Chapter Text
[Unedited]
**
What the hell?!
Both, Jimin and Taehyung slapped Jimin's thigh and then looked at Jungkook, expecting him to go along with it, as if they really thought he would throw caution to the wind and sit on their laps.
To an outsider, it might look like an innocent gesture, something that an elder brother would do, to embarrass the younger one, making it seem as if they still considered him to be a kid who would jump into their laps at a moments notice.
But Jungkook knew better.
He had expected this kind of behavior from Jimin. That hyung flirted as he breathed, and after so many years of seeing it first-hand, experiencing the character that was Park Jimin, nothing that this hyung did would have surprised Jungkook at this point.
But Taehyung...
Taehyung also slapped Jimin's thigh, and looked at Jungkook with those eyes.
There was some expectation in those brown eyes, but for what Jungkook had no clue.
The minute that Taehyung repeated Jimin's actions, that's when Jungkook knew he was a goner.
His brain short-circuited for a whole of two minutes, his thoughts taking a 180-degree turn, going south and Jungkook's skin tingled underneath his hoodie.
This was not what he had in mind, when Jungkook joined Taehyung's vlive.
He stared at Taehyung's hand on Jimin's thigh, again, and then up, to meet Taehyung's eyes. Jungkook couldn't tell what was going on inside his mind, but he wished it was something oh-not-so innocent.
He wanted Taehyung to think of him as someone more then the group's youngest member, someone who had grown out of the lanky fourteen year old boy image, that Taehyung had met years ago, and who had needed his guidance to open up to the other members.
It was his past.
The kid Jungkook was a little green, a little naive at the time, not knowing what the world had in store for him.
But the Jungkook of today was different. He looked at things different, dealt with them differently.
The Jungkook of now wanted Taehyung to treat him like an adult, and not brush him off just because he was the youngest of their group.
He wanted-
Someone coughed, and it made Jungkook pause, pulling him out of his thoughts.
Who was coughing? Was someone sick? Did one of the members catch something while performing on stage?
The cough grew in volume. This time it sounded fake and forced and somewhat familiar.
Jungkook looked up to see Jimin giving him a raised eyebrow.
What? Jungkook wanted to ask.
But just then, Jungkook's sluggish mind chose that time to finally pick up on their current situation, and the younger stumbled a step back.
"Um-"
"I'll go get a chair for myself." He managed to mumble, before stepping out of view, and away from the phone and their livestream, where millions of fans were watching their every move.
Jungkook quickly walked over to the corner and grabbed one of the chairs, pulling it to his side. He dragged it over to where the other two were waiting on him, and then sat down beside Jimin.
His hyung still had that annoying smirk plastered on his face. And Jungkook...Jungkook wanted to strangle him and remove that look off Jimin's face.
Okay...maybe not strangle him. Even in Jungkook's mind, it sounded a bit too much. But just push him out of the room at this point, because why?
Why would he do that?
Jimin was the only one who knew of Jungkook's feelings, who knew that Jungkook was in love with Taehyung, ever since the DNA era.
He had promised to keep it a secret from everyone. And Jimin had been true to his words, until now.
If he was being honest, Jimin hadn't exactly spelled out the words to Taehyung. He hadn't talked about Jungkook's feelings for the other, not directly in front of Taehyung, but he had tried to hint on it.
Twice, Jungkook had caught Jimin trying to set them up, when the group sat down to decide on their hotel rooms. His hyung had tried to cheat and push Jungkook and Taehyung to get rooms beside each other.
Jungkook made sure, he failed, and instead he and Jimin ended up getting adjacent rooms.
Before the concert, Jimin had bumped into Taehyung so hard, that the poor guy had stumbled, and Jungkook couldn't help himself, his body reacted on instinct, and he was just...magically there, to catch hold of Taehyung's dainty waist, stopping him from falling on his butt.
It felt almost like a scene out of the movies, where the hero caught hold of the lady's waist and they got lost in each other's eyes.
Except in his case, the reality was slightly different.
Jungkook did a great job, stopping Taehyung from falling to the floor, but the minute he met Taehyung's surprised eyes, his face heated up and he lost his footing.
In the end, the damsel and the knight, both found themselves on the floor, with a cackling Jimin on the side.
There wasn't an elaborate planning, but he knew Jimin was trying...he was trying to somehow bring them together and confess their feelings.
It wasn't that Jungkook hadn't thought about it, or that he didn't want to express his feelings.
He was more concerned about the response. What if Taehyung wasn't in love with him?
What if Taehyung only saw him as a friend and nothing more?
Jungkook couldn't think about it, not when the thought made his heart ache.
He knew his dreams would turn into nightmare, if Taehyung rejected him.
The pain, the disappointment, the tears - Jungkook wasn't ready for it. He couldn't confess, not yet.
Was he a coward for being this way? Maybe...
"Jungkook?" It was a whisper.
Jungkook met Jimin's eyes, and the elder gave him a small smile. He couldn't return it, not with all the thoughts going on inside his head, but Jungkook gave him a nod.
He wanted to tell Jimin he was fine, even if he didn't feel that way.
Jimin didn't say anything else, and went back to watching Taehyung speak to their fans, and resume his character as a Youtube streamer.
Jungkook went along with it, part of his mind, picking up on Taehyung's acting, and smiling at how the elder had greeted him as 'Superstar Jungkook-sshi', while another part of his mind was still stuck on what had happened earlier.
He couldn't let it go.
The thoughts were on a loop, mixing, mashing up, and the only words that stood out for Jungkook were 'Taehyung' and 'lap'.
It didn't help that his mind also attached a picture along with those words, one where Taehyung had snuck in and slid into his lap, his head resting on Jungkook's thigh and his half-lidded eyes looking up at Jungkook.
They were supposed to be shooting on of the run episodes at the time. But when Taehyung's head dropped into his lap, Jungkook's body froze, and he couldn't move, until the culprit was pushed away by Jimin.
It was the one time that Jungkook had felt grateful towards Jimin, and his presence of mind.
The feeling didn't last long though, because as soon as they finished shooting the episode, Jimin was in his face, teasing and wiggling his eyebrows and pointing at Taehyung as he did so.
He really shouldn't have told this hyung, Jungkook had thought back then.
That regret was still there, but a small part of him was happy that he had someone to talk to about Taehyung.
Jimin hyung with all his teasing and faults, still knew where to draw the line, and what made Jungkook uncomfortable. He did come close to exposing the younger a couple times, but in the end, his secret remained safe.
Until now...
Now that Taehyung had tried to mimick Jimin, tried to get Jungkook to sit on their laps, the younger wondered...
He wondered if Taehyung knew of his feelings?
**