleep, before he says something he’ll regret. 

Jeongguk turns back to him, his smile still there, all big and shiny and Taehyung finds himself smiling back without really having to think about it. 

“Goodnight hyung,” Jeongguk says, opening the door. “See you Monday.”

After Jeongguk’s out of his car and disappears behind the front door, Taehyung takes a minute to compose himself, leaning against the wheel and letting out a deep sigh. 

⤙▵⤚

If you asked anyone, specifically if you asked Jimin, one would say Taehyung was going crazy. 

He’s pretty sure he wasn't, he was just amazing at going over a very specific thing way more times than necessary. 

Throughout the weekend, he had busied himself thinking about all the possible ways Monday could have gone, coming up with many different scenarios, all of which ended up with him getting Jeongguk’s number, or at least being blessed by one of his dashing smiles. 

But in all those scenarios, he never once considered Jeongguk would refuse to even look at him when he walked into the office first thing in the morning. 

“I think you’re overthinking this,” comes Yoongi’s voice through a groan. 

"I'm not!" Taehyung says, hands coming up to cover his face. "I smiled at him this morning and he didn't even look at me! He practically ran out of the room." 

Yoongi leans over the desk. "Why do I have to hear this? Isn't Jimin usually the one you–" 

"Maybe I shouldn't have said that to him, maybe I crossed a line. An invisible line, you know? The one that says that you shouldn't, under any circumstances, try to hit on your ex-intern after a night out." Taehyung says and then turns to face Yoongi again, “That’s a thing. Right?” 

Yoongi sighs, deep and drawn out, making him sound like he’s way too tired for this, and maybe he is, but Jimin was busy with meetings and Taehyung didn’t have anywhere else to go. 

He leans back on his chair then, narrowing his eyes at Taehyung. "Are you sure he's ignoring you?" 

Taehyung hums, and he can’t stop the snort from running past his lips when Yoongi rolls his eyes at him. 

"Okay, so have you tried talking to him?" 

He almost nods then, but stops himself when he remembers that he hadn’t actually done it. He was going to, he really was, but Taehyung wasn’t exactly a brave person, and the one time he got close enough to Jeongguk, he ended up running away before he could notice. 

"Well," he starts, smiling shyly at Yoongi. "About that–" 

There's a groan then, followed by Yoongi closing his eyes. He starts massaging the bridge of his nose, another sigh running past his lips. 

"You mean to tell me you've wasted almost half my lunchtime complaining about something you're not even sure about?" 

Taehyung frowns then, his eyes flicking to the sides, looking away as he thinks about it. 

"Okay, so if you put it like that–" 

"Get out," Yoongi cuts in, flicking his wrist to the door. "Come back after you talk to Jeongguk. Or don't come back at all, unless you have that paper on the charity event thing. Our department is in charge of it this year and I’ve run out of ideas already." 

"But–" Taehyung starts, stopping himself after Yoongi glares at him. "Fine." 

Despite his efforts, he doesn’t get a chance to talk to Jeongguk for the rest of the day. Taehyung blames Hoseok for that, given that he had come in a little after their lunch break asking if he could borrow Jeongguk for a few hours. A few hours had turned out to be more than a few, and soon enough Taehyung was done with work and ready to go home. 

“Why is your face like that?” Seokjin asks from his desk, brows frowning at him. 

Taehyung frowns back, slinging his bag over his shoulder as he walks around his desk. “My face is fine hyung.”

“No, it’s like–it’s all twisted and, like, sad.”

He groans, shrugging. “I guess I’m just tired.”

Seokjin nods, leaning over his desk until his cheek is resting against his palm, head tilted slightly to the side as he looks back at him. Taehyung narrows his eyes at him, stepping back closer to the door. 

“No post-its today?” Seokjin asks, a smile tugging at his lips. 

Taehyung rolls his eyes, “No japchae today?”

It comes out way crankier than he intended to, but he relaxes when Seokjin snorts, mouth falling open when he pretends to be offended. 

“Fine, frown then, see if I care.” Seokjin groans, sitting up straight and turning back to his computer. 

Taehyung lets out a laugh then, his head shaking as he does so, and he heads towards the door. 

“Have a good night hyung.”

Seokjin hums behind him, muttering the same words to him before Taehyung shuts the door and makes his way to the elevator. 

The sound of raindrops hitting the pavement fills his ears as he stumbles out into the parking lot, a smile quickly stretching across his lips when he catches the smell of rain. 

He’s always found comfort in listening to the raindrops fall, for some reason. That steady tap of rain hitting the floor, sometimes soft and sometimes hard, never fails to make Taehyung feel calm. It was as if no matter how hard his day had been, he could always count on the rain to wash it all away. 

He’s walking towards his car when he spots him, standing by the sidewalk right where the roof ends. Taehyung plays with his keys for a moment, twisting them in his hand as he hesitates. 

It takes him a moment, maybe even a few moments, but in the end, he decides to go for it. 

“Hey,” Taehyung calls as he approaches him. Jeongguk turns to look at him, eyes widening only for a fraction of a second before they go back to normal. “What are you still doing here?”

Jeongguk stares at him for a split second before he’s turning around and facing the streets again. “Just waiting for a cab,” he finally says, his hands digging into his pockets, shrugging as he adds, “I usually take the bus, but since it’s raining.”

He wants to say something, maybe make a joke about forgetting to check the weather app, or poke fun at the fact that he looks like a lost puppy, his eyes wide as he sticks his head out into the rain to see the road better. 

His hair is somewhat wet when he leans back again until he’s safely under the roof, sticking to his forehead in all the right places. It’s distracting enough to temporarily ignore the way his eyes avoid Taehyung’s. 

Taehyung takes a second to think about his next words. On one hand, he probably shouldn’t mention it, because Jeongguk has been keeping his distance for a reason and the last thing Taehyung wants to do is to make him uncomfortable. But at the same time, if he did do something wrong, then he wants to at least be able to apologize for it. 

“You’ve been avoiding me,” Taehyung states, a chuckle running past his lips when Jeongguk looks away again, this time to the roof over them.

“I haven’t! I just, you–" his eyes shut close then, shoulders hunching as he blurts out a, “Please don’t fire me.”

Taehyung frowns. “Why would I fire you?” 

Jeongguk's eyes snap open again, almost making Taehyung laugh with how big they look when he stares at him in panic, mouth opening and closing as he hesitates. 

“Because the other day, you know,” Jeongguk tries, stumbling over his words a few times before he adds, “I told you that I liked you and you’re my boss–"

Taehyung snorts. “Your boss is Yoongi,” he corrects. “How many times are we gonna go over this?” 

His eyes lower to the ground, and Taehyung chuckles when he notices the way Jeongguk starts nibbling on his lip. 

“Besides,” Taehyung continues when Jeongguk remains quiet, “You didn’t tell me that you like me, you said liked. Like, you know, used to. Like in past tense.”

Jeongguk’s eyes are still on the floor, and Taehyung can almost feel how nervous he is, from the way he’s twisting his fingers in his hands. He almost wants to reach out, tell him that it’s okay and that he has nothing to be nervous about. 

It’s quiet between them, the only other sound coming from the raindrops splashing on the ground. He averts his eyes, focusing on the rain instead as he tries to figure out what to do next. 

When Jeongguk speaks, it comes out in a quiet whisper, almost shy as he mutters, “What if I told you that I might like you, again. Like, now. Right now.”

Taehyung waits–waits for the words to sink in, waits for Jeongguk’s eyes to come up and meet his own, waits for something, some kind of sign, anything–and when Jeongguk raises his head, gaze locking on Taehyung’s and the softest, smallest grin tugging at where he’s pressing his lips together–Taehyung lets himself smile. 

“Well, then I wouldn’t fire you anyway, even if I was your boss.” he says after a moment, cheeks growing hotter as he adds, “Because if I did, then what other excuse would I have to see you again?”

It’s cheesy. It’s cheesy and corny and lame and he hates that he said it, but he thinks it’s worth it when Jeongguk’s eyes double in size, all shiny and adorable as usual. It only lasts a moment, quickly going back to normal when he clears his throat, eyes drifting to the side. 

There’s a chuckle then, and Taehyung is surprised to realize it came from Jeongguk, and he laughs again, pulling out a laugh of his own. Taehyung smiles, flicking his chin to where his car is parked. 

“Now come on,” he mumbles with a nudge at his shoulder. “Let me take you home.”

⤙▵⤚

The first time it’s an accident. 

Or at least Taehyung wants to think it is. He’s been trying not to overthink too much anymore–courtesy of Jimin snapping at him over lunch on Thursday when he mentioned Jeongguk had put an extra lump of sugar in his coffee again–so he stops himself every time his mind goes further than that. It was just a coincidence, a mere accidental brush of hands when they both reached for the same sandwich at the staff meeting. No big deal.

The second time around, Taehyung isn’t so sure.

He’d walked in with a stack of binders on his hands. Granted, it was a big pile, covering almost his entire face. Jeongguk had stepped in almost as soon as he saw him, taking more than half the pile into his own hands and walking away with a sly grin plastered on his face. 

It took Taehyung a few seconds to fix his breathing back to normal, blinking a few times as he stared at Jeongguk’s back walking away from him. 

Like that, between subtle stares and lingering touches when no one’s looking, time goes by faster than he realizes, and soon enough summer is almost over and he’s once again in Yoongi’s office, pitching him a new project. 

“So I was thinking,” Taehyung says, handing Yoongi the tablet as he sits down in front of him, hands clutching around the paper he’s holding in his lap. “For this year’s charity thing we could do something more physical?”

Yoongi frowns, swiping a finger over the screen as he studies Taehyung’s report. 

“What do you mean?”

“Well, you know, we usually just sell stuff right?” he continues, moving his hands as he speaks. “Like last year we were all about mugs and notebooks, and the year before that it was t-shirts and clothing but that didn’t really work out for us, did it?”

He gets a nod in response, his excitement picking up as he keeps going. 

“I found this article on marathons being the new craft fairs of fundraising.”

“You want to organize a marathon?” Yoongi asks then, frowning as he looks at him. Taehyung gives a sharp nod. “Do you even know how marathons work?”

If he’s being honest, if he’s being totally and completely honest with him, Taehyung didn’t know shit. 

He had never really been an athletic person per se. Sure, throughout his life, he did go to some sports events, and even though most of those times he was dragged to them by his friends, he thinks it still counts. 

To him, sports were a little bit boring, and he never really understood the appeal of it, but that was never a secret. That’s probably the reason why Yoongi is currently looking at him like he’s trying hard not to laugh. 

So yeah, technically, he didn’t exactly know how marathons worked–but the article he’d read was interesting enough that he was eager to find out more. 

He’s about to voice this out, mouth falling open when Yoongi cuts him off.

“Get Jeongguk on it too, I think he used to be part of the track team at college.” Yoongi shakes his head, followed by a snort before he adds, “He’ll be here in a minute, you can ask him then.”

Taehyung almost chokes. 

“Here? As in, where we are right now? Like, today?”

Yoongi peers at him from over the rim of his glasses, raising an eyebrow. “Is there a problem?” 

Taehyung coughs, taking a second to recompose himself. “Of course not! I just thought he called in sick today, that’s all.”

There’s a moment when Yoongi squints at him, silence falling between them. 

It’s intimidating enough that Taehyung has to tear his eyes away. When a few seconds go by and he can still feel the weight of his boss’ gaze on him, Taehyung is convinced he’s been busted. Yoongi knows he’s straight-up lying, Yoongi knows he saw Jeongguk on the elevator this morning and Yoongi knows.

“Right… ” Yoongi mutters, eyes still narrowed. “Well like I said, he should be here any minute now. Did you bring the updates on next week’s deal?”

Taehyung shifts slightly in his place, nodding before handing him the papers. 

He’s okay. He can handle this. 

It was just Jeongguk. He’s seen him way too many times already to still feel nervous about it, definitely enough times to have him not freaking out every time his name was brought up. But of course, that didn’t stop Taehyung from doing exactly just that every time it happened. 

He was suffering inside, his pain only getting worse when Seokjin reminded him of that, the mischief in his eyes almost impossible not to notice. Jimin wasn’t any better. In fact, some would say he was even worse than Seokjin, his teasing following Taehyung all the way to his own apartment on some days. 

Although Taehyung was getting better at dealing with his co-workers poking fun at his crush non-stop through the past few months, he still couldn’t pretend that he didn’t feel like running away every time they did it in front of Jeongguk himself. 

He hated it almost as much as he loved it. Yes, he was embarrassed that his friends were acting like eighteen-year-olds. But at the same time, every time they did, Jeongguk’s ears turned almost as red as Taehyung’s own, making something start jumping up and down in his chest–and it felt a little bit like hope. 

They never really talked about their conversation next to the bus stop. The time Jeongguk told him that he might like him. The time Taehyung drove him home with his heart hastily pounding against his chest during the whole ride, painfully aware of Jeongguk’s nervousness. 

It may have been Taehyung’s own nerves, or maybe the way that his heart stopped every time he so much as even tried to get the words out, but Taehyung never got to say it back. Not until the next morning, when he wrote it down on one of Jeongguk’s green post-it notes, sticking it to the corner of his computer screen before he got to the office.

He wasn’t there to see his reaction, but Jimin told him he turned so red he had to leave the room for a few minutes. 

“These are the things I think you should change,” Yoongi’s voice comes. Taehyung shakes his head quickly, tuning back into work mode before he’s leaning closer to read the points Yoongi picked out. “The second draft is a lot better but there are still some things I know you can perfect more.”

Taehyung nods, writing down the things Yoongi’s muttering. 

The knock on the door comes when Taehyung is least expecting it, hunched over his notepad where he’s scribbling down some bullet points to fix it later. 

“You’re here,” Yoongi says when Jeongguk walks in, smiling as he points at the chair next to Taehyung. 

Jeongguk sits down, eyeing Taehyung before he’s smiling, too. Faintly, like he’s trying not to. His eyes scoot back to Yoongi in a quick motion, and then he’s answering the same questions Taehyung did a few moments ago. 

Taehyung turns back to his own notepad, doodling a few things before he forgets them.

Almost half an hour later, Taehyung is looking up in alarm when Yoongi brings up the marathon again, and he’s disorientated for as long as it takes him to remember that he was supposed to ask Jeongguk for help. 

It takes him a second, but eventually, he’s getting the words out and explaining what he’d read on the article. Jeongguk looks like he’s paying attention, nodding every once in a while, lips pursed. His eyes look big and focused when he locks his gaze on him, and Taehyung is proud to admit his speech doesn’t falter when he notices it. 

“If I remember correctly, last year you told us you were part of the track team in college?” Yoongi asks, elbows propping on his desk as he leans closer. Jeongguk nods. “That’s great. You wouldn’t mind working with Tae on this, then? He doesn’t know much about sports.”

If it weren’t for the fact that he could physically feel the blush reaching his ears, he would probably feel offended. But at the same time, he really should’ve seen it coming, with the way Yoongi was smirking at them while Taehyung went through the article again, and the way he suggested he’d ask Jeongguk for help as if the both of them didn't know just how much of a sports freak Park Jimin is. 

Taehyung doesn’t have much time to internally freak out about the situation when Jeongguk speaks up again. 

“Sure, why not,” he says, turning to look at Taehyung instead, the corners of his lips coming up into a light smile. “I mean, only if you’re okay with it hyung, of course.”

It takes him a moment, but he manages to nod in the end. Possibly a little too eagerly, but he can’t find it in himself to care. 

“I would actually love that.” 

He smiles then, his cheeks warming up when a soft, bubbly laugh runs past Jeongguk’s pursed lips. It’s barely audible, but the light in his eyes is impossible to miss. 

Yoongi sighs from his place behind them, “I regret this already.”

⤙▵⤚

When Taehyung walks in, the first thing he notices is that Seoul’s Train Station is significantly less crowded than it usually is, but maybe that’s because Taehyung had never been here in the middle of October at six in the morning. 

He blames Yoongi for that. 

"–just think of it as a work retreat," Yoongi is saying from the other line. "A whole weekend in the best city in the world." 

Taehyung snorts, squeezing the strap of his carry on with the hand that's not pressing the phone to his ear.

"That's debatable." 

He's probably more nervous than he should be, considering he's been to Daegu a million times now. He even stayed there for entire summers while visiting his grandparents, and he's traveled with Yoongi many times, too–so he really shouldn’t be making a big deal out of this, but his hands haven’t stopped shaking since he set foot in the train station. 

“Are you here yet?” Taehyung asks, curling into himself as he tries to reduce the cold. “I’m kind of freezing here.”

Yoongi, however, continues speaking anyway. “What do you mean debatable? Daegu is definitely the best. I can confirm.” 

Taehyung snorts, standing on his tiptoes to find Yoongi in the small group of people. 

“Which is why I think you should consider this weekend as a mini-vacation, kind of a three-day sabbatical.”

He lets out another laugh as he keeps looking for his boss. “Are you here yet? I can’t find you.”

“Like, a thank you for your work on the fundraiser these past few weeks.” Yoongi keeps saying. “After the meeting, you can go sightseeing or something.”

Taehyung frowns, leaning back on his heels when he starts getting suspicious. “You make it sound like you’re not coming.”

“Right. Um, so about that… ” Yoongi hums then, and Taehyung stops mid-turn. 

“Oh God no, please don’t do this to me.” he cuts in before Yoongi can come up with an excuse, even though Taehyung is pretty sure his boss already has one. “I can’t go to this meeting alone, Lee Jinki looks so scary hyung I googled him and not only is he stupidly rich but he’s also–"

“You won’t be alone.”

Taehyung stops, his heart taking a wild jump in his chest. He can’t decide if Yoongi’s words calm him or make him even more nervous. “What?”

“I said you won’t be alone,” his boss repeats.

On one hand, he’s relieved he won’t have to meet hotshot magazine cover millionaire CEO on his own. But on the other hand, if Yoongi did send someone to replace him on this trip, then it must’ve been someone from their team, and the only other person besides his boss and himself is –

No.

No, of course not. Yoongi wouldn’t do that to him. He would expect it from Jimin, maybe even Seokjin, but he doesn’t think Yoongi would do that. 

He was already sweating and not only were they not even in Daegu yet–but they weren’t even on the train.

“You see, Tae,” Yoongi starts saying, but does a terrible job at hiding the amusement behind his words. “I had this extremely important meeting so I asked Jeongguk to go in my place.”

Being ambushed by his co-workers was definitely something he did not expect when he woke up this morning. He had been ready for a weekend with Yoongi, where he could spend most of it having fun at his boss’ expense, maybe even walk around Daegu while he was at it. However, he was not ready to spend said weekend becoming the bag of nerves he usually is around Jeongguk. 

Taehyung frowns, the wheels in his head turning miles per hour. “Is this Jimin’s idea? Did he put you up to this?”

“Have a little faith in me, will you?” Yoongi rushes out through a scoff, one that comes a little too fast for it to be believable. “Listen, it’s a great learning experience. For both of you, really.”

Taehyung hums, not convinced. 

He knew exactly what a Park Jimin line sounded like, and he was no stranger to the win-win one, that sounded suspiciously close to this one. 

“You’ve been working on this together for weeks, and it’s a small meeting anyway. He’s new and you’re perfectly capable of leading him through it because you and I have done this a million times. It works out, so deal with it.”

“But hyung–"

“I don’t wanna hear it Taehyung.”

“I hate you,” Taehyung says, huffing when Yoongi snorts. “Tell Jimin I hate him too.”

“I mean you don’t, but nice try.” and then switches to his work voice again. “Let me know how it goes with Lee. I'll call you later, Tae.”

He pockets his phone as he huffs one last time, the slight pout on his lips only staying there for as long as it takes him to realize that this might have been his friend’s best plan ever. 

Sure, he was a little taken aback by the fact that Jimin–Taehyung was fully blaming him now, no questions asked–completely set him up to a weekend filled with stressful flirting. But on the bright side, he had been trying to do something about his feelings for weeks now, but he never found the right time to actually do it. Or, on the rare occasion that he did, he always chickened out at the last second. 

At this point, Seokjin was just tired of watching him fail. Jimin, on the other hand, enjoyed it a little too much. 

Deep down, Taehyung enjoyed it a little bit, too. Relishing on Jeongguk’s reddening cheeks when Taehyung tried–and failed, really–to come up with smooth things to say in his poor attempt to woo him. 

One of these days, Taehyung was going to actually get through with it. 

“Hyung?”

Yoongi could have at least given him a warning, Taehyung thinks as he turns around. Just a small warning. A mere heads up would have been enough, too, just so Taehyung could at least pretend like his heart wasn’t currently thumping against his chest frantically as he smiled through his panic. 

“Hey there,” he says slowly, still trying to play it cool. “Jeongguk. That’s you. You are. Jeongguk.”

A heads up, so that Taehyung wouldn’t do this, his words trailing off into embarrassment. 

Jeongguk’s brows furrow in confusion for a split second, but it’s quickly gone when he smiles through it instead. “I thought I was meeting Yoongi here.”

Yeah, well. 

“That makes two of us,” Taehyung says with a snort. 

He’s not gonna lie, it does feel a little bit good to know he’s not the only one being ambushed. 

“Sorry to disappoint then, I guess?” he jokes because if his co-workers are going to send him on a road trip with the guy he has the hots for, then he can at least have a little bit of fun while he suffers. 

Jeongguk lets out a laugh of his own, his eyes flicking to the ground before he voices out a, “It’s not disappointing at all, actually.”

“So Jeongguk,” he mumbles out, taking a few seconds to do nothing but blink at the other man. He snaps out of it when he shakes his head, clearing his mind. “You’re here. Good, that’s–that’s good.”

Jeongguk chuckles again, his eyes shining as a toothy grin stretches across his face. 

“Our train leaves in a few minutes,” he says. “Should we go in?”

It takes him a moment, but Taehyung eventually nods, warmth spreading across his own face when Jeongguk sends him another smile before making his way to the train. Taehyung follows suit after him. 

He tries not to fall asleep as soon as his back hits the seat, ignoring the laugh Jeongguk lets out when he sighs in relief, and even though it’s hard, he thinks he’s doing a good job at it. That is, until pushing an hour later into the ride when Taehyung feels his eyes starting to close, slowly, as the exhaustion drains right out of him

Maybe it’s because he hadn’t slept well last night, the excitement of going back to Daegu keeping him up for most of it. Maybe it’s because he had to wake up extremely early this morning because Yoongi wanted to catch the first train to Daegu. Or maybe, it’s the fact that the train is warm unlike the weather outside and Jeongguk’s arm keeps pressing against his, and his eyes can’t seem to stay open, head falling to the side when Taehyung can no longer stay awake. 

“Hyung,” he hears Jeongguk whisper. “Just lean on me, it’s okay. C’mon.”

Taehyung tries to shake his head, tell him that it’s okay and that he’s not tired at all, that he’s fine. But Jeongguk simply laughs softly, sound coming out too close to a giggle before he’s placing a hand to Taehyung’s jaw, leading it to the side until Taehyung’s cheek is pressed right against Jeongguk’s shoulder. 

“I’ll wake you up when we get there.” 

It’s not as comfortable as he thought it would be, definitely not as comfortable as it seemed like it was in the movies, so he’s slightly taken aback by that. But as he wraps his arms around Jeongguk’s right one, head finding its place on the curve of Jeongguk’s shoulder, Taehyung figures it doesn’t really matter. 

⤙▵⤚

“Oh my god, I can’t believe we just did that,” Jeongguk mutters before letting out a sound too close to a squeal. 

Taehyung belts out a laugh, because the weather is nice and they just somehow managed to close a deal in the span of a few hours. He’s much more relaxed now, as they walk out of Lee Jinki’s office building. 

It was easier than he was expecting it to be, probably because Lee Jinki was nowhere near the cold, scary man the media had portrayed him as, and Taehyung was equally as surprised as he was grateful for that. 

Jeongguk is laughing beside him as he sits on one of the benches. His hands clenching into fists excitedly. 

“Hyung–oh my god hyung, that was so amazing." 

Taehyung agrees. He can still feel the remaining bits of adrenaline in him, making his face hurt from smiling too hard for too long, his legs almost bouncing up and down when he sits next to Jeongguk. 

He's no different, shaking his fists up in the air as he lets out a very compressed squeal. Taehyung almost snorts, managing to hold it in at the last second. During his first business trip, he was so giddy afterward, Yoongi ended up threatening to leave him in Gwangju if he didn't stop moving. Jeongguk seemed to be feeling a tenfold of that, and Taehyung was so endeared his heart even ached a little bit.

There's a buzzing sound then, and Taehyung watches as Jeongguk's eyes double in size when he takes out his phone. 

"It's Yoongi. Yoongi is calling me," he announces, blinking back at his phone screen. "Why is he calling me? Shouldn't he call you?"

Taehyung waits a moment before he says something, lips quirking up into a smile when Jeongguk stays in his frozen place. "Maybe you should pick up and ask him."

"What? Oh. You're right. Maybe I should–okay, yeah." he shakes his head, eyes blinking rapidly before he’s clearing his throat and sliding a thumb over the screen. “Hello?”

Yoongi greets back, wasting no time in asking how the meeting went. Jeongguk replies eagerly, and Taehyung notices how he tries to hold back on his excitement at first. His voice sounds calm, but the big smile on his face gives it away. Yoongi doesn’t seem to mind though, asking more questions to keep Jeongguk going. 

Taehyung is looking around the park when the loud sound of a door closing on Yoongi’s end of the line startles him, making him turn to face the phone Jeongguk’s holding between them. He doesn’t miss the smile on the other man’s lips, and by this point, he’s pretty sure smiling is one of Jeongguk’s constants. 

He’s eager to find out about his other constants, too. 

“Is that them?” Jimin’s voice comes through the line, making Taehyung’s brows immediately shoot up. Yoongi hums. “Jeonggukkie! How was your first business trip?”

“What are you doing there?” Taehyung cuts in before Jeongguk can respond, leaning in closer to the phone as if that’s gonna get him an answer. 

Jimin just laughs, soft and seemingly calm, but nine years of friendship give Taehyung enough advantage to pick up the slight hints of nervousness in his voice. 

An eye for an eye, Taehyung thinks as he stores the information in the back of his mind, choosing to let the opportunity slide until he gets back home and he can tease his friend in person. It serves him right for that one time he told Jeongguk all about how Taehyung would never let anyone near his frog mug.

But soon, Taehyung would get his revenge. An eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth. An embarrassing moment for another embarrassing moment. 

It’s what friendship is all about. 

“You shut it Kim Taehyung,” Jimin says. “Now Jeonggukie. Spill.”

Jeongguk chuckles, dimples making an appearance as his smile grows. “I was so nervous I thought I was gonna pass out hyung, but I think I did alright,” he says, cheeks tainting red before he adds, “Hopefully.”

“Jeonggukie pitched it to him perfectly, Yoongi-hyung. You have nothing to worry about.” Taehyung adds, nudging Jeongguk’s arm as he speaks. “We’re scheduled to meet again tomorrow and sign the contract, but it’s pretty much done already.”

"See? That wasn't hard, was it?" comes Yoongi's voice again. "I told you you had it." 

Taehyung snorts. "I think I almost died when I saw him, though. I most certainly did not have this." 

"Well you got the sponsorship anyway, so," Jimin argues. 

By his side, Jeongguk nods fervently, brows furrowed together so hard Taehyung almost laughs. 

It's in moments like this one when Jeongguk seems to remember that he's not an intern anymore, where Taehyung thinks he gets to see the real him. The no-filter Jeongguk. The Jeongguk who kicks his legs in the air when he's excited, the Jeongguk who writes encouraging words on tiny neon sticky notes when Taehyung is frustrated over a design he can't seem to get right. 

He's really not that different from filtered Jeongguk. It's just that this Jeongguk blushes prettily when Taehyung uses his really bad pick up lines on him. This Jeongguk is bolder, joking around on team dinners and openly participating in their weekly meetings. This Jeongguk stays with him past working hours on days where Taehyung feels like he's stuck on his work. 

Taehyung can see it, how he's little by little starting to let loose, to grow comfortable with them. 

Slowly, like flowers blooming in spring, this Jeongguk becomes normal Jeongguk. Slowly, Taehyung's heart begins to learn. Taehyung's heart begins to love. 

"Good job guys." Yoongi says then, snapping Taehyung back to reality, and right before the line goes dead he adds, "See you Monday."

It’s quiet between them when Jeongguk pockets his phone again, and they both just take a moment to look at the park around them. Or Jeongguk does, and Taehyung looks at him instead. Thinking about how Jeongguk’s skin glows under the afternoon sun, and how he thinks he’s prettier like this; when he’s deep in thoughts and almost looks calm, the softest smile on his pretty pink lips. Taehyung almost snorts when he catches himself having those thoughts, shaking his head at how ridiculous he feels.

But even then, he likes the feeling a little bit too much. 

“So, if you’re still feeling nervous… ” Taehyung starts, carefully mumbling out his words despite the quick beating of his heart. He temporarily stops when Jeongguk turns to look at him, with those big eyes making Taehyung’s breath hitch for a second. “Yoongi told me about this light show they have next to the Suseong Lake on some nights?”

Jeongguk nods, waiting for him to finish. Taehyung gulps and keeps going. 

“We could, um, go see that? If you want,” he continues. “I heard it’s pretty.”

His mind starts spiraling in the next few seconds it takes Jeongguk to reply, and he’s about to scratch the idea and offer something else, like going back to the hotel and not doing anything until they go back home. 

But then Jeongguk is turning back to face him again, lips pressed into a pursed smile right before it breaks out into a full grin, hitting Taehyung like a beam of light. 

“Let’s go,” he says, standing up from the bench. 

Taehyung doesn’t move, looking up at him in a daze. 

But Jeongguk doesn’t wait for long, reaching out to take Taehyung’s hand on his before he pulls him up with a quick tug. 

It doesn’t help Taehyung’s heart that he laughs all the way through it, and doesn’t let go of his hand even when they’re walking side by side. 

⤙▵⤚

In his defense, it was all Jimin’s fault. 

If maybe he hadn’t planted that useless theory into his brain, Taehyung would still be in his hotel room. He would be sleeping or watching random interviews that show up on his YouTube feed, or maybe something completely different than what he’s actually doing. If his friend hadn’t repeated the same words to him every single time until Taehyung practically knew them by heart, he would not be standing in front of Jeon Jeongguk’s hotel room right now. 

So it’s really all Jimin’s fault. Maybe even Jeongguk’s, too.

Ever since they visited the Suseong Lake, Taehyung's head hadn't stopped buzzing. He was jittery, his chest feeling a little heavy. Ever since Jeongguk held on tight to him and didn’t let go until they were back at the hotel, about to call it a night. 

Except he couldn’t call it a night because Jeongguk had leaned in, lips brushing the side of Taehyung’s face, pressing a small peck to his cheek–and of course he had leaned back with the biggest smile on his face, mumbling out a Goodnight hyung before going into his room–leaving Taehyung alone in the hallway to scream into his hands, cheeks growing redder by the second. 

Ever since then, that stupid theory kept resonating in Taehyung’s brain. Three seconds. The worst part was that he kept hearing it in Jimin’s voice. 

Taehyung thinks he’s losing his mind. 

He'd gone to his room, worked on some things he'd left unfinished, and even tried to sleep, too. But the memory of Jeongguk's big eyes as he stared at the lights under the night sky, hand tightly wrapped around Taehyung’s own kept replaying in his mind. 

Cue the damn theory. 

“With only three seconds to work with, you take away the chance to overthink shit,” Jimin had said, sticking cheesy fingers into his mouth as he explained it to him back in their first year of college. “It’s brilliant! Because it’s not you against this thing you’re trying to do at all, it’s just you against three seconds! Oh God, I should change my major Tae. I'd make an excellent genius.”

According to Jimin, it only takes three seconds of courage for the average person to make a decision; to decide whether or not that person is going to do something or turn around and give up. 

It was simple enough–and yet here he was. 

In his defense, Taehyung has always been a coward. 

As he stands outside of Jeongguk’s hotel room, Taehyung’s sure he’s long past the three-second mark. Definitely past it. He’s so far past it’s embarrassing at this point. 

But despite how embarrassing it is, he can't just knock on the door, because what if Jeongguk is already asleep? It's only a little past 11 but what if he decided to have an early night? What if he hates Taehyung for waking him up and never speaks to him again? 

What if Jeongguk calls bullshit on his bullshit? He spent a lot of time coming up with an excuse to spend more time with him, but that didn’t mean it was a good one. Jeongguk was pretty smart, too, so Taehyung was definitely going to get busted.

Or worse, what if Jeongguk does open the door and Taehyung ends up embarrassing himself? And then when Jeongguk finally realizes what a loser Taehyung really is, he never speaks to him again. It's one of the most viable options, so maybe he should just go back to his own room and call Jimin to let him know that he's resigning–

“Hyung,” he hears Jeongguk call. It's only when his head snaps up that he realizes he was too deep into his own thoughts to pick up the sound of the door opening. “What are you doing here?”

Taehyung blinks, his brain suddenly going blank. The excuse he had rehearsed for so long choosing to simply poof out of his brain. 

“I was just–um, well you see,” he sees nothing. Absolutely nothing. His brain is blank. Kaput. “You know. I was just–around.”

“Oh,” Jeongguk says, nodding slowly. “And you decided to stop by?”

Taehyung doesn’t miss the amused grin on his face, and normally he would say something about it, maybe even tease him a little bit, too, but his brain is still useless and his face feels hot. 

“Yeah,” he nods, confident that he has no idea what he’s doing. “Just in case you needed anything.”

Jeongguk nods then, brows arched and that smug grin still on his face. He doesn’t say anything even after Taehyung’s done explaining why he’s randomly outside of his room. He tries to come up with a different excuse, one that would spare him looking like either a creep or just a plain idiot, but of course, his brain fails him once again. 

Screw this and screw Park Jimin for putting stupid psychological theories in his head. Three seconds were never going to be enough–Taehyung needed like three hours at least –maybe even a handwritten note in advance, too. 

It’s clear that whoever came up with that three-second bullshit never had feelings for their stupidly adorable co-worker. 

He's ready to turn around and take the walk of shame back to his room. A different kind of walk of shame, but still shame nonetheless. 

"I see you’re all set here, so I'm just gonna, go." he motions back to his room and smiles through his embarrassment. "Yeah, goodnight Jeonggukie." 

"Wait!" Jeongguk calls before Taehyung can turn around. “You could do that. Or, you could, you know… ”

Taehyung waits, gaze locked on Jeongguk’s own, heartbeat increasing in his chest. 

“Stay.”

As usual, it takes him a moment to take the words in. He spends half that moment trying to understand what Jeongguk just said, and the other half of that moment completely losing his shit.

“Okay,” Taehyung mutters, his voice calm and slow, completely unlike literally everything else happening inside of him. “Are you sure?”

Jeongguk nods, taking a step to the side and letting him in. “I can’t sleep anyways.”

He doesn’t know why but Taehyung is surprised to see Jeongguk’s room is almost exactly the same at his, the only difference being the position of the furniture and the number of papers spread all over the floor.

“Working on something?” Taehyung asks. 

He gets a sharp nod as a response, and then Jeongguk is pressing his lips together harshly before he shrugs, “Just checking if I have everything ready for tomorrow,”

Taehyung nods, his heartwarming a little at the sight of an anxious Jeon Jeongguk. Maybe more than a little. Maybe more like a lot, but he didn’t need to know that.

“You don’t need to be nervous, you know?” Taehyung starts, trying to relieve his stress. “Tomorrow’s meeting is pretty much a formality, so you can stop worrying about messing up.”

“No, I know, I know. But what if he asks me something that I don’t know the answer to and he just backs out?” Jeongguk starts, feet pacing around the room as he bends down to pick up the scattered papers from the floor. “Or, or what if I forget everything I know about the project and he just–"

Jeongguk keeps on rambling then, and before Taehyung can realize what he’s doing, he’s making his way over to him, hands coming up until they’re cupping Jeongguk’s face between them. 

“Okay, Jeongguk, hey. Stop,” Taehyung says, holding Jeongguk’s chin up until they’re locking eyes. It gets him to stop talking, so Taehyung keeps going. “We’ll go through it together, yeah? Tomorrow and tonight too, if you want.”

Jeongguk blinks at him, his eyes equally as round as his cheeks look from where Taehyung is squishing them together. 

It’s only a little bit funny and a lot adorable.

Taehyung thinks he’s going to die.

“You mean like, now?” Jeongguk mushes out.

Taehyung nods, letting his hands fall back down. “If it’s gonna make you feel any better, then yeah. Sure.”

It’s definitely not how he imagined this night would go, but the smile Jeongguk sends his way sure makes it worth it. 

“Thanks.”

“Anytime,” he replies, smiling through it anyway. 

But it’s still Jimin’s fault. 

Pushing an hour later finds Taehyung on Jeongguk’s bed reading over the contract for what feels like the millionth time. 

Jeongguk is hunching over the coffee table when Taehyung looks over at him, limbs sprawled all over the rug as he scribbles something down hurriedly. From his place on the bed, Taehyung can’t quite read it. But it’s not like he’s trying to anyway, choosing to stare at Jeongguk’s frowned face instead. Finding it adorable when his nose scrunches up as he leans down to read what he just wrote. 

Taehyung’s heartbeat picks up in his chest, but he shoves the feeling away with a quick shake of his head. He really should be focusing on his own work, instead of staring at his co-worker until his eyes hurt. 

They didn’t hurt yet, so he could totally keep going. 

The knock on the door has Taehyung jumping off the bed in a quick motion, having a celebration dance as he makes his way to the door, “Yes, yes, it’s finally here.”

He hears Jeongguk laugh from where he’s sitting on the floor, but Taehyung pays him no mind, opening the door and smiling at the man before he takes the box into his own hands.

“You just saved my life. Thank you,” Taehyung says before he closes the door again, turning around to make his way back to Jeongguk, kicking him lightly as he says, “Move over, c’mon.” 

He scoots over, moving most of the papers to the other side before Taehyung drops down. 

“Do you smell that? That’s the smell of heaven, Guk. I’m sure of it.”

Jeongguk snorts, “You think heaven smells like fried chicken?”

“Yup,” he mumbles around a piece of it, letting out a satisfied groan. “Heaven is filled with chicken wings.”

He gets a laugh out of it, but his focus is still on whatever he’s scribbling on the notebook. 

“Dinner break, Guk. Stop working.” Taehyung says with a nudge to his shoulder. “Hey, you promised.”

Jeongguk starts shaking his head, bottom lip jutting out as he starts protesting, his eyes finding Taehyung’s in a heartbeat when he reaches over to snatch the notebook from his hands. 

“I just think we should go over it one more time–"

“And I think you should eat this,” Taehyung cuts in, shoving a piece of chicken between Jeongguk’s opened lips. “See? Heaven!”

Jeongguk’s face scrunches up, his pout disappearing when he lets out a laugh a moment later. He seems to relax a little, head leaning back until it’s resting against the side of the bed, the stack of papers falling to the side. He reaches out to grab a piece of chicken then, dipping it into the small container of barbecue sauce before he eats it. 

Suddenly, his face scrunches up into a frown, finger resting against his chin. “Wait, if heaven is made of fried chicken, does this mean that the angels’ wings are chicken wings too?”

Taehyung tries to hold it in, he really does. But the second he turns around and sees Jeongguk’s confused frown, his eyes wide and round as ever and that big drop of sauce on the side of his face, it’s like something just bursts out of him. 

It starts out slow. It’s the kind of laugh that Taehyung can feel building up in his lungs, coming out as a suppressed snort until it morphs into raucous laughter, his shoulders shaking a little bit, too. 

“Stop laughing!” Jeongguk complains through a laugh of his own. “It’s an actual question though.”

Through teary lashes, Taehyung can see Jeongguk’s cheeks turning a light shade of pink, and he lets out a deep puff of air as his head falls down against the bed, his hands grabbing at his sides where his abs hurt. He breathes out, a smile still tingling at his lips. 

The bed dips a little where Jeongguk leans his head on, and Taehyung is not surprised to find Jeongguk looking at him when he turns around to face him. Of course, Jeongguk’s eyes are still on him–they somehow always are. 

“You got some,” Taehyung starts out, his voice suddenly coming out in a whisper as he reaches over, sliding his thumb over the side of Jeongguk’s lips. “There.”

It’s stupid, reaching out to him like that as if he’s in a goddamn movie, making him feel even more stupid when he realizes just how close they really are. Jeongguk’s eyes are incredibly stupid, looking back at him like he puts the stars in the sky–which is also stupid because if the stars were to be anywhere near Taehyung, they would obviously be in Jeongguk’s eyes. 

And it feels really stupid to feel that, too. 

Three seconds, Taehyung thinks again as his eyes flick to Jeongguk’s lips, his heart stumbling over itself when they go back up to meet his eyes. 

He gulps.

One. 

“You’re always looking at me like that.”

Jeongguk smirks, inching in a little closer. “I like looking at you.”

“Well,” Taehyung mumbles, feeling something twist in his stomach. “Stop it.”

Two.

Jeongguk laughs then, and it sounds sweet and warm and tickly when it reaches Taehyung’s ears, making his heart ease in his chest. Like that laugh is something he’s been waiting forever to hear–like something he would wait forever to hear again, too. 

“Should I close my eyes then?”

Three. 

“Yeah,” Taehyung whispers, breath hitching. “Close them.”

His lips are ready when he crashes into him. 

There’s no moment of hesitation when Jeongguk nips at Taehyung’s bottom lip, his hand coming up until it’s tugging at the back of Taehyung’s neck, fingers moving all over. 

It’s a little uncomfortable given the position they’re in, but Taehyung can’t focus enough to care because Jeongguk tastes sweet yet sour at the same time, and he really can’t explain it. He’s not really trying to, focusing on the way Jeongguk kisses him with confidence. Like he doesn’t want to ever stop, like he knows he doesn’t have to. And it’s messy, in the way that it has Taehyung thinking about too many things and nothing at all at the same time. 

They break apart when Jeongguk pulls him into his lap with a quick tug, and Taehyung tries to ground himself, breathing out a shuddery exhale. Hands coming together behind Jeongguk’s neck. 

“Woah,” Taehyung puffs out, his smile mirroring Jeongguk’s own. “Shit. Fuck, you’re so hot.”

He’s laughing again, all bubbly and warm, and Taehyung can’t do anything but cup his face between his hands and kiss him again, melting right into him. It’s different, the way his eyes are shining when Taehyung leans back. Different but so distinctly Jeongguk that Taehyung doesn’t think he could miss it even if he tried. 

"Yeah, I'm gonna do that again." 

Jeongguk whispers before he’s surging forward again. Slowly, this time, his thumb stroking Taehyung’s cheek delicately, lips following right after. 

It’s cheesy and stupid and it makes him want to laugh a little bit, but as Jeongguk starts pressing kisses trailing the side of his jaw until they eventually return back to his lips, Taehyung thinks heaven feels a little less like endless pieces of fried chicken and a lot more like Jeongguk’s lips on his. 

⤙▵⤚

His hands won’t stop shaking. 

Taehyung knows he really shouldn’t be as nervous as he is right now, sitting in the middle of a conference room, his fingers twisting where he’s hiding them under the table. He knows Lee Jinki is not as scary as he thought he was, he’s met him before–so really, Taehyung should be calmed. He should be ready to get this over with and go home–and yet his hands won’t stop shaking. 

He can feel Jeongguk’s eyes on him from where he’s sitting beside him. Normally, he wouldn’t be this jittery. He’s gone through far more nerve-wracking meetings, with far more intimidating people than Lee Jinki. But Yoongi was always the one to deal with this part of their business trips, he was always the one to close the deal and get them both home with good news. 

Since he’s the senior this time around, that’s his job now. 

And his hands won’t stop shaking.

Jeongguk stifles a laugh. “I thought this was just a formality?” he says, quoting Taehyung’s words from last night. “You know, that whole ‘You don’t need to be nervous, stop worrying about messing up Jeongguk’ thing?”

Taehyung chuckles, but it comes out a little dry. A laugh out of misery. He really did this to himself. 

“It’s called karma Jeongguk.”

Jeongguk’s making fun of him, but Taehyung thinks he can pick up the concern in his tone. It’s not very obvious. Taehyung wouldn’t even notice it if it weren’t for the way Jeongguk’s eyes keep flicking over at him from time to time, which makes Taehyung think he’s probably trying to distract him from his nervousness, and that makes Taehyung’s heart somersault in his chest. 

So he lets out another chuckle, this time a little lighter. 

He brings his hands up until they’re resting on the table, untangling his fingers as he does so. Maybe if he tells himself enough times that he can do this, he’ll actually start thinking that he can. 

“How are you totally fine now?” he asks in a whisper, head turning to look at Jeongguk. 

Jeongguk seems to think about it for a second, tilting his head to the side as he does so. 

“I’ve memorized every single word on those papers, so I’m pretty sure I can answer anything he could possibly want to know,” he presses his lips together then like he’s trying to stop himself from smiling, and Taehyung doesn’t miss the blush high on his cheeks when he adds, “And also your distraction really worked on me last night.”

Taehyung frowns, confused. “You mean the chicken?”

Jeongguk purses his lips together, taking a moment to blink at him for a few seconds before he’s shaking his head. “Not the chicken.”

Oh. 

“Definitely not the chicken.” 

Oh.

“Do you mean–" Yup. Of course he does. Taehyung doesn’t even have to wait for Jeongguk’s nod to know that he’s right. “Shut up! I wasn’t trying–that wasn’t. I was just–Jeongguk!” 

He’s hitting Jeongguk’s arm as he whisper-yells words to hide the way blood rushes to his face, memories of last night flashing through his mind. Of course he means last night. Last night when he straddled his hot co-worker during the hottest make-out session Taehyung’s ever had. 

Jeongguk lets out a laugh, getting one out of Taehyung as he does so. He takes a final slap at his arm, letting his hands fall down when Jeongguk laughs again, softer this time, and Taehyung has to look away before he starts getting lost in him again. 

Usually, Taehyung would be a lot more straightforward. He would even be a bit cocky, too, because he still remembers the way Jeongguk had moaned into his neck, his hands rough against Taehyung’s waist. 

But the office of his next business deal is definitely not the place to be having that conversation. Or those thoughts, really. So he pushes those back, clearing his throat before he’s taking his hands back into his lap. 

“I will not forget this Jeon Jeongguk,” Taehyung mutters. 

Jeongguk chuckles, reaching out to pat his hands. “I’m sure you won’t.”

He glares at him for a moment, the frown on his face relaxing when Jeongguk stops moving his hand, resting it over Taehyung’s instead. 

“Should I get you another mug?” he asks, a glint of mischief running through his eyes when they lock gazes. “Maybe a cat one this time.”

Taehyung snorts. “A frog and a cat?” he asks, narrowing his eyes. 

Jeongguk nods, confidently. “Yeah, like Mickey Mouse.”

Silence. 

“Mickey Mouse is a rat.”

He looks torn for a moment, his brows coming together in a deep frown like Taehyung just unlocked some dark childhood memory hidden deep in his brain. Taehyung tries to hold back a snicker. 

Jeongguk tilts his head again, a smile forming on the corner of his lips before he’s letting out a laugh. 

“Whatever. I don’t know. Stop laughing!” he whines quietly, but the smile on his face keeps growing.

Taehyung’s mood lightens as Jeongguk stifles out a chuckle, and Taehyung holds on to his hand a little tighter. He takes a deep breath, eyes locked on Jeongguk as he starts thinking that he feels ready for this meeting. Lee Jinki walks into the conference room right then, and they both rush to their feet as they greet him. 

“It looks like we’re having a good day already,” the man says as he takes the seat in front of them. “Good morning.”

Overall, the meeting goes way better than Taehyung was expecting. 

He wasn’t expecting it to go wrong, per se, he was just a little too concerned–with his luck, anything could happen. Luckily, Lee Jinki was possibly the kindest businessman Taehyung’s ever met, and soon enough they were walking out of the building with a signed sponsorship sitting in his bag. 

“Yoongi really is smart, sending his very best to me… ” his words trail off, and he breaks out another smile before he adds. “You two make a nice team.”

Taehyung is pretty sure that sending them both here was more of Jimin’s idea than it was Yoongi’s, but he keeps it to himself and smiles anyway, agreeing with every word and pretending like his stomach doesn’t turn into a puddle of goo at the compliment.

“Tell him I send my regards,” Jinki says before he pulls out his hand, shaking both of their hands. “And to not be a stranger!”

“Will do, sir,” Jeongguk says with a nod, a smile high on his cheeks. 

“See you soon guys,” and with another smile, he adds, “And have a safe trip back.” 

They say their goodbyes and watch him leave in relative silence. In the distance, Taehyung can hear the loud rustling of leaves when the kids playing in the park jump on them. It feels like a movie, making Taehyung’s stomach feel funny, like he wants to throw up but also scream at the same time. He thinks it’s entirely due to the fact that he managed to see the end of this trip with outstanding results. 

That being a closed deal and having managed to smooch Jeon Jeongguk.

He makes a mental note to buy Jimin dinner. Maybe even a mug, too, since he seems so adamant into stealing Taehyung’s.

“We’re a good team, huh,” Jeongguk says with a soft nudge to his shoulder, repeating Jinki’s words from a few moments ago.

“Yeah. I’d say we’re pretty good together.”

A snort. “I guess we are.” 

Taehyung turns around, pressing his lips together to stop them from full-on grinning. He’s been giddy for too long, he needs to keep it together. So he nods, determined on keeping it professional for the time being. 

“We have a few hours before we have to leave again so,” he starts as he moves his feet until he’s standing right in front of Jeongguk. “What should we do?”

Jeongguk shrugs. “What do you wanna do?”

“Well our train leaves in–" Taehyung checks the watch on his wrist, narrowing his eyes as he does the math in his head. “Uh, like, at least three hours.”

Mechanical watches were never really his thing, but using a digital one while he’s going around in his mid-twenties hit a little too close to lame, so he tries. He’s pretty confident about this one though, so he smiles, wide and proud.

Jeongguk snorts, taking Taehyung’s wrist into his hands to check the time too. “That’s five hours.” 

Well, close enough. 

Jeongguk lets their arms fall then, his hand sliding down Taehyung’s arm until it’s closing around his hand, holding it in the space between them, eyes staring down at them. When he looks up at him again, there’s a spark in his eyes that has Taehyung cracking up into a smile. 

“Gives us plenty of time to have fun before going back, if you ask me.”

“Sounds like you don’t like the office that much,” Taehyung teases, rejoicing in the way Jeongguk starts sputtering out explanations. 

“That’s not what I meant! I didn’t–"

“–is it Seokjin? The one you don’t like?” Taehyung says, holding back a laugh. “No, wait. It’s Jimin isn’t it?”

“No, no, I didn’t say that! Stop, I hate you, oh my god–"

“I mean it’s understandable. Between the two of us, he’s pretty annoying, I’m not gonna lie–"

“Hyung,” Jeongguk whines, a perfectly round pout slipping out of him.

Taehyung's not even entirely sure Jeongguk notices he's doing it half the time. But it makes his heart happy so he lets out a laugh, all cheery and carefree until he’s leaning forward to peck him on the lips. Just once, just so he stops pouting. 

Screw professional, he’d like to kiss him instead. 

They haven’t really talked about what happened last night, not really but Taehyung thinks he’s safe about the kissing part because not even a second after Taehyung leans back, Jeongguk’s pulling him into a deep kiss, the kind that has Taehyung feeling like he might melt away any second. 

“Come on,” Taehyung says when they break apart. “I wanna take some pictures before we leave.”

He’s not at all mad when almost two hours later his camera roll ends up with more pictures of Jeongguk and fewer pictures of the pretty landscapes. He’s been to Daegu a million times now anyway, so it’s no big deal. He has other things to show Jimin when he gets back, old pictures he could use.

And if he takes one more as Jeongguk marvels at the different sceneries, then nobody has to know. 

⤙▵⤚

"Oh, he bought me a mug," Jimin says, his tone mocking with a hand pressed dramatically to his chest. "It was a frog." 

Taehyung rolls his eyes, regretting his decision to stay in the water station with them. 

“And then we ate chicken,” Seokjin joins in too, his voice an octave higher as he poorly attempts to impersonate him. "He has the biggest most beautiful eyes ever." 

Well, Taehyung kind of agrees. He kind of agrees a lot, to be honest, but chooses to argue either way. If only to spite his friend. 

"I do not sound like that," Taehyung says, trying to defend his honor.

Jimin seems to consider it for a second, shoulders hunching when he reaches a conclusion. "Mhm, it's close enough." 

"You do kinda sound like that though," Seokjin says with a nod, his expression joyful. "But whatever helps you sleep at night Tae." 

Jimin snorts, his face twisting when he adds, “Whatever floats your boat.”

“Whatever tickles your pickle,” says Seokjin. 

And then comes Jimin’s voice again, “Whatever bakes your cake.” 

“Whatever rocks your socks,” Seokjin supplies, fist pumping up in the air like he just won the lottery.

Jimin is opening his mouth again, probably to add another rendition of the same phrase, but Taehyung beats him to it. “You guys are so annoying, I should’ve sat with Yoongi.”

He could have. Yoongi even offered it to him, since this whole event was Taehyung's idea in the first place. He could have gone to the cool designer’s station where Lee Jinki was monitoring the event from. 

Instead, he was here, under the surprisingly hot winter sun as his two co-workers–and friends, sometimes–make fun of him. 

“Please,” Jimin says, crossing his arms over his chest. “Let’s not pretend like you didn’t offer to work on this station to stare at the runners passing by. Or well, to stare at a runner. Jeongguk, specifically.”

It’s true. It’s so perfectly spot-on true that Taehyung fights the urge to smile when he gets caught. He’s not ashamed of it, of course not, Jeongguk and him have been flirting for months now. Taehyung’s not exactly coy about it anymore, but still. Jimin knowing about it doesn’t make his nerves calm down. 

But he doesn’t let it show, letting out a scoff as he arranges the water bottles into straight lines before he turns to his friends again. 

“As if the reason Seokjin-hyung is here isn’t just because Namjoon-hyung volunteered to run.” he snarks in return. 

Seokjin dissolves into a coughing fit, choking on the water he was just drinking. Taehyung tries to hold in a snort while Jimin just openly laughs at him, his cheeks all red and eyes glistening with tears. Taehyung wants to blame it on the fact that it's a hot Sunday in the middle of the day, but he knows it's just because Jimin is a piece of shit. 

"It has nothing to do with Namjoon," Seokjin manages to say, stumbling over his own words. "I'm here because I want to–help. People." 

Taehyung nods, unconvinced. 

"Whatever helps you sleep at night hyung," Taehyung says through a satisfied smirk, quoting his word from before. 

Jimin's head suddenly snaps up from where he was hiding it behind his arms, a hand pressing over his mouth to stop the laughs from coming out. Taehyung shakes his head, of course he would be having a field day with this. 

Almost literally. 

They stay in silence for a moment, the only sound coming from Jimin's restrained wheezes and the sound of the wind blowing. They're the last pit stop before the finish line, so to Taehyung's–and probably Seokjin's, too–disappointment no runners have stopped by yet. 

"Whatever ruffles your truffles," Seokjin mutters quietly, lowering his head in defeat. 

Jimin laughs so hard he ends up falling off his seat.

Cut to almost half an hour later, when the clock is nearing 1 pm. The run had started at almost 9 in the morning, so Taehyung figures it would come to an end somewhere between the next hour or so. At least that's what his extensive research had taught him, with the occasional visits to Jeongguk’s desk, just to check if what Google said was in fact correct. It was all part of Taehyung’s plan to stare at Jeongguk a little longer, obviously. Hopefully, no one noticed it. 

Namjoon is the first one to arrive at their stop, and Taehyung has to stifle a laugh of his own when Seokjin jumps out of his chair, heart eyes full-on display. Jimin’s face is back at a tomato kind of red, his hand pressing against his lips before he’s turning his back to them, walking away to laugh on his own. 

He’s laughing now, but Taehyung knows the second Yoongi shows up, he would be no better than the rest of them. Although, if he thinks about it, Jimin would probably be a little more composed than the two of them, because Jimin is confident like that, and Taehyung has had enough front row tickets to Yoongi’s flustered face whenever Jimin says anything to him to know that that would be the case. 

He only comes back to the stand when Hoseok stops by, followed by Jeongguk. Taehyung makes his way over to him, handing him a water bottle, one he gladly takes into his hands. 

“How’s it going,” Taehyung asks, reaching out to press a towel to Jeongguk’s neck, drying the sweat away. 

Jeongguk pants lightly, closing his eyes as he takes a deep breath. “Everything burns and I want to cry.”

Taehyung’s face scrunches up. Yup. That’s exactly why he hates sports. He can’t imagine why anyone would voluntarily put themselves through that. He tried asking Jeongguk why he likes it so much, even joined in on some of his training sessions sometimes–which of course meant Taehyung waiting by one of the benches while Jeongguk ran a million laps around the park, give or take–and well, he looks really good doing it, so Taehyung can’t really complain. 

Not too much at least. 

“I’m never running another marathon,” he hears Hoseok complain next to them, getting a laugh out of Jimin who’s handing another runner a bottle. “Yoongi better give me a raise after this.”

He runs off then, and Taehyung shakes his head, turning back to Jeongguk. 

“What happens if I win?” Jeongguk asks then, hiding a sly grin behind the water bottle as he takes another sip. 

Taehyung frowns, “Nothing. It’s a charity. You win like a coupon or something.”

Jeongguk laughs, and Taehyung feels it coming. He feels it in the way his stomach drops when Jeongguk grins at him again. He sees it in Jeongguk’s eyes then, how they glimmer with something close to mischief. The line that’s going to make Jimin fall off his seat again and choke on his laughs.

Taehyung hopes it at least hurts a little. 

“How about this,” he starts, and Taehyung holds on to the towel he’s holding because he knows Jeongguk’s about to say something mortifying. “If I win, you let me take you out.”

Taehyung blinks, cursing his heart for getting flustered over such a corny line. 

He can practically feel the teasing comments forming in Jimin’s head, along with the groan Seokjin lets out from his place behind him. 

“Only if you win?” he asks, brows quirking up. 

He could probably win, even if he’s only been training for a few weeks. But the possibility of Jeongguk losing is still there, making disappointment build at the bottom of his stomach. 

Taehyung would hate having to spend some extra weeks flirting with him until Jeongguk eventually gives up and finally asks him–and yes, one would think he could just man up and ask Jeongguk out himself as any other person would–but as previously established, Taehyung is very much still a coward. 

But Jeongguk’s nodding then, his expression determined. Taehyung feels his stomach twisting in anticipation. “So will you?”

“I guess we’ll have to see,” he answers anyway, enjoying the way Jeongguk’s cocky act falters for a second, giving place to his reddening cheeks. 

If his friends are going to bother him with this for weeks on end, Taehyung might as well just give them all they can get. 

Jeongguk chugs the rest of the water with a quick flick of his head, and Taehyung’s eyes pay close attention to the bob of his Adam’s apple and the way a single drop of sweat trails down his neck. He presses his lips shut, silently taking the empty bottle Jeongguk hands him when he’s done. 

"Keep staring at him and your eyes might fall off," Jimin warns him from behind, the grin clear on his throat. 

Taehyung shrugs. 

"Can you blame me?" he says, watching as the corner of Jeongguk’s lips morph into a smile before he’s turning back around. 

“Wish me luck,” Jeongguk says, sending a wink his way.

Distantly, he hears Jimin mutter something close to Yes, yes I can, but Taehyung's ears can only focus on the laugh Jeongguk lets out floating through the air like a song Taehyung could listen to on repeat forever. He’s jogging back to the race, unaware of the smile spreading across Taehyung’s face as he watches him leave. 

And then comes Jimin's voice again, with a single, somewhat tired, "Disgusting." 

Taehyung knows he means well. 

⤙▵⤚

“Is it okay if I leave these here?” 

Taehyung spins around to find Soobin walking back into the storage room, holding two giant boxes in his hands. He carefully sets the boxes down after Taehyung hums, turning back around to the rest of the boxes. That makes it twenty-seven in total. 

Minus the other twenty boxes he had already loaded into the truck. 

In hindsight, he did this to himself. 

He lets out an already tired sigh. “I’m gonna be here all night, aren’t I?” he asks to no one in particular, probably to the giant pile of cans and bags around him. 

At the moment, taking dry goods as entries for the marathon seemed like a reasonable idea, even though Yoongi had warned him about this part–the part where Taehyung had to be the one in charge of sorting everything into the million different boxes and then seeing them off to their chosen destinations–and of course Taehyung had scoffed back then, waving a hand at his boss and reassuring him that if anyone could do this, it was him. 

He wasn’t wrong about that part, he was totally capable of doing this. But the truck was scheduled to leave tomorrow and Taehyung had put this off until the very last second, which led him to spend his entire Friday in the company’s storage room surrounded by at least two hundred pounds of food he was supposed to put in a truck. 

As he stares at the cans of tuna, Taehyung only feels a little bit like crying when the fish printed over the stamp looks like it’s laughing at him, reminding him that he will most likely be here until forever before he looks away. 

He’s always hated tuna anyway. 

“Uh, boss?” Soobin mutters out quietly, ushering him out of his tuna filled thoughts. 

When Taehyung turns around, he finds him standing in the middle of all those twenty-seven boxes with his hands clasped together in front of him, his eyes nervous as they move around the room. 

Taehyung fights the urge to correct him. Technically speaking, Soobin was working under Hoseok in his department, so Taehyung wasn’t really his boss–but since he was still super secretly mad at Hoseok for winning the race, he decided to steal his intern for the day. 

In the end, he just settles on raising his eyebrows at him as he waits for the question. 

It takes a moment of them just staring at each other before Soobin finally speaks. “Is there anything else I have to do?”

Taehyung looks around the room, considering his options. 

He does have a few things in mind. For example, he could tell Soobin to put those million cans of tuna in a box, and then maybe seal it away forever so Taehyung can stop looking at that ugly fish on the stamp. Or, he could tell him to load the already sealed boxes into the truck, but Soobin looks like he’s ready to leave, and he’s been helping Taehyung out all day, even if it technically wasn't his job–even if Taehyung was kind of using him partially to get his work done faster and partially to spite Hoseok a little bit. 

Shaking his head, he decides to be a good person. “Don’t worry, I can handle the rest of the boxes.”

That’s a lie. He most definitely can’t handle the twenty-seven boxes left, let alone the other two hundred pounds of food, but it’s a Friday and it’s already late enough that Soobin shouldn’t still be here because unlike Taehyung’s initial assumption, he’s actually a pretty decent intern. Even if he can’t get his coffee order right.

“Are you sure?” Soobin asks again, but Taehyung knows he’s only asking to be polite. 

He nods, waving a hand towards the exit door.

“Yeah, just get out of here while you still can.”

“Have a good night, sir,” Soobin says as he bows one last time before leaving.

Taehyung turns back around to stare at the can of fish in an instant, raising a finger at it before he’s very decidedly muttering out a final, “You will not beat me.” because if there’s one thing he absolutely refuses to do, is to come into work on a Saturday. 

He doesn’t know how long it takes him. Hopefully, although he doubts it, it’s only a few minutes until he’s saving the last tuna can into the box, closing it quickly with a satisfied smile on his face. He tapes it closed in a hurry, writing the words Tuna Cans with half his face twisting into a frown. 

“One down… ” Taehyung says as he stands up to admire his work, rolling up the sleeves of his dress shirt, and then he sighs. “Twenty-six to go.”

It’s a little past seven when he checks his phone before turning to the million bags of rice, putting them inside a new box before he can even think about it, the idea of a short break being pushed to the back of his mind. He knows himself too well to understand that ‘short break’ is code for ‘spending hours doing absolutely nothing until it’s too late to do anything at all’. So he shakes his head and gets back to work. 

It’s only a few couple minutes later, just as he’s closing his second box when Taehyung is startled by a voice suddenly going, “I found you!”

He turns around to watch Jeongguk walk in the room, carefully making his way to him through all the empty boxes–mind you, minus the three that were officially closed, they were only twenty-four now.

Taehyung wastes no time, circling his arms around Jeongguk’s waist the second he stops in front of him. Usually, he would at least wait a few minutes before clinging to Jeongguk, but he’s been in this godforsaken room all day and his back hurts from bending down so much and he hasn’t seen Jeongguk since like, yesterday so he’s really biting off more than he can chew here. 

“M’so tired,” he muffles against Jeongguk’s shirt when he buries his face in his neck, his eyes falling closed for only a few seconds as he breathes him in. 

“I brought you food,” Jeongguk tells him as he rubs his hands over Taehyung’s back, sending light shivers down his spine, “I ran into Soobin on his way out, he told me you were here.”

“Seems like someone was looking for me.” he teases after a few seconds of silence. 

Jeongguk hums slowly, hands coming to a halt over his lower back. Taehyung can’t see him but he thinks his eyes are closed, too. He holds on a little tighter. 

“I’ve been looking for you all day,” Jeongguk admits. 

Taehyung snorts, and he hears him laugh before he adds, “Well you found me so.”

Jeongguk presses a kiss to his temple, small and quick, like he was barely even there. But Taehyung feels it in the way his skin tingles even moments after Jeongguk’s lips are long gone.

It’s quiet between them, and Taehyung distantly wonders what Jeongguk brought him to eat, because only now that he thinks about it he realizes how hungry he actually is when his stomach twists at the mere thought of food. 

“Go out with me.”

Taehyung stills, his breath hitching from the suddenness of it all. “What?”

He takes in a breath, and Taehyung feels it in the way his chest rises in the slightest bit. He closes his eyes, arms tightening around Jeongguk’s waist. 

“You know, like a first date. We haven’t gone on an official date so I was thinking maybe we could–”

"Does Suseong Lake not count as a date?” Taehyung cuts in, his tone teasing. “Sounds pretty first-datey to me though–you know, hand-holding, moonwalking around a park, a light show..."

Even with the poor lighting of the room, Taehyung catches Jeongguk’s rosy cheeks when he leans back to look at him. Jeongguk looks like he’s seconds away from pouting, but manages to keep his cool in the end. But the way he’s pressing his lips shut, dimples high on his cheeks, is enough to make Taehyung’s heart give up as he hugs him again. 

Taehyung decides to keep going, the blush on Jeongguk’s cheeks urging him on, "A kiss goodbye at your doorstep–I could keep going if you want."

“Go out with me,” Jeongguk repeats, sounding confident. Taehyung would believe it if he couldn’t hear how loud his heart was beating. “I know I didn’t win, but still. Let me take you out.”

Taehyung laughs when he pulls away from him, his arms lazily hanging around Jeongguk’s waist, an eyebrow quirked up as he glances at him. “That’s cheating.”

It is, kinda, because Jeongguk didn’t win. 

Truth be told, Taehyung has been having way too much fun torturing him, because the memory of Jeongguk being all If I win let me take you out with that smug grin of his keeps replaying in his head–and then he had the absolute nerve to come in third. 

He was briefly mad at Namjoon when he came in second–for like, two seconds. Until he smiled adorably at the rest of them before explaining that he’d been working out lately–but mostly because of Seokjin’s smug face. On the other hand, he was specifically upset at Hoseok for coming in first and essentially taking away his long-awaited first date, which resulted in Taehyung sparing him petty glances when he walked by his desk and stealing his intern for the whole week. 

“I placed third though,” Jeongguk argues cutely, his bottom lip jutting out into an almost pout. 

Taehyung fights the urge to kiss it down, “Is that winning?” he asks, tilting his head to the side. 

“Okay, so it’s not technically winning but,” he continues, tightening his hold around Taehyung’s waist. “Hear me out, it’s gonna be fun!”

It hurts him more than it could hurt anybody else, but Taehyung plays along, pursing his lips and nodding like he understands, moving his hands to pat Jeongguk’s shoulder when he untangles himself from his hold. 

“I’m sure it will Jeonggukie, some other time. When you don’t make promises you can’t keep.”

He turns around to hide his smile that breaks out of him, and he focuses on thinking about whether to box the noodles or the sugar next. He’s not expecting Jeongguk to cling back to him, his arms wrapping around Taehyung’s waist again, chin propping on his shoulder. 

“But hyung,” he half whines, and Taehyung has to press his lips harder together to stop himself from giving in. “It’s really not my fault. I wasn’t expecting Namjoon-hyung to be that fast and–and. You distracted me!”

Taehyung snorts, “You’re distracting me right now, so.”

"Fine," Jeongguk says, his arms falling to the sides when he lets go. "I'll just have to keep bringing you coffee until you say yes then." 

He lets out another laugh as he sits down on the floor, stealing a glance at Jeongguk while he does so. Jeongguk sits down next to him, silently helping him as he grabs another box before he starts loading it with rice bags. 

"Sounds like a plan." Taehyung answers then, the corner of his lips twisting up into a smile. 

"It is." 

"Good. Do you know my order?" 

Even if he knows the answer is yes, Taehyung keeps teasing him anyway, his heart clutching at the way Jeongguk’s bottom lip slips out into the most precious pout while he works. 

Taehyung doesn't think how much longer he can pretend to turn him down, because not only a second after the words leave his lips, Jeongguk's hands come to a halt, head turning until his eyes are locked on Taehyung's. He looks like he's seriously offended by the mere suggestion of that, and Taehyung once again has to fight back a laugh. 

"I'm gonna pretend like you didn't just ask me that," Jeongguk says after a moment. 

"Why?" he asks, choosing to tease him just a little bit more. "Is it because you don't?" 

"Chai Tea Latte with two shots of sugar–three if you need the extra energy." Jeongguk recites, his eyebrows quirking up before he adds, "And cream! But only on special occasions." 

He looks proud of himself when he finishes, and Taehyung feels his face burn hot under Jeongguk's eyes, all shiny and big and on him. Always on Taehyung, without a doubt. One of his constants. 

"You're good," Taehyung admits with a nod, because maybe if he moves his head fast enough Jeongguk won't notice the blush on his cheeks. 

"I know." 

Taehyung laughs, shaking his head at Jeongguk's confidence, heart fluttering when Jeongguk lets out a laugh of his own. 

"Maybe if you went out with me you could see just how good I can be," he adds. 

“Okay,” Taehyung says, biting down a smile. “Fine, let’s go out.”

Jeongguk’s eyes seem to immediately light up at his words, “Really?”

Taehyung nods, allowing the smile he's been holding back this entire time to come out, because Jeongguk is there and he's been helping him even when Taehyung hadn't asked him to, and he brought him dinner and Taehyung can smell the fried chicken all the way from where Jeongguk put it on top of box number twenty-three. 

It's a little bit pathetic, the way his heart jumps at every little thing Jeongguk does, but Taehyung doesn't really mind when he's smiling at him like that, his eyes shining with entire galaxies in them. 

“But first!” Taehyung adds, feeling a stupid giggle forming up in his throat. “Help me finish pack all of this because if I don’t finish it by tomorrow Yoongi’s going to kill me and then I’ll never make it to our first date and then Jimin will steal my frog mug because he made me promise to put it on my will–”

Jeongguk cuts him off with a peck then, which hey, a little rude but Taehyung’s not really complaining anymore because now he has a date with the guy he's a little bit in love with. 

“Okay,” Jeongguk says when he pulls back, and his smile grows a little more, somehow. “Do I put those in the truck?”

Taehyung can only blink at him for as long as it takes him to go back to his senses, eyes flicking to the boxes Jeongguk’s pointing at.

“Um. Yeah, sure. Whatever, I don’t care, just kiss me again.” 

Jeongguk nods, pressing that same smile against Taehyung's lips, this time for a little longer than a split second, and Taehyung can't help but laugh when they pull apart. 

He really can't complain at all. 

⤙▵⤚

("It was the best first date ever."  

"Please stop." 

"He was looking at me with his gigantic eyes and–" 

"Park Jimin I swear to god I will literally shove my entire foot in your mouth.")