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"Are you mad at me?"
Jin walks away wordlessly, leaving Taehyung gaping at his back while Hoseok tries not to roll his eyes at his obliviousness. Taehyung looks over at his hyung, hoping to get the answer Jin didn't give him.
"Even I can tell he's a little pissed. How do you not know?
" 'Cuz I didn't do anything to make him mad!" Taehyung says defensively. Hoseok does not believe him but lets it slide. Instead he plans on making Taehyung realise it on his own.
"Well what is he mad about?" Hoseok asks as he sits down at a table right next to the stage. Taehyung always gets a front table when he comes to watch Jin play.
"I don't know!" Taehyung says, exasperated and whiny. Hoseok gives him a stern, but loving, look and Taehyung is softly continuing his sentence. "Well we were talking a bit before coming here and...."
Hoseok waited patiently.
".. he asked me something and I said no."
Hoseok gives him a smile, urging him to go on. He knows Taehyung and how he gets when he fights. When the pout he expects appears on Taehyung's lips, Hoseok almost coos.
"What is it Taehyung-ahhh?" he asks lovingly.
"He asked if we could... like... date other people...'"
"Wait, like breaking up? Like I think we should see other people that way?"
"No..." Taehyung says, looking up from his lap and up at Hoseok. "He said he wants to date someone else while he dates me. Like I'm not enou-"
Hoseok catches on. "Oh you mean like a poly?"
"Yeah..." Taehyung says. He's not really upset. Just, kind of confused. He knew Jin was open to polyamory but he just thought that maybe he wouldn't want, need, another person when he had Taehyung. He wasn't really jealous, or even opposed to the idea, he was just a little... disappointed?
"Hey... you guys have talked about this before though.... I thought you guys were both open to polys?"
"Umm.. not really talked talked... we just know that none of us are opposed to the idea of a relationship with more than two people. I just didn't think he'd still want to date someone else while he had me.."
"Taehyung-ahh... it's not anything wrong with you. Look at me," He took placed his hand on top of Taehyung's and squeezed it. "He doesn't just have a specific amount of love that he now gives you and if he starts dating someone else he'll just take some of it back and give it to them. It's not like he has to split his love. It just means that he has more love to give, that he loves more than one person. Hyung really has a lot of love to give Taehyung-ah. You know him right?"
Taehyung nods, feeling a bit like he was being given a talk.
"And look at how much he trusts you, to tell you what he wants. Because he knows you'll understand and love him no matter what."
Taehyung understands but there's still a bit of fear in his heart.
"But what if the person is like a shit ton hotter than me? I don't want to share Jin hyungie with some hot bastard. And what if the person runs off with Jin?"
Hoseok just laughs. When he sees that Taehyung wasn't joking, he schools his features into understanding. Taehyung had genuine concern in his eyes. Hoseok found it so adorable.
"Do you think Jin hyung can just leave you? Taetae... he is a whipped man and no matter how good-looking his new potential partner is, he will not be leaving you any time soon. He literally doesn't shut up about you when we hang out..."
Taehyung is slightly better now, and is about to say something else when he is interrupted by the sound of Jin warming up his fingers. He turns a bit so he's fully facing the stage and watches as the lights of the café dim and a spotlight falls on Jin. Jin plays a tune Taehyung would recognise anywhere, a sound very distinctly Jin. It is a tune he hums unconsciously and plays before starting a performance on a piano. Another, brighter spotlight falls on the centre of the stage as a waiter/anchor/m.c. comes up to the stage and starts up the night, announcing the names of performers tonight and making some dry jokes that get some polite laughter. Taehyung isn't listening to any of it, focused solely on his beautiful boyfriend as his fingers glide softly over the ivory keys with an effortless grace. He looks so in his element, the harsh light failing to make him look any less attractive.
His eyes would normally be on Jin the whole night. He loved seeing Jin so comfortable, so beautiful being in his own skin. The music he played really came from him, as if it was an extension of himself. Taehyung loved the way Jin would make it look so easy, playing with both hands rapidly while looking like it was barely affecting him. It came to him easier than breathing.
But tonight, when he heard a voice so beautiful, so smooth, his eyes flitted to the centre of the stage, curious about the owner of the voice. The voice belonged to a man that looked almost too young, probably younger than Taehyung himself. For a song that had such sad first notes, Taehyung had imagined someone a bit older. The singer had his eyes closed, completely into the song and in the back of Taehyung's mind, his expression seemed familiar. It was what Jin looked like playing the piano, concentrated and passionate. As the first few lines of the song lazily escaped the singer's lips, Taehyung felt himself falling. Into what? He couldn't tell. All he could was that the singer had a way of singing that pulled him in, with every lilt, every pause. He took a while to sing a few lines but the way he dragged the sentences, the way he stopped, would have one holding their breaths and waiting, hooked on for dear life.
That faint voice of yours that grazed me
Please call my name one more time
I’m standing still under the frozen light, but
I will walk towards you, step by step
Still with you
Taehyung is broken out of the spell cast by the singer when beautiful piano notes start flowing in the air. The notes are quick and soft, going with the song perfectly. Taehyung can hear them clearly, as the focus is entirely on Jin and his art. The singer stays silent as Jin plays, the song feeling surprising like a duet, the piano notes and the singer's voice being two different parts of the song. Taehyung looks at Jin and sees how his expression is different. The differences are so slight, anyone else wouldn't understand. But Taehyung wasn't anyone else. He knew Seokjin and knows his tells, his everything. He notices the small line between his brows, the way his eyes are fixed tightly on the keys, how the tips of his ears are bordering red. He feels something click in his mind but doesn't have time to think it over as Jin does a beautiful fluttering note and the singer's voice brings Taehyung's attention back to him.
The young man is beautiful. Very beautiful. Taehyung may have the world's most attractive person as his boyfriend but he knew beauty when he saw it. The man was clutching the mic stand so tight, so desperately, like he was afraid it would disappear, leaving him alone. His face was so sad, the song feeling like something he was making up as he went. The words felt like they were pouring out of his mouth at that moment, his expression vulnerable, desperate and just so sad. Taehyung would be lying if he wasn't feeling sad himself, just watching him perform so soulfully, so really.
He noticed a bit later that Jin was still playing in the background, along with a few other instruments. He again had the thought that the song was extremely... intimate. The notes complimented his voice so well, the way they filled in the gaps between his lines, the way they were deep when his voice was high and the way the two sounds harmonised to create such a beautiful sound. Taehyung felt like he was watching two lovers sing a duet, the two sounds completing each other so well, they almost seemed to be one. The singer had a voice like honey - rich and warm and sweet. It seemed to be able to make time slow down, submerging the whole world in the thick liquid. Taehyung wouldn't be able to get that voice out of his head for days.
Taehyung found himself captivated. He felt like he was being pulled into a trap but he didn't mind. He would willingly walk into whatever danger awaited him. He found himself wanting to be lead on by the voice, to follow it's every command, to get lose himself and be guided only by the voice. The feeling was only heightened, strengthened by its owner. When Taehyung let his eyes move away from the singer's pained expression, he noticed how good he looked. In a navy blue blazer and black pants, hair a bit ruffled like he had been in a hurry to get here, simple metal rings on his ears, he was a picture. When he opened his eyes between verses, they looked like they shined. Not just from tears, but his eyes really seemed to sparkle, like a dark night sky. Taehyung couldn't bring himself to look away from the man - he was captivated.
In the fascinating memory
The rain pours even when I dance alone
By the time this mist clears
I'll run with my feet wet
So hug me then
Taehyung is snapped out of his daze again, by piano notes. This time however they aren't soft and calm. They are a different type of beautiful. They are fast paced and so well played. It must be the songs climax, because when Taehyung looks over to Seokjin, he is in a different headspace altogether. He notices how the spotlight on the singer dims by just a little, making Jin the star. Sweat glints on his forehead as his fingers play immaculately, not a single note off-key. He is playing really fast, multiple notes flowing into each other, his long fingers flying over the keys as he doesn't miss a beat. Taehyung hears soft sounds from the singer but he doesn't look back at him. He is focused on the way Jin plays. The way there is a flush high on his cheeks, the way his shoulders a just a bit high from playing so fast, how his eyes are on the keys in front, focusing even though he could play with his eyes closed. He knows Jin gets shy when the attention is all on him but this wasn't Jin just being shy. The soft adlibs that fall from the singer's lips, heartfelt harmonies sounding like ahs , are sung while the young man is slightly facing Jin and it's affecting him for sure. Jin plays faster, notes upon notes layering on top of each other, creating a beautiful sound. At this point, the singer sounds like the background music, while Seokjin's piece is the star. He doesn't look up once and Taehyung knows why. Because one look at the singer and all his notes would leave his head.
The last verse of the song is identical to the first. It is the singer's bare voice, nothing but his heavenly vocals. His eyes are closed again, his expression again becoming sad as he sings with all his heart. Taehyung realises belatedly that it had started raining outside. The sound of raindrops hitting the street was almost a background music on its own. As the young singer finally sings the last word, Taehyung realises that he has been crying. He lifted his hands to his face to find wet cheeks. He looked around to find himself alone at the table. Hoseok wasn't at his side. As the stage lights went off, plunging the performers in darkness, he whispers one word to himself.
Beautiful.