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He didn’t want to go out on such a night, but Taehyung was out of ramen and he was starving. So he bundled up in a puffy jacket and headed out of his apartment building into the rain.
Parked outside the building was a moving truck and Taehyung spared it a glance and thought that it made sense since the apartment across from his just became vacant. But the thought only lasted a moment because the wind was blowing ice cold, prickly rain at Taehyung’s face. So he tugged on his hood and scurried faster to the quick-mart just around the corner.
Warmth greeted him as he stepped into the small store, and for a moment, Taehyung just stood at the door bathing in it. The rumbling of his stomach snapped him out of his bliss and he headed to the aisle where the ramen packs were. He grabbed a few, but then decided that he might as well get stuff for the next few days since the weatherman said this storm was going to get worse as the week went on. So he walked back up to the front and grabbed himself a small basket.
He moseyed through the small aisles picking up various snacks and candies and then walked back to the refrigerators and grabbed himself some chocolate milk and orange juice. Taehyung would like to eat healthier than this, but living on a student budget doesn’t exactly make that an ideal choice.
Reluctantly, Taehyung paid for his things and headed back out into the rain. As he rounded the corner he caught just a glimpse of a figure carrying boxes into the building. Taehyung thought that he should introduce himself to the new tenant, but again, his thoughts were interrupted by the rain, which in that moment decided to downpour even more.
Taehyung made it to his apartment, unloaded his ‘groceries’, and then started to make his dinner. While rather impatiently waiting for the water to boil, Taehyung heard a noise outside his door. Deciding that he had quite a bit of time before the water was ready, he went to go investigate.
Taehyung opened his door and immediately found a boy bent over trying to pick up things that had obviously fallen out of the box just off to the side.
Taehyung coughed and the boy shot straight up like he had just been touched by a monster.
“Um...do you need some help?” Taehyung asked.
“D-do I need help?”
“Yeah,” Taehyung gestured to the items on the floor “With those.”
“Oh…umm...no. I’m okay. I think I’ve got it.”
And so the boy hurriedly tried to gather everything at one time only to drop it all once he stood up again.
Taehyung sighed and bent down to help the boy anyway.
“My name is Taehyung. I live in that apartment right there,” he says as he points a thumb over his shoulder.
“Hi Taehyung,” the boy whispers. “I’m Jungkook and obviously I live right here.”
Taehyung chuckles as he puts the remaining items into the box and picks it up. He was planning on just walking the box into Jungkook’s apartment but was stopped when the boy went to grab the box out of his arms.
“I-it’s okay. I can take it from here,” Jungkook says as he tries to pull the box from Taehyung.
“It’s fine Jungkook. I’ve already picked it up,” Taehyung says, pulling the box back into his arms.
“No, really, I can do it.” Jungkook tries again.
Taehyung yanks the box back into his arms, “If we keep doing this, everything will just fall out again.”
Jungkook sighs and turns around to lead his new neighbor into his apartment.
It’s quite empty, save for a few boxes scattered around the place, but what else is to be expected?
“Where should I put this?”
Jungkook points to the kitchen counter and so Taehyung walks over and places the box down. He and Jungkook stand there in silence for a while before Taehyung clears his throat.
“Well, I’ve got to get back to my dinner. I’ll see you around, yeah?” Taehyung says as he walks toward the door.
Jungkook nods and is left with nothing but his thoughts….and scattered boxes.
Saying Jungkook was flustered would be an understatement. He doesn’t ever remember meeting a man as beautiful as Taehyung, let alone living across the hall from one.
Meanwhile, Taehyung finally stuffed his face with ramen and chocolate milk and proceeded to crash on the couch.
The next morning, Taehyung was awoken by knocking at his door. He rolls over and checks his phone to find its past noon. He groans and practically falls off the couch before he gathers himself enough to walk over to the door and answer it.
He opens the door to find a wide-eyed Jungkook.
“Oh,” Taehyung says, his voice still hoarse with sleep. “Hi, Jungkook.”
Jungkook doesn’t answer. Just stares.
Taehyung shifts his feet. “Is there something you needed, Jungkook?”
Still no answer.
Taehyung waves his hand in front of Jungkook’s face, “Earth to Jungkook!”
Jungkook finally snaps out of whatever daze he was in and awkwardly shifts his eyes away from Taehyung.
“Um…well I wanted to thank you for helping me yesterday so I bought you some ramen.”
“Ramen?” Taehyung says hesitantly.
Jungkook splutters, “Uhh…yeah. I mean I don’t really have any money, and it’s raining kinda hard, so I just ran to the store, and I just…I just thought….okay never mind.”
Jungkook turns to go back to his own apartment muttering something akin to “I knew this was a stupid idea,” but Taehyung grabs his arm.
“I love ramen, Jungkook.”
Jungkook turns back around but is still unable to meet Taehyung’s eyes.
“O-okay. Here you go.” Jungkook says, handing the bag of various ramen flavors to Taehyung. “I didn’t know what flavors you liked so I just got one of each.”
“That’s great, Jungkook! Thank You!” Taehyung grabs the bag and goes to close his door but decides to ask something instead.
“You didn’t spend all night unpacking, right? I hope you got some sleep. I could come over later and help you organize things a bit-“
“No! That’s okay!” Jungkook interrupts. “I don’t have much left. I can do it myself.”
“What’s with you and not accepting help, hmm? Just let me put these in the kitchen and change clothes and I’ll come help you.”
And before Jungkook could refuse, Taehyung had run back inside. Jungkook decided to go back to his own apartment instead of standing outside the man’s door like an idiot.
Taehyung threw the bag of ramen onto the kitchen counter and went into his room to change. It was then that he realized why Jungkook was staring at him for so long. He wasn’t wearing a shirt.
Taehyung balanced on his heels as he waited for Jungkook to answer the door. He wasn’t quite sure why he was so excited to help the boy but he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t. He did find Jungkook cute but maybe his excitement was because no one around his age lived in this building for a while.
While pondering about Jungkook, said boy finally answered the door. Taehyung immediately smiled and greeted him.
“You can come inside,” Jungkook timidly said as he stepped to the side.
Jungkook led Taehyung into what would be living room and stood in the middle. “W-well, like I said, I don’t have much left. Just a few books, some clothes, and a box of kitchen supplies.”
“Okay. I say we start with the books.” Taehyung declares as he takes a seat on the floor next to a box of books. “Do you have a place you want to put them?”
“I-I have this little shelf in my bedroom so I was-“
Taehyung shoots up with the box and heads off to the bedroom, leaving Jungkook frozen in the middle of the living room.
By the time Jungkook comes back to his senses and walked his bedroom, Taehyung had already unboxed half of the books and had them placed on the shelf.
“I hope this is okay. Did you want them organized a certain way?”
“No, its fine.”
While Taehyung finished with the books, Jungkook decided to finish putting his clothes in the closet. The slightly awkward silence was broken when Taehyung’s cell phone rang.
“It looks like I have to hurry and finish my part of a group project before my friend slits my throat,” Taehyung says as he gets up. He doesn’t miss the way Jungkook’s face falls. And he suddenly thinks of a great idea.
“Oh, okay. Thank you for helping me again. I-I promise to repay you with something better than ramen.”
“That’s okay, Jungkook,” Taehyung says as he walks closer to him, something gleaming in his eyes. “I was just helping out a neighbor.” Taehyung continues to close the distance between them.
Jungkook was being backed into a wall and he wasn't exactly sure how he felt about it.
“Tae-taehyung….what are you…”
“Well Jungkookie~,” Taehyung cooed. “Seeing that you get all flustered whenever you talk to me and having watched your face fall when I said I had to leave, I’d say you have a little crush on me.”
Taehyung had Jungkook up against the wall with his hands on either side of Jungkook’s head.
“Am I right?”
“I….” Jungkook’s face is completely red and he feels too hot for Taehyung to be this close to him.
“That’s okay, Jungkook. You don’t have to say anything right now.” Taehyung breathed. “You can tell me later tonight over our ramen date.”
Jungkook, completely speechless, wasn’t prepared for the kiss Taehyung placed on his forehead.
“I’ll come get you after I’m finished with my project, okay?”
Jungkook just stares.
“Well, I’ll see you tonight, Jungkookie!” Taehyung sings as he walked out the door.
Taehyung wasn’t all that ecstatic when he sat down to read his emails. He had over 20 just from Hoseok, his best friend, and also self-declared leader of the group project all these emails were about.
He scrolled through the emails, not really reading them since Hoseok had so kindly called him earlier, reminding him that, “he should hurry his lazy ass up and get his portion of the project done or he was gonna be ripped a new one.”
So Taehyung sighed and set to work, telling himself that the sooner he got this done, the sooner he could go get Jungkook.
Hours had passed and it was already getting dark outside. Taehyung, now finished researching, reached his arms above his head and let out a relieved sigh.
He decided to take a shower and change clothes, because let’s be honest, he didn’t smell too pretty and he wanted to look nice for his and Jungkook’s…ramen date.
After thoroughly primping himself, Taehyung made his way across the hall of the apartment building and knocked on Jungkook’s door.
He waited for a long moment, while Jungkook was busy trying to compose himself on the other side of the door. He didn’t want to embarrass himself in front of Taehyung anymore.
Finally, Jungkook sucked it up and opened the door.
“H-hi, Taehyung,” he all but whispered, not meeting the other’s eyes.
“Hi, Jungkook! Are you ready?” Taehyung beamed. “I mean, I know we are just going across the hall, but still.”
“U-uh, yeah. I’m ready”
Taehyung placed his hand on the small of Jungkook’s back; not missing the way the boy stiffened, and led them into his apartment.
“Are you starving? I know I am! I was thinking of having some gourmet ramen and then maybe later we could watch a movie. Sound good?” Taehyung asked.
“That sounds g-good.” Jungkook nodded.
Taehyung clapped his hands together, “Okay!”
Taehyung set to work moving about the kitchen. He grabbed a pot and filled it with some water, then placed it on the stove. While waiting for that to boil, he started chopping up some vegetables.
“So Jungkook,” Taehyung mused. “How about we get to know each other better?”
“We could do that,” Jungkook answers.
“Okay, do you have any siblings?” Taehyung starts.
“Yeah, I have an older brother.
“Oh, that’s cool! I have a younger sister and brother.” Taehyung added. “Why did you move here?”
“W-well, to put it simply, I just wanted a change of scenery. I was tired of living in the same town for so long, so I left.” Jungkook said.
“That’s cool!” Taehyung says over his shoulder as he puts the vegetables into the pot with the ramen. “You only live life once, so I guess you should live it somewhere you like, right?”
“Y-yeah, right.”
Silence surrounds them for a few moments as Taehyung puts the finishing touches on their meal.
“Well, I would say dinner is almost ready. Do you mind setting the table, Jungkook?”
Jungkook nodded and Taehyung pointed him to the cabinet where the bowls were and to the drawer where the chopsticks were kept.
After sitting at the table with nothing but the sounds of clinking dishes around them, Taehyung clears his throat.
“So… What movie do you wanna watch? I have a whole collection of DVDs, but I also have Netflix, so almost anything is game.”
“Oh...um…I’m not really good at making these kinds of decisions.” Jungkook mutters, his face red. So much for not looking like an idiot.
Taehyung chuckles, “That’s okay. We can just browse until we find something, alright?”
Jungkook nods, not confident in actually speaking since he’s sure his stuttering is annoying Taehyung.
This isn’t true at all because Taehyung finds everything Jungkook does cute.
Jungkook becomes increasingly calmer and they finish their dinner in a comfortable silence. Jungkook moves to help with the dishes but Taehyung whips his dishes out from under his nose and tells him to sit before he even stands up.
“So,” Taehyung says as he wipes his hands dry with a towel. “Let’s move to the living room and start our movie search.”
Taehyung sits on the couch and pats the cushion next to him and Jungkook stiffly takes a seat.
But before they could officially start the search, the storm picks up and the power gets knocked out. The two boys were plunged into darkness.
Jungkook is scared out of his wits. He’s absolutely terrified of the dark and the fact that it’s now thundering outside doesn’t make things any better.
“Well, shit,” Taehyung sighs. He starts to get up and was going to grab some flashlights from the closet, but was stopped when Jungkook grabbed his arm.
“P-please don’t go,” Jungkook sobs.
Jungkook was crying? Taehyung was confused. It was just the power.
“Jungkook,” Taehyung says as he scoots closer to him. “Why are you crying?”
“I-I don’t like the dark. Or th-thunder.” He sniffles.
Taehyung’s heart breaks and he immediately wraps his arms around Jungkook and tugs him into a hug.
Jungkook was honestly too worried about the dark to even think about the fact that he was now almost sitting on Taehyung’s lap.
Taehyung soothingly rubs the boy’s back while whispering comforting words into his ear. “I have some flashlights. There over in the closet across the room. I’m going to go get them, but it will only take a second. Can you sit here for just a bit without me?”
Jungkook’s sobbing had simmered down to occasional whimpering and he nodded his head. Taehyung gave his back one last rub before he made his way to the closet and back in record time. He turned the two flashlights on and placed them on the coffee table, bathing the room in a dim, yellowish light.
Taehyung goes back to holding Jungkook in his arms. “Is this better?” He whispers into Jungkook’s hair.
Jungkook, now significantly calmer, was barely breathing as his brain finally wrapped itself around the fact that Taehyung was practically coddling him like a baby. Once again, Jungkook was flustered.
That didn’t last long though. A particularly loud crack of thunder had Jungkook diving his head into Taehyung’s shoulder and gripping the man’s shirt so hard his knuckles turned white.
Taehyung says nothing of it and simply pulls his arms tighter around Jungkook’s torso and resumes with his “its okays” and “I’m heres.”
The storm rages on and before either of them know it, they are laying on the couch with Jungkook nuzzled into Taehyung’s side, head resting on his chest. They talk about everything from puppies playing in gardens to their most embarrassing moments.
“Taehyung?” Jungkook asks.
“Hmm?”
“Do you have a blanket? I’m kinda cold.”
Taehyung, already drifting in and out of sleep, lazily reaches up the back of the couch and pulls down the blanket. He unfolds it and spreads it across the both of them and then snuggles back into Jungkook’s warmth.
“Thank you.” Jungkook whispers.
Taehyung just presses a kiss to the side of Jungkook’s head as a response.
And so with the pouring rain the soundtrack to their evening, the two boys fall asleep wrapped in each other’s arms.
Jungkook was the first to wake up and he decided that staying within Taehyung’s warmth was a better choice than getting up.
His eyes scanned Taehyung’s face and he couldn’t believe how beautiful the man was. His bangs kissed the tops of his eyes, his eyelashes swept across his cheeks, and his lips, oh god, his lips were just begging to be kissed. And for a moment, Jungkook thought of leaning in, but decided against it since he didn’t want things to be awkward when Taehyung woke up.
“Are you just gonna stare at me all morning or do you want some breakfast” Taehyung said with his eyes closed, voice still thick with sleep.
Jungkook blushed and looked away. So much for it not being awkward. “Y-you’re awake?”
Taehyung hums and places a soft kiss to the top of Jungkook’s head. “I could feel you admiring my good looks, so of course I woke up.”
Jungkook sputters “I-I wasn’t….staring.”
“Okay, Jungkook,” Taehyung mocks. “Why don’t you let me up so I can figure out what to make you for breakfast, hmm?”
Jungkook gets up from the couch and goes to walk to the kitchen table, but Taehyung pushes him back down.
“You just stay here,” Taehyung commands while wrapping Jungkook up with the blanket. “I keep the heat turned down to save money, so just sit here and stay warm.”
Jungkook is left to his own while Taehyung scavenges the refrigerator for something edible. He finds some eggs that don’t go bad for a few days and he knows he has some bread left too. He grabs a frying pan and cracks two eggs.
“Sunny side up or over easy?” Taehyung asks while popping the toast into the toaster.
“Could you make scrambled instead,” Jungkook shyly asks.
Taehyung smiles. “Of course, Jungkook! Anything for you!”
And so while waiting on his own eggs to fry, he grabbed a bowl and cracked two more eggs to scramble.
In just a couple of minutes, Taehyung had breakfast plated and ready. He poured two glasses of orange juice and took a seat at the table.
“Come and get it,” he sang.
After they ate, they decided to go back to the couch and watch some TV, and for a while, they watch reruns of some drama.
Taehyung sighs.
“What’s wrong?” Jungkook asks.
“I’m kinda bored. It’s been raining for 3 days and there isn’t anything new on TV. ”
Jungkook boldly places his hand on Taehyung’s thigh and squeezes it. “Well is there something else we could do?”
Taehyung thinks for a moment and then smiles. He places his hand on top of Jungkook’s and scoots closer.
“You know…I think you’re really cute, Jungkook,” he says. “And I know that you have a crush on me.”
Jungkook’s heart is beating faster, Taehyung is moving closer, and he’s forgetting how to breathe.
“How about we really get to know each other?” Taehyungs voice an octave deeper.
Jungkook sucks in a deep breath and sits completely still as Taehyung moves closer and closer. He notices a cute little mole on his nose and suddenly he wants to know of every little thing about Taehyung’s body
“T-Tae-”
And that’s all Jungkook says before Taehyung has their lips molded together.
Jungkook’s senses were on fire. The warmth of Taehyung’s mouth sent a current down his spine and Jungkook gave in. His eyes closed and he threw his arms around Taehyung’s neck, tugging him closer, letting a smell distinctly Taehyung invade his nose.
Taehyung sucks on Jungkook’s bottom lip and the younger lets out an almost inaudible moan. It startled Jungkook so much that he pulled away panting, looking down at his lap.
“That was hot,” Taehyung says. “I’d like to hear more.”
Jungkook, unable to even look in Taehyung’s direction, blushes.
“Aww, is little Kookie embarrasses?” Taehyung coos.
“N –no.”
“It’s okay, baby,” He says as he leans toward Jungkook again. “The more we kiss, the less embarrassed you’ll be.” And he pecks Jungkook’s cheek and gets up.
“I’m gonna take a shower. You can join me if you want.” He says over his shoulder.
Jungkook is speechless.
“Its okay, Jungkook. I was only joking.”
And so Jungkook is left on his own once again.
He touches his lips and wants to feel Taehyung’s plush ones against his again. He wants to forever breathe in Taehyung’s smell. He remembers the mole he spotted on Taehyung’s nose and suddenly wants to kiss it. He wants to kiss Taehyung’s whole face; his whole body. He wants to worship Taehyung. But how could he do that when he could barely function around the man?
Deep in his thoughts, he didn’t notice Taehyung come out of the shower.
“It stopped raining so do you wanna go get some coffee or something?” Taehyung questions while toweling his hair.
“Jungkook?” Taehyung tries. He chuckles to himself because it seems Jungkook is forever spacing out. So Taehyung does the only logical thing he could think of. He kisses Jungkook. Just a quick one to get the boy’s attention.
Jungkook is quickly brought out of his daze only to jump into another. He stares at the man before him. His towel was hanging dangerously low on his hips. His skin was glistening. Water droplets from his hair were running slowly down his chest. Jungkook licks his lips and swallows.
“Did you hear what I said, Jungkook?” Taehyung asks.
“…what?”
“I asked you if you heard what I said.”
“N-no. Could you repeat it?” Jungkook says, finally looking up at Taehyung’s face.
Taehyung smiles. “I asked if you wanted to get some coffee since it had stopped raining.”
Jungkook nods. “Let me just run back to my apartment and take a shower and change.”
Taehyung walks him to the door and then heads back to his own bedroom to put some clothes on.
The two boys walk side by side down a sidewalk a block or two away from their building. They weave their way through the puddles and go inside a quaint coffee shop owned by a sweet, old lady. They both order hot chocolate, despite Taehyung suggesting coffee, and find a table by the window.
They sit in a comfortable silence, basking in the peace after the storm.
“This is nice.” Taehyung muses.
Jungkook just nods, taking another sip of his hot chocolate.
They resume their silence until both of their cups are empty. Taehyung orders some cake because he wants this moment to last a little longer. He enjoys just sitting here with Jungkook. He feels comfortable around the boy. He wants to spend as much time as he can with him. He wants to know everything about him.
“You’re cute when you’re thinking.” Jungkook barely whispers, but Taehyung caught it and smiles.
“Jungkook…” Taehyung sighs. “I know I’ve been a bit forward with my…affection towards you, but if I ever make you uncomfortable just tell me. I really do like you and I want to spend my time with you, but if I’m moving too fast you need to let me know.”
“N-no! I like you too!” Jungkook exclaims. It was the first time he actually told Taehyung he liked him. “I just get really flustered around you and don’t know what to do. You make it hard for me to breathe. I’m can’t think clearly around you and I thought it was really sweet that you slept with me on the couch during the storm. You didn’t have to do that and I’m sure you were really uncomfortable.”
Taehyung smiles and Jungkook’s breath hitches.
“See! Even the simplest things you do affect me.”
Taehyung smiles even bigger. “Well then, Jungkook. I have something to ask you.”
Jungkook goes stiff, anticipating the pending question.
“How would you like to be my boyfriend? I mean, I know we just met 3 days ago but, I really do like you. Besides, we practically live with each other already.” Taehyung beams.
Jungkook’s speechless. He really likes Taehyung too, but boyfriends? Was that moving too fast? Taehyung did say he could tell him if things were uncomfortable for him. But was this really uncomfortable? He felt safe in Taehyung’s arms and although he fumbled with his words, he could already talk to the man about anything. Maybe this was what he wanted too.
Jungkook meets Taehyung’s waiting eyes and nods. “Okay, Taehyung. Let’s be boyfriends.”
Taehyung practically leaps out of his chair and pulls Jungkook into a hug, picking him up and spinning him.
“Oh my gosh, Jungkook! Thank you!”
“T-tae! I can’t breathe”
“Aww, breathless from my beauty again?”
“No, you twit! You’re squeezing me too tight!”
Taehyung puts Jungkook down and ruffles his hair. “I’m sorry, Kookie.”
And so they walk out of the coffee shop and head home hand in hand. They spend the rest of the day wrapped up in each other on the couch watching TV, sharing a bowl of ramen.