Archive of Our Own

Taehyung left his ceramics class feeling great. He made a pretty good impression, despite it only being the second week of the new semester. Taehyung was halfway through his sophomore year and he still hadn’t gotten used to the college life.

As much as Taehyung didn’t want to live on campus, he had no choice. At least he wasn’t cramped in a little room that could barely fit one person anymore. Instead, he moved out of the mandatory dorms freshman had to stay in and upgraded, for the lack of a better word. He still had roommates, but at least he had his own bedroom. Everything else was a shared space, but the sacred privacy of a bedroom and a locked door was a simple pleasure for Taehyung.

His roommates were a whole different story. Taehyung thought that they were messing with him on move-in day, but they were really as unbearable as Taehyung thought. So, Taehyung compromised. He bought a mini fridge for his room and made it a point to try and leave his safe haven as little as possible.

The semester was especially different because Taehyung’s younger sister, Bora, started at Cosmo University. It was a cool concept to be going to the same college as his sister, but Taehyung knew how freshman were and was petrified of her partying too hard.

Their majors were so different that it made it difficult to see each other on campus. Taehyung was a Fine Arts major, while Bora was a Finance major. The closest thing between them was the cafeteria, which was where Taehyung was headed. He and his sister met up for lunch together whenever they could.

Taehyung opened up one of the doors to the cafeteria and scanned the room for his sister. Maybe her class ran late, or she ran into a couple frien-

“Tae!” Taehyung nearly toppled over when a voice he knew all too well combined with the force of a body crashing into him took him out of his thoughts.

Taehyung turned around to see his sister staring at him with wide eyes.

“Bora.” Taehyung sighed and turned around. “You almost knocked us both down. And you know I’d rather die than land on the floors in here. They’re sticky eighty percent of the time and I don’t need that energy.”

Bora clicked her tongue and swatted her brother’s arm away that was steadying her. “This is far more important. I just saw the love of my life.”

This wasn’t the first time those words came out of Bora’s mouth.

“Which idol is it today?” Taehyung questioned his sister, who rolled her eyes at him.

“No, it’s a student here. He’s literally the most gorgeous person I’ve ever seen and I honestly think it’s love.” Bora replied.

To avoid the crowd, Taehyung gently pushed his sister closer to one of the walls in the cafeteria. He leaned against it and eyed her incredulously.

“Really now?” Taehyung crossed his arms over his chest. “What’s his name? Is he nice?”

“Well…” Bora sighed. “Here’s the thing. I don’t know his name and I’ve never talked to him.” When she saw her brother’s expression, Bora continued. “Okay, don’t look at me like that. Even though we’ve never talked, he’s like the nicest and coolest guy ever. And he’s really hot. Like…holy shit.”

Taehyung couldn’t help but chuckle at his sister. “You really like this guy? Like, for real?”

Bora nodded. “Yeah. I really want to talk to him, but I’m nervous. Do you think he would go on a date with me?”

“Bora,” Taehyung took in a deep breath, “This isn’t going to be another Jinyoung situation, is it?”

Jinyoung sucked, for the lack of a better word. Bora had been crushing on him hard in high school. Taehyung did his thing and observed the guy to see if he was good enough for Bora and quickly found out that it wouldn’t work out between the two of them. Probably because Taehyung had seen him have a rotation of girls he would hang out with. At first, Taehyung tried to rationalize it. Guys can have female friends, right? Well, maybe not Jinyoung. Taehyung would be the one with bad enough luck to constantly catch him making out with whichever girl was on his weekly rotation that day.

“No. Nothing like that.” Bora needed to convince Taehyung, and luckily she had the perfect opportunity. “He’s here. Oh no.” She gasped and shook Taehyung by the arm. “How do I look? How is my hair? Do I look cute?”

Taehyung had yet to follow Bora’s gaze. He needed to reassure her first. “You look great, don’t worry. Of course you do, given I gave you that sweater for your birthday and I have incredible taste.” Finally, Taehyung went to see what all of the hype was about, but he just saw a mass of people.

“Uh, the guy with the blue hair?” Taehyung went to point, but Bora slapped his hand down. “Or the guy wearing the fedora? Please tell me it’s not him.”

“He’s the one with perfectly styled black hair. I swear, I would propose to him on the spot if he was blonde.” Bora was about to go on a tangent. “Black tee, tattoos, red boots. Do you see him yet?”

“Hmm,” Taehyung squinted to get a better focus on the general view where mystery man was and, finally, he saw the guy. Bora wasn’t kidding when she said he was good looking. He was basically the walking reincarnation of the man of Taehyung’s dreams. But that meant nothing, especially since no one knew that he was anything but straight. Not even Bora, “Yeah.” He finally said. “I see him. He is really good looking.” He does kind of look like he knows he’s good looking, though. Hopefully he isn’t an asshole.

“I know.” Bora sighed. “I bet he has a girlfriend.”

“Go find out. Sit wherever he does and get to know him.” Taehyung smirked because he knew Bora would never.

“Tae…” Bora whined. “I’m being serious. I really like him.” She contemplated going over there or not. This wasn’t just any man, this was the man. Maybe she really needed to suck it up and talk to him. “Okay. I will.”

Taehyung eyed his sister with a surprised expression. “Wait. You should let him come to you. Don’t rush into anything.” If Bora was willing to go talk to the guy, then she was being serious. Since that was the case, Taehyung needed to do some research. He wanted the best for his sister and that required making sure Bora dated someone that treated her right. He needed to figure out the aforementioned mystery man before anything else.

But that would have to wait because Bora had class in an hour and Taehyung knew at least half of that time between lunch and her class would consist of them debating on what food to get.

At least Taehyung knew what the guy looked like now and he could make a conscious effort to find out more about him.

.

The rest of the day was fine – standard. Taehyung spent some time on campus working on an oil painting, so he didn’t get back to his dorm until around six in the evening.

When Taehyung opened the door to his dorm, he wanted to leave almost immediately.

One of his roomates, Jihun, was exiting his room with a stack of dirty dishes. He liked to call it his horde. And did he clean them? Absolutely not. Did he leave them in the sink to make it someone else’s problem? Yes, yes he did.

His other roommate, Hyungu, was sprawled out on the couch mindlessly watching something on the television while he had his phone in hand.

“Hey, Taemin.” Hyungu lifted his head up just enough to make eye contact with Taehyung before he relaxed again. “I drank your last soda, but I think they’re buy one get one at the convenience store. You can just go pick up some more, or whatever.”

“Your name is Taemin?” Jihun said before he essentially threw his dishes in the sink. The sound was horrifying. “I thought it was Taehyung.”

“It is Taehyung.” Taehyung released an exasperated sigh as he set his backpack down next to the door.

“Eh.” Hyungu sounded indifferent. “I’m gonna call you Taemin.” He sat up. “Want to know what I’m doing?”

“Not really.” Jihun mumbled, earning a snicker from Taehyung.

“Thanks for asking.” Hyungu glared at Jihun. “There’s already a scandal at Cosmo. Apparently, one of the soccer players got expelled. Showed up to class drunk and made a huge fuss. Wonder if I can join now that there’s space. Kidding, I’m way too good at football to waste my time on soccer. I actually got a scholarship because I’m that good. It must be cool to live with me, huh? No autographs, though.”

Taehyung had to fight the urge to walk away when Hyungu was mid-sentence, but he was strong.

Jihun puffed up his cheeks with air before exhaling it. “Damn. That’s rough. Also, very cool to make football your entire personality trait. Makes sense, since I feel like there’s not much else going on up there.” He pointed to his head.

“At least I don’t wear shirts with potato chip grease on them and actually shower. If you really wanted to take care of yourself, you’d eat lean meats and drink protein shakes. But, no. Instead, you sit around and eat junk. You’re lucky you seemingly have a fast metabolism. I say that because you’re a human garbage disposal.”

Okay, Taehyung wasn’t going to stick around for the arguing. Instead, he discreetly picked up his backpack and went to his room.

Once Taehyung left to grab food, he went back into his room and played video games for a while. He felt his phone vibrate mid-attack and it would have to wait until he was done.

It took a bit, but Taehyung managed to find a save before he set his controller down to pick up his phone.

7:12 PM
To: Taehyung
From: Bora
Message: taeee

7:32 PM
From: Taehyung
To: Bora
Message: what’s up?

7:24 PM
To: Taehyung
From: Bora
Message: my roommate hasn’t shut up about u since u came over on tuesday and a few of the girls keep asking if you’re single. Its kind of annoying but u have options if you’re interested

7:27 PM
From: Taehyung
To: Bora
Message: i’m good for now lol isn’t our mission to figure out who the love of your life is?

7:31 PM
To: Taehyung
From: Bora
Message: you’re right, that is actually far more important. btw i saw him on the way to the dorms. I wonder what his last name will be bc i need to know how it sounds with my name

7:37 PM
From: Taehyung
To: Bora
Message: you’re so dramatic. Go to sleep already

Taehyung received a snarky message from his sister before he plugged his phone into the USB charging port he had on his lamp. His desire to play games was kind of gone, so he turned off his television and called it a night.

.

Luckily, it was a Thursday, so Taehyung didn’t have class. Instead, he walked around the campus to try and find something to do.

The campus was huge. Taehyung joked that it was like a town of its own. They had a ton of restaurants and even a movie theater. It was nice when Taehyung was too lazy to make the trek to an off-campus destination.

The first place Taehyung stopped at was a coffee shop, where he ordered an iced Americano. It was also convenient because a guy he met in his mixed media class freshman year worked there and the library part-time. They had become something close to good friends. Neither of them were the most sociable with other students, given they were art majors that liked to keep to themselves.

Taehyung waited for his coffee and happened to see his friend exiting the break room.

“Taehyung, hey!” The guy, Yunho, smiled broadly at Taehyung and exited from behind the counter. “I didn’t even see you. I was busy picking up a shit ton of coffee beans some asshole spilled all in the break room. It’s me, I’m the asshole.”

Taehyung chuckled at Yunho. “Damn, but at least you’re done working for today? Or you’re going on a break?”

“Nah.” Yunho responded. “I took a morning shift that started at five, so I’m done for the day. I was actually going to head over to the library, if you’re interested. I forgot my other bag there yesterday because I kind of booked it from my shift while on break. Wanna tag along?”

Taehyung shrugged. Why not? “Sure. Sounds good to me.”

“Hell yeah.” Yunho seemed to be happy that Taehyung agreed.

Once Taehyung got his coffee, the two walked together to the library.

Yunho was a super funny guy. When they didn’t know each other, Taehyung and Yunho used to make awkward small talk and occasionally crack smiles at each other, but things had changed. They had already known each other for a year. Taehyung figured they were pretty good friends, but the two never did much together off campus, so he figured it wouldn’t be the right word to describe their relationship. Maybe just ‘friends’ was more suitable.

He was also really good looking, in Taehyung’s opinion. Tall, platinum blonde and black split dye hair paired with a shaggy haircut and a nice smile. It didn’t hurt to look at the guy was basically what Taehyung meant. Nothing more.

It didn’t take too long to get to the library, so Taehyung took the liberty to open the door and let Yunho in before he followed.

Yunho immediately bee-lined for the front desk, where a red-haired girl sat.

“Excuse me,” Yunho tried to get her attention, “I left a bag here yesterday and wanted to retrieve it.”

The girl sighed and got up. “Okay, but how am I going to know it’s yours?”

“I work here part-time. You’ve seen me before. But I can show you my driver’s license as proof. My student ID is in the bag and there’s literally a picture of me on it.” Yunho responded.

“Hang tight. I’ll go check.” The girl grabbed a large blue storage box camouflaged by piles of books behind the front desk. She set it next to her and sat back down.

Yunho and Taehyung watched her sift through the box.

“This?” She held up a black wallet.

“No, it’s a canvas bag.” Yunho leaned over the counter slightly to look in the box. “To your right. Yep. That.”

The girl retrieved the bag and asked for Yunho’s driver’s license, which he checked for in his wallet.

“Hi, excuse me.”

Taehyung didn’t even notice that some other people had come up to the front desk. Maybe because Yunho was blocking his line of sight to the front door and he didn’t care enough, but it was a surprise nonetheless. He was never good with people sneaking up on him.

“Um, we’re part of the soccer team and are going to be holding tryouts for a position. Would it be cool with you if we hung up a flier on the corkboard?”

Taehyung took one step back to check out whoever was talking. It was a blonde guy holding a stack of muted green papers. He was with a few other guys who were probably on the football team, as well.

When another one of the guys took a step closer to the front desk, Taehyung noticed him. The guy that his sister was crushing on hard. He was on the soccer team? Maybe he’d have to go to a couple of games, or something, to scope him out. It would be the perfect excuse. Alternatively, he could try out for the soccer team, but he doubted he would get in. Instead, he’d embarrass the hell out of himself in front of a ton of jocks. It wasn’t ideal. Despite Taehyung playing soccer all through his middle and high school career, he didn’t consider himself amazing or anything. It wasn’t his school’s team, just a rookie team that met up at the community center to play games on occasion. That was it. They had never even played against a different team. The already small group was split in two, leaving everyone scrabbling to get the hang of a much too small team.

Yunho slid his driver’s license over and the girl took it. She also took the liberty to fish through Yunho’s bag to find his student ID. “They match, take it.” He wasn’t going to be told twice, so Yunho quickly scooped his things up.

Finally, the girl acknowledged the guy asking about the flier. “I guess.” She shrugged. “Are you all part of the team?” When she saw all of the guys nod at her, she spoke again. “Cool. Can you tell Dowoon to call me back? He’s been an ass ever since I forgot about his birthday.”

“Uh, okay.” Another guy replied.

It was clear that the soccer team members didn’t want to stick around to talk to her, because they quickly put up one of the fliers on the corkboard and left.

Yunho sauntered over to the flier and got a better look.

“Hmm,” He hummed, “The closest I can get to doing anything that requires more energy than being sedentary is Wii Sports. That isn’t for me.”

“Maybe I’ll check it out.” Taehyung remarked to Yunho as he retrieved his phone from the pocket of his jeans and snapped a picture. “Alright, cool.”

Taehyung was going to go do his own thing afterwards, but Yunho surprisingly wanted to keep hanging out. It was a relatively foreign concept for the two of them, but Taehyung accepted. He would be a dick if he said no.

And it wasn’t a bad time. They had fun. Yunho and Taehyung talked in the courtyard under a shady tree for a while before they grabbed lunch and went to a movie.

Once the movie was over and Taehyung was waiting for Yunho to come back from the bathroom, he checked out his photo of the flier.

It was kind of last minute, but the first tryouts started the next day. Realistically, Taehyung could choose a different day to potentially try out, but he didn’t want the weight of the embarrassment of failing miserably to weigh on his shoulders. Getting it over with would work and give him good rapport with the team, so they didn’t find it strange that some random guy with rose gold colored hair and mediocre at best hand-eye coordination was hanging out on the sidelines.

Tryouts were at three in the afternoon, which meant that Taehyung would have to rush from his printmaking class to make it in time. He would also change because he wouldn’t be caught dead in a pair of athletic shorts before he absolutely had to wear them. No one needed to see that much shin all day.

…

When Taehyung said he rushed to make it on time, he wasn’t kidding. He almost broke his phone screen in the locker room when he knocked it off of a bench in front of a mirror, but it was fine.

Taehyung grabbed his bag and made his way over to the soccer field.

There were already people all over the field presumably for tryouts. It was easy to tell who was and wasn’t on the team, given all the members were wearing soccer uniforms with embellishments of their school’s color, navy blue.

Taehyung noticed a guy with a clipboard in hand sitting on the bleachers. He waved Taehyung over and Taehyung obliged. He set his bag down on the bleachers and smiled at the guy.

“Hey.” He smiled back. “Trying out?”

“Yeah, sorry if I’m late.” Taehyung replied.

“You’re all good, man.” The soccer player replied. “Can I get your name and number, please?”

“Sure.” Taehyung relayed said information and watched the guy write it down.

“Awesome.” He set the clipboard down next to him. “I guess I should introduce myself. I’m Rowoon, team captain. You ever play soccer before?”

Taehyung nodded. “Mhm, but it was a while ago, so I’ll probably be a bit rusty. Plus, it was more for fun than anything.”

“I’m sure you’ll be great.” Rowoon waved away Taehyung’s concerns before he scanned the field. “Yo!” He raised his voice, moreso, shouted and nearly burst Taehyung’s eardrums. “Doyoung, mind taking this guy?”

A darker haired male jogged over and nodded at Rowoon before he faced Taehyung. “Hey, I’m Doyoung. Ready to try out?”

“I guess so. Don’t laugh too hard, alright? I’m not a soccer player.” Taehyung really had no confidence in himself.

“Never.” Doyoung nodded in the direction of the field. “Follow me.”

As Taehyung stepped onto the grassy field, he saw the guy Bora was essentially in love with training with another person. So far, everyone on the team seemed nice enough, so hopefully the mystery man wasn’t the one asshole in the group. He probably would be, though. With those looks, he was probably cocky. Sure, Taehyung was assuming, but it was fine.

Doyoung retrieved a soccer ball that was abandoned on the field. “First, we’ll do some drills and then you and I can have a little one-on-one. How does that sound?”

“Works for me.”

As soon as the ball made contact with Taehyung’s foot, he remembered everything he learned, but he was capable at best. Cone dribbling was okay, minus a few near faceplants into the grass. Cone circles were passable. One touch shooting? Taehyung had never been good at them.

Doyoung seemed thoroughly impressed, though. He seemed excited to play Taehyung. Which was weird because Taehyung didn’t have the best skills in the world. Everyone else that tried out must have been really bad.

The one-on-one went pretty well. Taehyung managed a few shot after passes and his long passes were decent, as well. Taehyung actually felt a bit impressed with himself when he got the ball past Doyoung and made a shot into the goal. He didn’t want to let it get to his head, since Taehyung knew damn well it was only because Doyoung was trying to avoid another person trying out.

“Hey, you’re good.” Doyoung’s chest rose and fell heavily. He sounded out of breath. “You really haven’t played before?”

“I played a while ago, but it was nothing close to impressive. We didn’t even have games.” Taehyung also felt rather out of breath.

“Well, I think there’s a ton of potential.” Doyoung grinned at Taehyung. “Looks like I’m not the only one.”

Taehyung didn’t know what Doyoung meant until he looked around.

A lot of the team was watching Doyoung and Taehyung, which made Taehyung suddenly very self-conscious. His cheeks reddened in embarrassment. The only reason they were looking was because everyone else had left the field and they were probably waiting for Taehyung and Doyoung to finish so they could go home, but he was pretty sure Doyoung was just trying to say it to make him feel better.

“Come on.” Doyoung clapped Taehyung on the back. “Let’s get you some water.”

Taehyung wouldn’t say no to water. He was very grateful when Doyoung opened up a cooler next to the bleachers and handed Taehyung a bottle of water.

“Taehyung, right?”

Taehyung remembered that voice. It was the team captain. He looked to his right and saw the male looking at him, clipboard in hand.

“Great job. You’ll hear back from us once tryouts are over. If you make it, of course.” Rowoon said, but he already knew he wanted Taehyung on the team. He was tired of watching people pick up the ball and run with it like it was football, and he also wasn’t keen on how many times he had to avoid a soccer ball to the head.

“Awesome. So, I‘m done for now?” Taehyung made sure he got his bag from the bleachers.

“Mhm.” Rowoon nodded. “See you around.”

“Bye, Taehyung!” Doyoung added. Taehyung waved at the two of them and headed back to the locker room.

Taehyung uncapped the water bottle and took a drink while he heard jogging behind him.

“Hi.”

Taehyung didn’t recognize that voice. He capped the bottle again and turned around to be greeted by Bora’s crush. He was definitely even more attractive close-up, although Taehyung didn’t know that was possible.

“You did well out there. More potential than any of the guys I practiced with today.”

“Oh,” Taehyung smiled bashfully at the compliment, “Nah, thank you though.”

“My name’s Jeongguk.” The guy, Jeongguk, extended his hand to shake Taehyung’s. “Sorry about approaching you so suddenly.”

Taehyung shook Jeongguk’s hand back. “Don’t be! I appreciate you introducing yourself. I’m Taehyung, by the way.”

“Taehyung.” Jeongguk repeated and retracted his hand. “Got it. Well, I hope to see you around again.”

“You as well.” Taehyung politely responded. “It was great to meet you.”

Jeongguk saluted Taehyung before he jogged back to the field.

Well, that was convenient. Bora’s crush was named Jeongguk and he seemed super sweet. If Taehyung got on the team, he’d have the perfect opportunity to get to know Jeongguk.

Taehyung would tell Bora that he found out Jeongguk’s name, but that was pretty much it. If he started saying more, she might take liberties and go to pursue him when his nice personality could all potentially be a facade. Plus, Bora would probably not be too happy to find out that Taehyung was essentially ‘testing’ her crush to see if he was a safe option for her or not. So far, so good, but only time would tell.

…

It had been two days since tryouts and Taehyung hadn’t heard back from the soccer team. He figured he didn’t get in and that was perfectly fine. It wouldn’t be anything new and, ever since Taehyung tried out for the team, he realized that it would suck to have more arrangements he needed to plan for.

But it might also be good to make some new friends. Taehyung was cool with Yunho, of course, but he kept to himself. It had been like that since he started college. He hadn’t even gone to a party yet.

The way Taehyung made the best out of his Saturday was by playing some computer games. He should have been working on a couple sketches for a future project, but even the idea of holding a paintbrush or pencil was nauseating.

When Taehyung realized he forgot to grab something to eat when six in the afternoon rolled around, he left his dorm to get some takeout from a pretty good Chinese restaurant on campus.

As he was walking, Taehyung felt his phone buzz in his back pocket.

He didn’t recognize the number and almost ignored it, considering it was probably a call asking if he had life insurance, but he picked it up.

“Hello?” Taehyung utilized his uninterested and annoyed tone that was his go-to for scam calls.

“Hey. Is this Taehyung? It’s Rowoon. I don’t know if you remember me, but I’m the team captain of Cosmo’s soccer team.”

Oh shit. Well, it was nice of them to call to reject people from joining the team, instead of having them wait expectantly.

“Sorry. I thought you might be a scam call.” Taehyung changed his tone. “This is Taehyung. Hey, Rowoon.”

Rowoon chuckled. “I get it. But, anyway, I was calling to let you know that you made the cut. You’re on the team if you’re still interested.”

Taehyung nearly collided with a few people when he stopped walking suddenly. He felt like he didn’t hear correctly.

“Seriously?” Taehyung asked in an incredulous tone.

“For sure. What do you say?” Rowoon asked.

Taehyung wanted to say no, but he couldn’t. He needed to make sure the Jeongguk guy would treat his sister right.

“Sure. Thank you.” Taehyung didn’t really know what else to say.

“Awesome.” Rowoon sounded relieved. “So, I’m going to put you in a group chat with the team if you give me your Line. It’s easier that way, but we usually discuss when to meet up and when practice is there. We want to keep you in the know, of course.”

“I’ll text you my username.” Taehyung responded. “Thanks again.”

“No need to thank me.” Rowoon sounded like he entered somewhere pretty loud suddenly. “We’re going to have practice on Monday at four, just to prepare you. See you then, alright? I gotta set up this beer keg, or Hojin is going to have my ass. See you then!”

And, just like that, Rowoon hung up.

Taehyung texted Rowoon his username and, in a matter of minutes, he got a friend request and eventually an invite to the chat.

Ten accounts popped up and Taehyung had no idea who anyone was besides Rowoon. He checked out their profile images and IDs to try and get a clearer idea, but it was nothing.

noowor_ : yo guys i added taehyung into the chat hes the one we talked abt adding to the team

Oh no. Now Taehyung was going to get a slew of messages.

xxhansexx: hey welcome

arl_ : hi!

Taehyung was going to respond to everyone, but they began to send too many messages and started going on a tangent. He just scanned the chat and was going to put his phone away, but then a message caught his eye.

gcfilms: Hey Taehyung, it’s Jeongguk. Welcome :)

Perfect. Now Taehyung had his username. He could give it to Bora, but he should probably wait. The guy was a complete mystery, and at least Taehyung could learn more about him on Monday at practice.

Sure, Taehyung felt a little bad keeping some things from his sister, but it was in her best interest. He had every right to be overprotective, given traveling via train every other weekend for three hours just to stay with one parent before going back to the other’s house meant that the siblings spent a lot of time around strangers. They also had to be self-sufficient and, while there wasn’t much of an age gap between Bora and Taehyung at all, Taehyung was still the older sibling and made sure to take care of his sister to the best of his ability.

After picking up some food, Taehyung went back to his dorm. He texted Bora to hang out on Sunday and they agreed to meet up outside campus at a mall around noon. Taehyung needed to buy some cleats.

However, when noon rolled around on Sunday and Bora still hadn’t showed up, Taehyung was worried. Worried until he got a call from her and she said she had other plans.

Taehyung understood, of course. She was a freshman living ‘on her own’ for the first time in her life. He just hoped she was being careful.

So, instead of hanging out with Bora, Taehyung took a trip to the art store after the mall before he went back to his dorm.

When he got back, Hyungu was in the living room watching a football game with a couple of guys Taehyung didn’t recognize, nor did he want to find out who they were. He went to his room and kept himself cooped up all day. Taehyung knew it wasn’t ideal and he should go out, but it was easier said than done.

Eventually, Taehyung heard Hyungu and his company leave, so he exited his room to clean up the mess Jihun left everywhere. Taehyung had tried to leave the dirty dishes in the sink in hopes that Jihun would finally cave and actually wash them, but he was being too ambitious. Jihun’s room must have been even worse, and that said a lot.

Later in the evening, Taehyung got a call from Bora.

“Sorry about earlier, Tae.” Bora sounded apologetic. “My friend broke up with her boyfriend and she was really upset about it, but then she saw some cute guy on campus and went to talk to him. It was so funny because he came up to me instead and she was so jealous. I turned him down, though. Why, you may ask? Because I’m already in love with mystery boy. I still don’t know who he is.” Taehyung probably needed to tune out some of her nonsense, honestly, but she did mention Jeongguk.

“I was going to tell you that I got on the soccer team and he’s also on it.” Taehyung flopped down onto his bed and grabbed a pillow to rest his head on. “His name is Jeongguk.”

Bora gasped. “Wait, can you set us up? Please, Tae? Pleeeeaaase?” She whined. “Come on.”

“I don’t know him, really. I have to become friends with him first before I set him up with my sister.” Taehyung chuckled. “You know?”

“Well, hurry and become friends with him!” Bora retorted. “Thanks and love you!”

“Love yo-” Never mind. Bora hung up.

No congratulations? Damn. But at least Taehyung could scope out Jeongguk the next day. Although Taehyung was really nervous because he was going to embarrass himself in front of a ton of super talented soccer players.

…

Taehyung sat on the bleachers and double knotted the laces on his cleats. He needed to rule out as many ways possible of embarrassing himself.

He already felt lame for getting there kind of early. Only a few guys were there kicking around a ball in overcast weather. Not even the team captain was there yet.

It wasn’t long until Taehyung saw Doyoung walk onto the field, who offered him a friendly wave before he jogged over to some guy Taehyung didn’t know.

“Nice cleats.” Taehyung didn’t even realize Jeongguk had also arrived and was stepping onto the bleachers to sit next to Taehyung.

Jeongguk did indeed sit next to him and offered him a warm smile. He looked great in a simple pair of athletic shorts paired with a black tee. Taehyung wondered how the male managed to get as many tattoos he had at such a young age. He was probably a freshman or sophomore, Taehyung thought. As far as Taehyung knew, tattoos were pretty pricey and having that much money at his presumed age made Taehyung feel envious.

Taehyung leaned back and made eye contact with Jeongguk. “Thank you. Uh, how was your weekend?”

Jeongguk shrugged his shoulders. “Okay. Kind of boring. Went to a party for a bit, but it was kind of awkward since my friend brought his girlfriend and that left me third wheeling.”

“Jeez, I get that.” Taehyung had a friend in high school that did that. He eventually cut Taehyung off because his two week relationship was more important than their three year friendship, but that was a different story. “Sorry.”

“Nah.” Jeongguk clapped Taehyung on the shoulder. “Don’t be. I wanted to ask you what your major is, but I didn’t want to message you on Line out of the group chat. I didn’t know if that would be weird or not.”

“I’m an art major. How about you?” Honestly, Taehyung was expecting it was probably business or something. “And that wouldn’t be weird.”

“I’m a computer science and programming major.” Jeongguk replied. “So far so good, but this is only my first semester taking clases on campus. I took a few online classes in the summer before I officially moved on campus. Are you a freshman, too?”

Taehyung was impressed. “That’s very cool. You must be really smart. Also, I’m a sophomore, but I have a sister who is a freshman.”

“Nice.” Jeongguk smiled politely, but didn’t expand on the whole sibling thing. “Want to practice a bit together?”

Taehyung sighed, but he got up. “Please don’t make fun of me. I will cry.”

Jeongguk also got up and pocketed his hands in his shorts pockets. “I would never. Come on, impress me. You’ll be great.”

‘Famous last words.” Taehyung descended the bleachers and watched Jeongguk grab a soccer ball from the ground. He nodded in the direction of the soccer field and they found an empty space with a lot of room. There was a soccer goal behind Jeongguk.

“Alright, here.” Jeongguk dropped the ball and kicked it towards Taehyung. “Try and get it in the goal.”

Taehyung was not mentally prepared to embarrass himself, but he needed to get on Jeongguk’s good side for Bora.

Taehyung tapped his foot anxiously before he placed one cleat on top of the ball and tried to figure out the best in to make it past Jeongguk.

When Taehyung felt like he had the best opening, he veered to his right and tried to psych Jeongguk out, but Jeongguk was too good. As Taehyung kicked the ball, Jeongguk blocked it easily. Way too easily.

“That was great!” Jeongguk had to have been lying. “Here, move a bit back and I’ll kick it to you. Be careful, though, because the grass is still a bit wet.”

“Sure, sounds good.” Taehyung should have taken what Jeongguk said into consideration a bit more, but he didn’t trip before, so he thought he would be fine.

When Taehyung retrieved the ball Jeongguk kicked in the air, he very blatantly missed it and tripped when he finally caught up to the ball and tried to kick it into the goal.

“I…” Taehyung bent down and covered his face with his hands. “That was so embarrassing.”

Jeongguk jogged over to where Taehyung was and crouched in front of him. He removed Taehyung’s hands from his face and smiled at him.

“What are you embarrassed about?” Jeongguk tilted his head to the side. “You should have seen me when I first started playing. I swear that I had band-aids on my knees every single day from not being careful. Just take a breath and center yourself before you go for the ball. You’re overthinking things.”

Taehyung nodded slightly. Jeongguk was right. “You’re totally just trying to make me feel better, but thank you.”

Jeongguk stood up and extended a hand to Taehyung. “I’m not. But let’s head back over. I saw Rowoon get here.” He said. “Have you met all of the guys in person?”

“Just you, Doyoung, and Rowoon.” Taehyung took Jeongguk’s hand and got up.

“I’ll introduce you.”

Taehyung and Jeongguk went over to the rest of the team and Jeongguk did indeed introduce Taehyung to the team. Taehyung would definitely not remember everyone’s names, but it was his first time meeting them in person.

And, before Taehyung knew it, they finished their drills and were getting positions on the field. Apparently, the guy that left the team was a midfielder. Taehyung was most accustomed to being center back, so he definitely needed to practice more than he thought. Maybe he could stay late on campus sometimes and practice.

Taehyung learned that Jeongguk was a striker, and a great one at that.

“Seungsik, what the hell was that?” Jeongguk yelled when he ran over to the goalkeeper that failed to stop Jeongguk from kicking the ball into the goal. “We’re going to lose if you play like that!”

“We’re on the same team. I don’t have to worry about catching any of yours.” Seukgsik rubbed his elbow as he stood up.

“Yeah, but still.” Jeongguk picked up the ball.

They tried again and, when the ball went to Taehyung, he misjudged how far he was from another midfielder and kicked it far past him. The soccer team was split in half for practice and the ball went to the opposing ‘team’. That resulted in a guy on Taehyung’s team, Jinho, not being able to get the ball subsequently resulting in a goal not in their favor.

“Jinho.” Jeongguk ran a hand through his damp hair to get it out of his face. “Come on, man.”

“What?” Jinho eyed Jeongguk in disbelief. “It was the new guy. His shot sucked. It’s not my fault. Don’t blame me for his inability.”

“You probably shouldn’t blame other people for your mistakes. Especially the new guy on the team.” Jeongguk cooly responded.

“Let’s do some more drills for now.” Rowoon chimed in. “This isn’t a good day to practice with the field like this.”

.

The rest of practice went okay and the guys all showered before heading back to their dorms.

Taehyung didn’t see Jeongguk again until Friday. Their Wednesday practice was canceled and the Friday one ran short. Rowoon was out, so no one really wanted to practice without him. However, they would have to put in a lot of effort next week, because their first game would come faster than they expected.

Taehyung saw Jeongguk in passing, but they didn’t talk. It seemed like all of the guys on the team were cool with Jeongguk, which could be a bad or good sign. That Jinho guy clearly wasn’t a fan of Taehyung, and a few other guys never bothered to talk to him. Jeongguk was friends with him, though, and Taehyung worried that their behavior would all rub off on each other. Taehyung had liked a basketball player in the past and all of that backfired. Their team’s influence really changed their personality and they refused to talk to Taehyung in public. Sure, it hurt Taehyung’s feelings, but he wasn’t going to let them manipulate him and only talk to him behind closed doors.

Taehyung did hang out with Bora after practice on Friday. She met him at the field in hopes to see Jeongguk, and she got to for a split second. Jeongguk was walking with some of the guys back to the locker room and apparently just sparing a glance at Jeongguk made her day better.

“Did he look at me?” Bora picked up Taehyung’s bag for him. “He’s so cute. Has he mentioned having a girlfriend at all?”

“I haven’t talked to him much, but I don’t think so. He mentioned that he has to third wheel sometimes, so I can’t imagine he’s dating anyone.” Taehyung tied the lace on one of his shoes that got undone. “I guess that’s progress.”

“Hey, Taehyung.” Doyoung jogged over. Taehyung didn’t notice that his team mate was still there. “There’s a party tomorrow night. You should come.”

“Uh, I’m not really into p-“ Taehyung couldn’t finish his sentence because Bora finished it for him.

“He’ll be there!” Bora grabbed onto her brother’s arm. “For sure.”

Doyoung eyed Bora for a moment before he looked back at Taehyung. “Sweet. I’ll message you the info later. See you.”

Taehyung and Bora waved goodbye to Doyoung. When he was out of sight, Bora glared at his sister.

“I can’t go to that. I’ll be way out of my element.” Taehyung sighed. “Why did you tell him I would go?”

“Because!” Bora pulled on Taehyung’s arm to get him to leave the soccer field. “Jeongguk might be there and he’d probably bring his girlfriend if he had one!”

Taehyung groaned. He didn’t want to go. Like, at all. But it would make Bora happy and she really liked the guy more than Taehyung anticipated. Taehyung didn’t have enough information to determine the kind of person he was quite yet.

So, he probably had to pick out an outfit for the party.

…

“Damn. Where are you going, hotshot?” Hyungu exited the bathroom as Taehyung was leaving.

“…A party.” Taehyung confessed. He wasn’t dressed much differently than usual. It was just a black shirt with black jeans and a red leather jacket he bought a few years back. The jacket was the only super nice and expensive article of clothing he had and he only took it out for special occasions. Special occasions being surrounded by a ton of sweaty frat guys and cheap beer.

Hyungu scoffed. “You? Going to a party? That’s where I’m going. Who the hell invited you?” He took the towel in his hand to dry his damp hair.

Taehyung shrugged. He wasn’t really in the mood to explain something to someone who actually didn’t care.

“See you.” Taehyung said instead and left their dorm. He immediately took out his phone to check where the party was again. Unfortunately, when Taehyung first saw the invite, he noticed it was at a fraternity. It was literally Taehyung’s nightmare, but Bora already told Doyoung that he was going. Plus, Taehyung could tell what kind of person Jeongguk was if he was in said frat. Would he be doing a keg stand? Hopefully not.

Taehyung begrudgingly maneuvered his way through the campus to where the frat house was. Initially, he wasn’t sure which one it was, but it became clear as day the closer that he got. There was music playing way too loudly and people lugging in cases of beer. It had to be it.

As soon as Taehyung got into the frat house, he wanted to leave. It smelled of liquor and pizza in the house and the place was as dirty as Taehyung expected it to be — Jihun’s room was child’s play compared to the frat house. There were also people all over the place. Taehyung would have to do the best he could and find somewhere slightly secluded until he saw Doyoung and, hopefully, Jeongguk. Seeing Doyoung would be a good ‘I came and now I’m going’ and seeing Jeongguk would obviously benefit Bora. But he had yet to see either of them.

The best thing Taehyung could do was go outside and sit on a slightly clean outdoor bench. Not as many people were outside and it would be less likely he would get beer spilled on him. He just hoped that someone he knew would show up soon.

Being hopeful was Taehyung’s demise because it had been nearly an hour of scrolling through his phone acting like he was doing something instead of sitting alone at a party and he didn’t see Doyoung or Jeongguk. Sure, he was outside and a bit more hidden, but still.

Taehyung was about to call it quits until he felt a tap on his shoulder. He looked to his left to see Doyoung.

“Hey!” Doyoung beamed at Taehyung. “You came.” He held a red cup in one hand and the other rested on Taehyung’s shoulder.

“Yeah, thanks for inviting me.” Taehyung responded.

“I can kind of tell that this isn’t your scene.” Doyoung sat next to Taehyung. “Who was that girl that said you were coming? Your girlfriend?”

Taehyung made an expression of disgust. “God, no. That was my sister.”

“Ah.” Doyoung hummed in understanding. “Well, I’m really happy you’re here. I’ll catch you in a bit, though. One of my frat brothers accidentally punched a hole in the wall.” When he saw the look Taehyung gave him, he spoke again. “Don’t ask. I have no idea how or why it happened.” He got up. “See you in a bit.”

Taehyung stayed where he was as Doyoung walked away.

Before Doyoung had gone back inside, Taehyung heard him one more time. “Hey, Jeongguk! Taehyung’s out here.”

“Oh, really?” Jeongguk asked curiously.

And, before Taehyung knew it, Jeongguk was standing where Doyoung was earlier and he actually looked happy to see Taehyung.

“Hey there.” Jeongguk wasn’t holding any drinks and he was alone. “Mind if I sit with you?”

“Go for it.” Taehyung motioned to the spot next to him and Jeongguk sat down.

“I didn’t know you were going to be here.” Jeongguk sat back and extended his arms over the back of the couch.

“Neither did I. Doyoung invited me and I felt bad saying no.” Taehyung didn’t need to mention Bora yet. “Were you invited, or are you part of the frat?”

Jeongguk made the same face Taehyung did when he found out that the party was at a fraternity house. “I was invited by some of the guys on the soccer team. I’m not into the whole fraternity scene.”

Okay, that was a good sign. “Same here.” He replied.

Jeongguk scanned the outdoors before he focused back on Taehyung. “Did you come here with anyone, or…?”

“I came alone, which is why I have been pretending to be very productive on my phone for the past hour. Beats talking to strangers.” Taehyung smiled bashfully.

Jeongguk laughed at Taehyung’s comment. “I hear you on that. These parties just consist of belligerent people acting like idiots and people hooking up in every room they can get into.” He paused. “Why didn’t you bring your girlfriend? They don’t care about plus ones here. Unless you were afraid of other guys and girls hitting on her. Then I totally get that.”

“You really think I have a girlfriend?” Taehyung set his phone down next to him and raised his brow at Jeongguk.

“Oh.” Jeongguk seemed surprised for some reason. “Cool. I don’t have a girlfriend, either. But there are plenty of girls in there if you’re interested. I can try to set you up with one of them.”

“I’m not interested, but thank you for the offer I guess?” Taehyung replied. “Why aren’t you in there hitting these girls up then? You’re a great soccer player and you’re attractive. I feel like it would be easy for you.”

“Oh?” Jeongguk smirked at Taehyung. “So you think I’m attractive?”

Taehyung lightly shoved Jeongguk’s shoulder and laughed. “Shut up. You know what I mean.”

“I know, I know.” Jeongguk patted Taehyung’s thigh. “Just messing with you. But I guess for the same reasons as you.” He paused. “So, if you weren’t here, what would you be doing?”

“You’re not trying to get on my good side so you can use any information against me in the future, are you? I don’t think some of the guys on the team like me.” Taehyung said.

“Fuck them.” Jeongguk waved away Taehyung’s concerns. “I’m asking because I’m interested. Wanna see what we have in common.”

Whatever. It couldn’t hurt to answer. He seemed genuinely sweet. Taehyung kind of liked the guy. He didn’t feel nervous around Jeongguk and could see them becoming friends. Which would be good when he and Bora started dating. “Probably drawing or playing video games. Maybe I would go to a museum. They have some exhibits that run late and I feel like it’s a completely different vibe going and checking it out at night. It feels more personal, you know?” Not that Jeongguk cared. “And I now realize that you didn’t ask.”

Jeongguk watched on as Taehyung talked with an expression of admiration. “No, I like that. I’m working on learning coding because I want to make my very own video game. If you want to join me, you can do the art for it.” He smiled. “That sounds fun. We’ll have to go to the museum sometime if you want.”

Taehyung was not expecting Jeongguk to actually want to hang out off campus with him. And he wasn’t expecting to want to say yes as soon as Jeongguk suggested it. It was definitely because he really wanted to help Bora out. That was essentially the whole reason Taehyung joined the soccer team, anyway.

“Sure, that would be cool.” Taehyung faced Jeongguk, so he could look at him better as they spoke. “So, what kind of video game do you want to make?”

When Taehyung got more comfortable, he unconsciously leaned back against one of the arms Jeongguk had relaxed on the top cushions of the couch. Taehyung didn’t move because he didn’t want to make a big deal out of nothing and Jeongguk probably didn’t move because it was normal for him.

“You don’t want me to delve into that. Don’t worry.” Jeongguk retracted the arm that wasn’t behind Taehyung and brushed his hair out of his eyes. “Thank you, though.”

“I genuinely want to know. If you want me to do the art, you gotta tell me.” Taehyung tried to sound lighthearted.

“Damn, guess I do then.” Jeongguk gave in far too quickly. “Something post-apocalyptic, I think. But I want it to be story-rich. I feel like a lot of post-apocalyptic stuff involves zombies, ghouls, or some other fictional thing. I want it to have the antagonists be humans and show how the world and people can change because of a drastic change. I was thinking about having the main character looking for their sibling and they end up finding out that their sibling is basically one of the ‘bad guys’, which leaves the player in a moral dilemma.”

“That sounds so fun. I would buy it.” Taehyung loved post-apocalyptic games. Fallout 3 was his tried and true. “That’s really creative.”

“You’re going to give me an ego if you keep complimenting me.” Jeongguk had to look away for a moment because the compliments made him shy.

Taehyung retrieved his phone from next to him. “It’s just the truth. Do you think I can have your number because it’s easier than using Line. It’s okay if you don’t want to.”

“Oh, I want to.” Jeongguk took Taehyung’s phone and added his number. He sent himself a text, so he would also have Taehyung’s number. “We should do something together soon. If you want, we can meet up early Monday morning and go on a jog. Maybe kick the ball around a bit? Unless you have classes that day.”

Jogging wasn’t necessarily something Taehyung loved to do but, if he was on the soccer team, he needed to be able to run for an extended period of time. It was a good idea. “I don’t have class until ten, so we can for sure do that.”

“Awesome. I’ll text you a more certain time.” Jeongguk replied and retracted his hand to place it in his lap. “I know you don’t want to be here, so I’ll walk you back to your dorm if you want?”

“You totally don’t have to do that. You should enjoy your time with your friends.” Taehyung liked the idea, but the soccer team was at the party and they all adored Jeongguk.

“Wanna hear a secret?” Jeongguk leaned in close to Taehyung and whispered. “I don’t want to be here, either.”

The sheer amount of people and bass booming was giving Taehyung a headache. It wouldn’t hurt to leave.

“Sure, but I can walk you to your dorm instead.” Taehyung tried to compromise with Jeongguk.

“Nope. I got you.” Jeongguk got up and waited for Taehyung. “Let’s just cut through up here, so we don’t have to go through the frat again.”

Jeongguk didn’t need to tell Taehyung twice. Maybe they compromised the integrity of a few bushes on their way out, but it was better than trying to make it through a swarm of teenagers.

They could finally breathe as they walked along the sidewalk heading back to the main part of campus. There were a few other people walking around, but it wasn’t much. It made sense, since they were still pretty close to the fraternity house.

When Taehyung looked ahead, he had to do a double take. He wasn’t expecting Bora to be walking towards the fraternity house with two other girls.

“One second.” Taehyung said to Jeongguk. “Don’t leave.”

Taehyung strided towards her sister and stopped in front of her.

“Bora, what are you doing here?” Taehyung questioned. He spared the two other girls a glance. He was pretty sure one of them was Bora’s dorm mate.

“Hey, Tae.” Bora waved at her brother. “Going to hang out. Can’t you tell?”

Taehyung clicked his tongue and crossed his arms over his chest. “Everyone is drinking there. It’s not really safe. I saw the people in there.”

“We’re going to the sorority, random guy.” The girl to the left of Bora replied. “They’re having a party thing for girls who want to join.”

Jeongguk caught up with Taehyung by the time the girl finished speaking.

“So, you’re not going to the frat? You promise?” Taehyung held onto his sister’s shoulders. “You’ll call me if you need anything?”

Bora placed one of her hands on top of Taehyung’s. “Of course I will.”

Taehyung relaxed his shoulders. “Okay, thank you.”

“You walk quickly.” Jeongguk said from behind Taehyung.

Bora immediately stared at Jeongguk wide-eyed.

“Sorry.” Taehyung stepped back to be next to Jeongguk, who surprisingly threw an arm over his shoulders.

“Don’t be. Should we continue back now?” Jeongguk didn’t even look at Bora.

Bora took note, so she cleared her throat.

“Sure. But I guess I should introduce you. This is my sister, Bora.” Taehyung motioned to his love struck sister. “And…”

“Eunjung.”

“And I’m Haeun. I remember you , Taehyung. You came over to our dorm to help Bora with something and I was there. I was hoping you would stop by again, so we could talk. I kept asking Bora for your nu-” Haeun stopped speaking when Bora elbowed her.

“Cool. I’m Jeongguk.” Jeongguk offered Bora a millisecond of eye contact before he looked away.

“Bora, come on. We have to go now or else all of the cupcakes are going to be gone. Garam said they’re incredible and I’m not missing out on free food.” Eunjung grabbed Bora’s arm and dragged her away.

“Bye, Jeongguk!” Bora called out before she let herself be dragged.

Haeun hung back to try and give Taehyung her number, but Eunjung shouted for her to hurry up and she scurried away.

Once the girls were gone, Jeongguk let go of Taehyung and walked alongside him.

“Your sister’s dorm mate is not subtle about liking you.” Jeongguk chuckled. “Jeez.”

“I know.” Taehyung groaned. “That’s why I respectfully avoid her.” He added. “What did you think of my sister?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah. What was her name again? Boyoung?” Jeongguk questioned.

Taehyung needed to work harder trying to get Jeongguk to like his sister. He basically ignored her, and Taehyung didn’t know if that would be a red flag. It wasn’t like he was ogling either of the other girls, though. Maybe he was just tired.

“Bora.” Taehyung corrected him. “She’s sweet. Isn’t she so pretty?”

“I didn’t really notice. If she’s related to you, I’m sure she’s cute.” Jeongguk quickly said. “Anyway, let’s head back.”

Jeongguk and Taehyung exchanged light conversation on the way back.

When they made it back to Taehyung’s dorm, the two stood outside together.

For some reason, it felt awkward. Like the end of a first date where one person doesn’t know if they should invite the other inside.

“So,” Jeongguk pocketed his hands and rocked back on his heels, “I’ll text you.”

“Okay.” Taehyung retrieved his keys from his pocket. “Get back safely, okay?”

Just as Taehyung was about to unlock his dorm, the door opened and Hyungu almost crashed into Taehyung.

“Look much?” Hyungu glared at Taehyung. He didn’t even notice Jeongguk. “Back from the party so soon? No one wanted to hang with you, huh?”

Before Taehyung could speak, Jeongguk cleared his throat.

Hyungu looked past Taehyung and smiled broadly at Jeongguk. “Dude! Hey! What are you doing here? I was hoping I’d run into you at the party.” He swatted Taehyung out of the way, so he could exit the dorm. “That’s one of my dorm mates, Taeyong, by the way. I know, I got screwed over. You should see the other guy. He’s even worse.” Hyungu wasn’t usually as obnoxious as he was at that moment, but it was clear that he was trying to impress Jeongguk.

“Taehyung.” Jeongguk corrected. “I know him, which is why I’m here. I walked him back to his dorm and now I’m going to mine. We’re on the soccer team together.”

“What? There’s no fucking way he made it on the team.” Hyungu clapped Jeongguk on the back. “No way, man! Come back to the party. You know that some of the cheerleaders are going to be there, right? You can literally choose any one of them you want.”

“Nah.” Jeongguk shrugged. “The girls will be around whenever. Party kinda sucks anyway.”

“It’s going to suck without you. We should go together.” Hyungu looked desperate, which was weird to Taehyung. He must really admire Jeongguk. “If you don’t want to deal with them, we can go into one of the rooms together and get wasted. Then we won’t remember if we do anything stupid.”

“Another time, alright? You go and have fun. Let me know how it is.” Jeongguk’s smile won Hyungu over.

Hyungu sighed in defeat and put his key in his pocket. “Okay, man. See you.” He looked at Taehyung. “Catch you later, Taehyun.”

Once Hyungu left, Taehyung sighed. “That was the closest he’s ever gotten to my name.”

“Hyungu is a character, that’s for sure.” Jeongguk shook his head in disbelief. “I’ll head out now.”

“Bye, Jeongguk.”

Jeongguk actually managed to leave and Taehyung went into his dorm. It looked like Jihun was in his room, given the door was closed and a sliver of light emitted itself from under his door.

Taehyung went to his room and plugged his phone in. He got ready for bed and collapsed onto his bed.

It made sense why everyone liked Jeongguk. He was very considerate of his teammates. Sure, the hanging out off of campus was probably an empty promise, but it made Jeongguk seem like he genuinely wanted to be friends with Taehyung. But they weren’t friends – they were teammates and Taehyung could be friends with the guy once he set him and Bora up.

Taehyung’s phone screen lit up and he grabbed it to check what caused it.

There was a message from Jeongguk.

10:48 PM
From: Jeongguk
Message: hey thanks again for letting me walk you back and i was thinking that maybe we can meet up outside your dorm monday at 6:30? Nothing says bright and early like going jogging lol

Okay, Jeongguk wanting to be up and ready that early in the morning may actually be a red flag for Taehyung. The whole concept of going anywhere at that hour was nauseating and he knew damn well that the earliest his sister got up was close to eleven. Taehyung was more of a morning person than her, but he would much prefer to wake up at 6:30, not be out by that hour.

Still, he had to oblige.

10:52 PM
To: Jeongguk
Message: Hey:) sounds good. I’ll see you then

10:52 PM
From: Jeongguk
Message: see you :)

…

Taehyung almost missed his alarm, but he did it. He got up and made it outside of his dorm at the time Jeongguk suggested.

It was perfect timing, because Jeongguk had just arrived, clad in a pair of black sweatpants and a tight black tee. Tattoos usually weren’t Bora’s thing, but Taehyung liked them. Especially on Jeongguk.

“Morning.” Jeongguk stopped in front of Taehyung. “Ready?”

“Definitely.”

Taehyung barely had a chance to take a few steps before Jeongguk started jogging. He apparently had a whole path planned out.

The first fifteen minutes were okay, but Taehyung began to suffer after that. He slowed down significantly and wanted to stop. He wasn’t cut out for soccer if they had to run as much as they were.

Eventually, Taehyung came to a stop and bent down, placing his hands on his thighs and catching his breath.

“Are you okay?” Jeongguk jogged over and didn’t seem to show any signs of exhaustion.

“You guys made the wrong choice having me on the team.” Taehyung tried to catch his breath.

Jeongguk clicked his tongue and placed a comforting hand on Taehyung’s shoulder. “Stop. You’re doing great. How about we walk together to the soccer field?”

“I don’t want to hold you back.” Taehyung stood back up and looked at Jeongguk.

Jeongguk had yet to retract his hand. “You won’t be. I’m tired, too. Plus, you did so much better than Kiwoo when I did this with him in the mornings. The guy could barely make it five minutes.”

“You’re just saying that, but I’ll oblige.” It was sweet of Jeongguk to be considerate.

Jeongguk finally let go of Taehyung’s shoulder and nodded in the direction of the soccer field. “Some of the other guys might be there.”

Great.

As they were walking, Taehyung figured he needed to gather more information about Jeongguk’s dating history for Bora.

“So, I have a question. You totally don’t have to answer.” Taehyung accidentally bumped into Jeongguk as they walked. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to.”

“Here,” Jeongguk bumped into Taehyung, “Now we’re even. But what’s the question?”

“When was your last relationship? With all of the girls that are apparently interested in you, I can imagine it wasn’t too long ago.” Taehyung hoped it didn’t seem like he was the one that was interested. It was for Bora. But Jeongguk would probably not think twice about it, since he was straight. He would just be two guys talking about guy things…or whatever straight people talked about.

Jeongguk tried to jog his memory. “Um, I’ve never really had anything serious. Met someone over the summer, but we didn’t date. It was just…yeah.”

They were just hooking up? Was that what Jeongguk meant? If so, then that would mean that the soccer player could be into hookup culture. That wouldn’t be good for Bora.

“I won’t press.” Taehyung replied.

“How about you? When was your last girlfriend?” Jeongguk clearly misread Taehyung. Of course, Taehyung wasn’t out, but he never considered himself to be someone who radiated “straight energy”, or whatever it was.

Taehyung desperately wished he had some water. “I’ve never had a girlfriend.”

Jeongguk stopped for a moment and looked at Taehyung, bewildered. “What? Are you serious?”

“Um…” Taehyung continued to walk, so Jeongguk would hopefully do the same thing. “Yes? Why do you sound so shocked?”

“Because you’re-” Jeongguk hesitated. “Because it seems like you get a lot of attention. Your sister’s friend, or whatever, seemed very into you. I bet that happens a lot. Have you ever kissed anyone? Gone on a date?”

“I’ve kissed one person. Literally only once.” Taehyung hated how the guy pretended it never happened afterwards. “You can tell me how lame it is for a twenty-year-old to be like me. It’s okay.”

“Why would I make fun of you? I think that’s cute.” Jeongguk replied. He looked ahead. “I think a few of the guys are already on the field.”

There were three other people there – Doyoung, Jinho, and Seungsik.

The only one who looked happy to see Taehyung was Doyoung.

Doyoung was pretty cute, honestly. He was lean like an athlete but, like Jeongguk, they very clearly had styles of their own. Doyoung’s hair was tinged blue and the shoes that Taehyung usually saw him wearing on campus were clunky bright colored combat boots.

Doyoung offered Taehyung and Jeongguk a small wave as they walked over.

“Morning, you two.” Doyoung looked between them. “Early morning jog?”

“You know it.” Jeongguk responded. “We were thinking of warming up a bit.”

“Cool.” Doyoung nodded. “If you want to pair with Jinho, I’ll take Taehyung.”

“I mean…I’m with him now.” Jeongguk muttered. “We can just do a three way.” He paused. “And now I realize how that sounded.”

Taehyung nearly choked at the inconvenient string of words Jeongguk surely regretted.

“Gotcha. I’ll grab a ball.” Doyoung walked away while Jeongguk and Taehyung went onto the field. Jinho and Seungsik were still talking by the bleachers, so Taehyung didn’t have to worry about them for a bit.

When Doyoung came back, the three formed into a sort of triangle and kicked the ball from one person to another. That was manageable for Taehyung, but he was still winded from jogging earlier.

“Yo, Doyoung! Jeongguk!” Jinho called from the sidelines. They had only been kicking the ball around for around ten minutes before the soccer player spoke up. “Stop doing charity work and practice with us!”

Jeongguk and Doyoung both glanced at Taehyung after Jinho spoke and frowned when they saw his expression falter.

Jeongguk spoke up first. “Well, I think I might be doing charity work playing with you. Taehyung can actually get my passes.”

Doyoung snickered as he went to stand closer to Taehyung.

“Don’t worry about them. They’re kind of assholes, but I’ve never seen a sport’s team filled with only nice people. There’s always gotta be at least one.”

Taehyung looked at Doyoung. “Nah, they’re right. I’m not good at this.”

Doyoung clicked his tongue and playfully shoved Taehyung’s shoulder. “Stop, that’s not true. I’ll go distract them, so you can practice with Jeongguk.”

Before Taehyung could answer, Doyoung jogged away towards the two soccer players and brought one of them into a headlock.

Jeongguk faced Taehyung and shrugged his shoulders. He made his way closer and dropped the soccer ball he was holding to put one shoe on top of it. They should have been wearing cleats, but it was too much work. They weren’t even really practicing.

“Anyway,” Jeongguk exhaled a deep breath, “Back to messing around. How about we get a little further away and try to pass like we were actually playing? Sure, it’s easy to get the ball when you’re only practicing by moving a few inches at best, but running and adrenaline make everything ten times harder. We can give it a shot.”

“Sure.”

They had played a mock game at practice, but not too many people kicked the ball to Taehyung. So, when it was just him and Jeongguk, he had to be much more vigilant.

And Jeongguk was right. It was pretty damn hard to get to the ball and not nearly topple over when he somehow caught up to it.

Luckily, Jeongguk was very patient with Taehyung. It was much appreciated.

“Further!” Jeongguk shouted to Taehyung from the other side of the field.

Taehyung could barely hear Jeongguk, but his hand motions were enough. He went long and got the ball before he managed to run into the soccer goal. He was fine, but it was embarrassing.

Taehyung could feel himself redden from embarrassment.

“You’re not supposed to do that, for the record.” Jeongguk smirked at Taehyung. “The goal is not the enemy. Well, I guess it is if it’s against our favor to make a goal.”

“I did that on purpose, clearly.” Taehyung replied. “Just keeping you on your toes.”

“Mhm.” Jeongguk watched Taehyung with an entertained expression. “You’re a clumsy one, aren’t you? You were probably the kid covered in bandages growing up because you were too busy falling out of trees and shit.”

“I’ll have you know that the scar on my knee is completely unrelated.” Taehyung bent down to get the ball and almost hit his head on the post.

Jeongguk had to stifle laughter. “Sure thing, like I believe that.” He started to back away, so he could intercept the ball when Taehyung kicked it.

“Bully me some more.” Taehyung got to a safe distance from the goal and set the ball down. He kicked it to Jeongguk.

“I would never. You’re too precious to seriously make fun of.” Jeongguk ramped up to kick the ball to Taehyung. “The clumsiness is endearing.”

“I’m not clumsy.” Taehyung slowed down once he had the ball. He was a bit distracted looking at Jeongguk while he was talking and also trying to jog. “You really have no fa-”

The ball slipped out from under Taehyung’s shoe and, without that support, he tripped and fell into the grass.

Jeongguk was fast to come over and kneel down next to him. He looked at Taehyung to make sure he wasn’t showing any signs of pain and instead saw him holding back a smile from the fact that he had to eat his own words.

When Taehyung made eye contact with Jeongguk, they both couldn’t help it and laughed together.

“What was that you were saying earlier?” Jeongguk snickered.

Taehyung accepted his fate. He was going to be seen as the clumsy idiot on the team. “Okay. I will admit that I may have been a bit off. I had too much faith in myself.”

“Nah, accidents happen. I’ve had way worse falls and they were face first.” Jeongguk replied. “But, for real, are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Thanks.” Taehyung’s ankle hurt a bit, but it wasn’t anything serious. It would feel better soon enough. “Feel free to shame me.”

Jeongguk got himself up and extended a hand to help Taehyung do the same. “What kind of monster do you think I am? We’re playing without cleats, Tae. If it didn’t happen to you, it would have happened to me.”

“What a breath of fresh air you are.” Taehyung was really relieved that Jeongguk seemed like a great guy.

Jeongguk threw an arm around Taehyung’s shoulders and they walked back to the bleachers.

“We’re fucked for our next game with this one on our team.” Taehyung wasn’t sure if it was just some good old banter or not, but he didn’t like it.

Seungsik laughed at Jinho’s remark. “He’s almost as bad as you were in the spring. But you’re halfway decent now, so maybe he’ll improve.”

“You two should focus on yourselves.” Doyoung got up from the bleachers, where he was drinking a bottle of water. “Besides, don’t you both have Professor Do like first thing in the morning? If you’re late, they’re going to be pissed.”

“Ugh.” Jinho groaned. “You’re right. You know, they got pissed at me last Monday because I came in with my duffel bag. Like it’s a big deal. I wanted to drop the class because no one tells me what to do, but it’s a prerequisite.”

Taehyung honestly ignored the rest of the conversation. He couldn’t be bothered to care, in all honesty.

Besides, he was going to probably loiter in the library until his class. Maybe keep Yunho some company if he was working.

Eventually, everyone said their goodbyes and went off to do their own thing. They had practice later on, so it didn’t matter much anyway.

.

“Stop.”

Taehyung’s finger hovered over the button for the drink he wanted in the vending machine. He rolled his eyes and half glanced behind him.

“What?” Taehyung questioned. “Let me guess, you want a soda and don’t have the money for it?”

“No.” Bora scoffed. “Way to think the worst. But I’ll totally take a soda now that you mention it.” She pinched her brother’s arm and he shooed her away. “You should have lunch with me. Unless you are with your soccer buddies. But you could take me with you if you did.”

Taehyung was not letting Bora near the soccer team. She would probably charm them all if he did.

“I’ll sit with you.” Taehyung pressed the button for his sister’s favorite soda. When it came out, he handed it to her and got some tea for himself. “Where?”

“Let’s grab some pizza and then we can find an open seat.”

Taehyung obliged and, of course, paid for his and Bora’s pizzas. She found a table while he was paying and the two sat down, comically large pizza slices in front of them.

“So, tell me. What’s up?” Bora questioned her brother.

“Everything is good. Soccer is going okay. I’ve embarrassed myself a ton, though.” Taehyung told the truth. Bora saw the amount of times Taehyung tripped over a soccer ball – it was nothing new.

Bora took a bite of her pizza. “Shocker. But you’re so lucky you get to look at Jeongguk during practice. Have you learned anything new about him? Maybe his favorite food, or interests? Then he and I could go on the best date ever and he’ll be super into me. Maybe he can even hang out with us winter break. No, summer! That would be fun.”

“Woah, you’re getting way ahead of yourself. You’re not even dating the guy.” Taehyung picked up his pizza and admired the grease on the plate underneath it.

“Yet.” Bora said. “Let me know when your next game is and I can go.”

“I’ll keep you posted.” Taehyung really didn’t want her to meet the whole soccer team, but it was bound to happen if she went to one of his games.

As if on cue, Jeongguk strolled past their table with a small group of people. There was a guy from the soccer team, another guy Taehyung had seen at the library a few times, two girls, and some guy he had never seen before.

When Jeongguk looked to his left and saw Taehyung, he slowed down his pace and waved at him.

The rest of the people in the group were loud and very animated, so Jeongguk was being bumped around a bit. He still looked happy, though.

“Hey.” Jeongguk’s smile was seriously a problem. Taehyung loved seeing him talk about something he enjoyed and how he would light up when they had some friendly banter.

Taehyung waved back. Jeongguk didn’t have time to stop, given he was with a rowdy group, so they passed as quickly as they got there.

“Oh my gosh. You guys really are friends.” Bora swooned. “Can you try to find out his birthday? I can do something cute for him.”

“Bora-” Taehyung held his tongue. She adored the guy, Taehyung understood, but he was still trying to make sure that he was right for his sister. It was taking longer than usual and Taehyung felt pretty confident that he knew the kind of person Jeongguk was, but he wanted to have no doubt in his mind.

…

Soccer practice on Monday was okay, as it also was on Wednesday. They kept pretty busy because of their coach, and Taehyung usually sat at the bleachers for a bit once practice was over, so he didn’t talk to Jeongguk much. Jeongguk always looked like he could run a marathon, even after running around a field for an hour and a half.

On Friday, Taehyung got to practice at the same time Doyoung did.

“Welcome, welcome.” Doyoung walked alongside Taehyung from the locker room to the field. “How has your week been? I wish I could have talked to you more.”

“It’s been okay. My professor for my sculpture class for sure has a vendetta against me, but I’ll manage. How about you?” Taehyung questioned his friend. Were they friends? Taehyung felt like they were.

“Same old, same old. Ready for the weekend. I’m going out of town, otherwise I’d ask if you wanted to hang. It’s my niece's birthday party and I can’t miss it, given I’m the best uncle in the bunch.” Doyoung chuckled lightly. “I have a pretty big family and it’s my goal to be the best uncle to all six of my nieces and nephews.”

Taehyung’s jaw almost dropped. “Woah. That’s…a lot. And expensive.”

“Well, you’re not wrong about that. It’s worth it, though.” Doyoung really did seem like a family kind of guy. “I’ve gotta talk to Rowoon, but I’ll catch up with you later.”

Taehyung was fine with walking alone, so he did just that. He made it to the field and greeted a few of his team mates. Taehyung sat cross-legged in the grass and watched everyone congregate.

Eventually, their coach appeared and called the team over. They huddled together and anxiously waited to see what Coach Kim had to say.

Coach Kim was cool. Taehyung overheard a lot of the guys on the team talking about him. Apparently, he was a big shot in America for a while. He was young and personable, which attracted the team towards him.

“Okay. Our first game is coming up. It’s going to be next Thursday, so we’re going to have to work hard for these next few practices.” Coach Kim said and everyone nodded in understanding.

Jeongguk, who snuck in with the group since he arrived a little later, stealthily made his way over to Taehyung and stood next to him.

“Treat your team well. I know Rowoon has been doing a great job as captain. But, we have some news. Since Rowoon will be graduating this semester, we’re going to need a co-capitan to be taken under his wing until he graduates.” Coach Kim eyed the crowd. “Rowoon and I thought about this a lot. We were unsure if we should choose a sophomore or junior who has been here longer, but figured picking a freshman would be more ideal. They could be capitan all four years.” He clapped his hands together. “So, without further ado, we’d like to announce our new co-captain.” He looked over at Rowoon, who was just to his right.

“We think that Jeongguk would best fill this position.” Rowoon got the privilege of announcing the co-captain. “He’s extremely talented and has showed great showmanship. He’s a good team leader.” He scanned the crowd for Jeongguk and nodded at him. “You don’t have to say yes, of course. If anyone disagrees, please make your opinion known. We want to make sure that this is something everyone would be happy with.”

“I love the idea.”

“Yeah, Jeon is perfect for the role.”

“Co-captain Jeongguk has a nice ring to it.”

“I was going to suggest him if you hadn’t already considered him.”

“Well?” Rowoon got to see Jeongguk better when everyone shuffled out of the way enough to make space for him. “What do you say?”

“Wow.” Jeongguk couldn’t believe that everyone appreciated him enough to want him to be captain once Rowoon graduated. It meant a lot. “Yeah, I’d love to.”

The soccer team did what they do best and hyped Jeongguk up. It was loud and wholesome to see them so pleased with their future captain.

Everyone was chatting loudly and congratulated Jeongguk.

Jeongguk looked over at Taehyung, who was smiling at him. Jeongguk returned the smile.

“Congrats.” Taehyung said to Jeongguk. “It’s well deserved.” He reached for his hand and squeezed it. Once he did, he let go as quickly as he grabbed Jeongguk’s hand.

“Thank you. I appreciate that.” Jeongguk replied. “Truly.”

“Alright, alright. Keep that adrenaline and excitement for practice! Let’s do a few drills and then get in our places!”

There wasn’t much for the captain, or co-captain, to do. Coach Kim pretty much had it covered.

Everyone went to do their own thing when they were dismissed. Taehyung walked to the other end of the field and practiced by himself for a bit before he collapsed into the grass. The sun was in his eyes, but it felt nice to be laying down.

Taehyung would have to tell Bora about the game next Thursday. She was going to be over the moon.

“What are we looking at over here?”

Taehyung opened his eyes and looked to his right to see Jeongguk laying down next to him.

“My eyelids.” Taehyung replied.

“It’s tiring, yeah?” Jeongguk looked to his left and made eye contact with Taehyung. “You’re doing so well, though.”

“Thanks, captain.” Taehyung grinned. “Appreciate that.”

“Not captain yet.” Jeongguk corrected Taehyung. “I’m kinda nervous.”

“What?” Taehyung questioned him. “Why? You’re going to be amazing. You’re already adored by everyone on the team. Myself included.”

“Well…I dunno. It’s still close to the beginning of the semester and things can change.” Jeongguk sighed and looked back up at the sky. He used his hand to cover his eyes. “Would you stay on the team?”

That was a good question. “Maybe? Probably? If I get good enough.” He honestly just joined to see the kind of person Jeongguk was. The whole concept of having games was a bit daunting to Taehyung. He had never actually had a game before and didn’t think he would.

“Hm. Well, if you’re going to be there then maybe it won’t be so bad.” Jeongguk concluded. “Want to go to the campus convenience store and get some drinks with me? We can bring them back over here.”

That was a great idea. “Sure.” Taehyung replied and struggled to stand up. His legs were sore.

“Wait,” Jeongguk grabbed onto Taehyung’s bicep on one arm and his forearm on the other, “Don’t want you to trip over your laces, or something.”

Taehyung clicked his tongue and glared at Jeongguk. “You have zero faith in me.”

“I definitely don’t. I think very highly of you, which is why I’ll buy whatever you want at the store.” Jeongguk felt for his pockets. “I need to go to the bleachers for a sec and grab my wallet.”

“Nah, I got it. It’s on me.” Taehyung was going to pull the elder card. “Don’t disagree with me. I’m older.”

Jeongguk rolled his eyes. “Barely. I guess it’s up to whomever gets their card out first at the store, huh?”

“Guess so.”

.

It ended up being Jeongguk that got to pay. Taehyung wasn’t happy about it. Well, he was, but he wanted to win.

They made it back to the field and everyone else was already gone.

Since they had free reign of the bleachers, Jeongguk and Taehyung found a spot at the very top, so they could lean against the back barricade.

“You’ve gotta try this.” Jeongguk handed Taehyung his spoon and held out the cake slice he got. “It’s so good.”

Taehyung took the spoon and tried it. “Holy shit. I thought it might be mediocre, but it’s really good.” He picked up his bag of chips. “Share with me?”

“If I must.” Jeongguk jokingly responded. He set the cake slice on the bleacher next to him and instead shifted closer to Taehyung, so they could share the chips.

“So, Jeongguk.”

“So, Taehyung.”

“Tell me about you. Hobbies? Interests? Music taste? What do you like? We haven’t discussed too much.” Taehyung was genuinely curious about Jeongguk. He never envisioned super sporty people to have anything in common with him.

Jeongguk wiped his hands on his black shorts before he folded them together on his lap. “I love the beach and traveling. I also thoroughly enjoy theme parks. Besides that, I obviously like video games. Oh, I love to cook. It’s one of my favorite things to do.” He hummed to himself. “I like alternative music and I play the drums.”

“Jeez,” Jeongguk was so cool. Why did all of his interests and personality tick all of the boxes for what made up Taehyung’s type? It wasn’t fair, “You’re so cool. My interest are lame compared to yours. I do like swimming, but I usually go to indoor pools. I’m definitely not opposed to the beach. Also love theme parks and roller coasters. Love video games. I like drawing, which is a no brainer, and I’m super into ceramics.” He paused. “I also like alternative music, as well as ballads. I wish I could play an instrument.”

“We have more in common than I thought.” Jeongguk intended to say to himself, but he audibly stated his remark. “I’m happy to hear that. It’s hard to find people who like the same things.”

“Really?” Taehyung couldn’t believe it. “You’re super popular and have a lot of friends. How have you not found anyone like that likes the same things?”

“I guess I get along with a few people, but not many of them actually get to know me. Believe it or not, I’m pretty shy.” Jeongguk fiddled with his thumbs in his lap. Cute.

“That’s completely understandable. Well, I’m happy to be that person for you.” Taehyung frantically reached for the mostly empty chip bag that threatened to fly away when a gust of wind blew past them a little stronger than usual.

“You’re sweet.” Jeongguk leaned back against the barricade, which was essentially a glorified fence. “When are you going to show me some of your art?”

“Never.” Taehyung had a blank expression on his face until he caved when Jeongguk frowned. “Kidding. I have a few pictures.”

“Show me, show me.” Jeongguk happily responded and took their mostly empty bags and containers to put them into a plastic bag he got from the convenience store.

“Okay, okay.” Taehyung raised his hips to grab his phone out of his back pocket. He unlocked it and went to his photos. “Here.”

Taehyung hoped that he didn’t have any embarrassing pictures saved. He would perish due to embarrassment if Jeongguk saw them.

“Okay, so you’re stupidly talented. Got it.” Jeongguk scrolled through the photos. “You’re kidding. You can make beautiful oil paintings? Those little bastards are my enemy. They never dry and get everywhere.” He continued to scroll. “...The realism. It’s amazing. Picture perfect.”

Jeonguk continued to scroll and got past the art photos. After them, Jeongguk had a few pictures with Bora.

“Who is that?” Jeongguk pointed to the picture. It was Bora, of course. They took it together on her first day of college. It was a memorable moment.

Having Jeongguk look at pictures of Bora was really great, actually. He could put his full focus on the photos and see what she looked like.

“My sister. I think you saw her with me before.” Taehyung knew he did, he just didn’t want Jeongguk to feel bad for not remembering.

Jeongguk shook his head. “I barely remember.” He tried to think back to whenever he met her. “Oh yeah! Her name starts with a ‘B’, right? Or was it a ‘T’ like you?”

“It’s Bora.” Taehyung replied. It wasn’t a good sign that Jeongguk couldn’t even remember her name. “There are more pictures of her. I used to take her on trips to theme parks and fairs all of the time. There should be a picture in there of her with a huge stuffed animal she won and me with a bootleg Pokemon keychain I won. And she looks so pretty in that picture. I’m biased because I bought her the outfit.”

“Aww,” Jeongguk scrolled again, “Where was this? You look so cute.”

“Ugh.” Taehyung groaned. “I hate that photo. That was last Halloween. I wanted to do something cool but, no, Bora wanted to do something matching. She was one of the ones that, unfortunately, got sucked into vampire fiction books and thought it would be cool if we were some vampire sibling duo, or whatever. That photo haunts me.”

“What? Why?” Jeongguk questioned. He slipped his phone out of his pocket and set it on his thigh. “It’s so cute and you look great in that velvet suit.”

“The texture of the velvet is what ruined everything. Every time I accidentally touched the cursed fabric, I physically recoiled. That’s why I look so uncomfortable because the stupid pants made my life a nightmare. I never want velvet near my thighs again.” Taehyung wondered how anyone could like velvet. “Plus, we ran out of fake blood for me, so she took a permanent marker and drew some on me. The hair is a trainwreck, too.”

“No way.” Jeongguk unlocked his phone and kept Taehyung’s with him still. “The hair is great. Looks nice brushed out of your face. I’ll never get you anything made of velvet, but just know that it looks good.”

Taehyung appreciated the compliments, but he wasn’t sold.

When he saw Jeongguk using his own phone and Taehyung’s at the same time, he leaned over to get a better look.

“What are you doing?” Taehyung questioned.

“Enabling Airdrop and airdropping this photo to myself.” Jeongguk casually replied.

“What?” Taehyung went for his phone. “No way.”

Jeongguk moved Taehyung’s phone in time and, instead showed him his phone screen.

“Wow, look. An airdrop from Tae’s Phone. Nice.” Jeongguk had a devilish grin on my face.

“You’re mean.” Taehyung set his phone on the opposite side of the bench once Jeongguk handed it to him. “I’m never showing you pictures again.”

“I’m not going to show anyone.” Jeongguk assured Taehyung. “It’s just cute.”

Taehyung shook his head. “Nah, it’s my sister who looks cute in it. Not me.”

“All you speak are lies.” Jeongguk pocketed his phone and leaned back. He crossed his arms over his chest and looked at Taehyung. “You have to show me more photos sometime. Please show me prom photos. I bet you looked great. Who did you go with? I know you said you never had a girlfriend, but that doesn’t mean that you didn’t have something with someone at least.”

“I didn’t go to prom.” Taehyung confessed. He would ignore the other part of Jeongguk’s comment.

“Huh?” Jeongguk gasped dramatically. “That’s supposed to be the best night of your life! Kidding, it’s not a big deal. I just went with friends and accidentally got wasted. It wasn’t memorable. Why didn’t you go, though?”

“I had to spend that evening on a train. It’s no big deal, though. Even if I had someone, I probably wouldn’t have gone.” Taehyung replied. “Yours sounds like an experience.”

“What do you mean ‘on the train’? Were you on vacation? I’m already jealous. I love traveling, as you know.” Jeongguk watched Taehyung with an entertained expression on his face.

Taehyung didn’t want to ruin the mood, but he wasn’t going to lie. “Divorced parents. My sister and I had visitation with our dad that weekend. If my parents don’t abide by their joint custody agreement perfectly, then they start blaming each other.” He tested Jeongguk’s expression. “Don’t look at me like that. You don’t need to feel bad.”

“That must have been stressful.” Jeongguk wanted to comfort Taehyung, but he didn’t know how.

Taehyung didn’t need comforting though. Plenty of people had divorced parents.

“Not when you get to have two of everything.” Taehyung said in a lighthearted tone.

“That’s the spirit.” Jeongguk let his shoulders relax.

Another gust of wind actually took a chip bag with it. Taehyung managed to grab it in time, but Jeongguk suggested that they go back to the locker room and change. There was apparently a really good ramen stand just off campus they could go to. They were having a lot of fun being alone on the soccer field, so they were going to bring their things there. It was a cool feeling to have just the two of them in such a large space. No one to bother them and speak far too loudly.

Taehyung didn’t realize how long they were talking. Practice finished at five and it was already nearing eight. No wonder Jeongguk suggested the ramen place.

But Taehyung learned that he insisted they go there for more than one reason. It was good, apparently, but Taehyung didn’t know that the person running the stand was acquaintances with Jeongguk. Even when Taehyung took out his card, Jeongguk told them not to take it and they obliged. Jeongguk paid again and it wasn’t fair.

“Ugh.” The two crossed the street to get back to campus. “Again?”

“Mhm.” Jeongguk winked at Taehyung. Taehyung would have pushed him, but he didn’t want one of the bags to fall and get all over Jeongguk.

Taehyung’s hair was still slightly damp from the showers, but he luckily had his hoodie to keep him warm. Jeongguk didn’t even break a sweat, so he omitted having wet hair for the evening.

They made it back to campus and, instead, sat in the grass. They leaned against the bleachers and set their ramen on top of them.

“So,” Taehyung opened up the containers and Jeongguk handed him some disposable chopsticks, “You said you like to travel, so where has been your favorite place that you have traveled to?”

“Osaka.” Jeongguk replied without any hesitation. “Have you ever been?”

Taehyung shook his head. “I’ve never left the country.”

“Soccer trip to Japan. It’s happening.” Jeongguk joked. “But, for real, you’ll have to go sometime.”

“I definitely will.” Taehyung truly wanted to. He was hoping that he could save up some money and take Bora next summer. “Do you have anything from your coding expertise that you can show me?”

Jeongguk set down his chopsticks and held out his index finger to tell Taehyung to wait while he grabbed his phone. “Yeah. This is a bit of a game I’m working on. This is only the beginning of it. But the video is kind of long, so you totally don’t have to watch.”

“I totally want to.” Taehyung assured Jeongguk. “Show me. Please.”

The two ate and watched the video Jeongguk pulled up. Taehyung wished he had half of the talent that Jeongguk did. He had always wanted to make his own game, or at least somehow execute an idea he had for one, but it was too hard.

Taehyung vocalized to Jeongguk how much he loved it while they continued to hang out.

By the time they knew it, it was nearing midnight.

“You know.” Taehyung double tapped his phone screen to check the time. “I still owe you for the drinks and ramen.”

Jeongguk drummed his fingers on his thigh while he conjured up an idea. “If you insist that you owe me, then you can hang with me this weekend. Maybe we can go to the arcade, or something.”

“Sounds horrible.” Taehyung playfully grinned at Jeongguk. “I’m in.”

“Perfect.” Jeongguk excitedly responded. “I’m looking forward to it.”

…

11:17 AM
From: Jeongguk
Message: see you soon :)

11:19 AM
To: Jeongguk
Message: see you!

Taehyung was about to set his phone down, until he felt it vibrate.

It was a message from Bora.

11:19 AM
From: Bora
Message: hey how was practice yesterday? Did u see the loml

Shit.

11:22 AM
To: Bora
Message: Yes haha we have a game next Thursday by the way. I’ll give you more details when I have some

11:23 AM
From: Bora
Message: yay thank u! I saw him Friday morning and felt hella butterflies

Taehyung was hanging out with Jeongguk to scope him out for Bora, so it would make sense to invite her. But part of him really didn’t want to. Maybe he still didn’t know if Jeongguk was a good fit for his sister.

For now, Taehyung tried to push the thought out of his head and went to meet up with Jeongguk.

Jeongguk was apparently already there by the time Taehyung arrived at the bowling alley.

Sure enough, when Taehyung entered the bowling alley, Jeongguk was sitting on a couch near the register.

“Hey.” Jeongguk said. He looked really good in a pair of ripped black jeans that were paired with a black tee and an oversized flannel jacket.

“Hi, Jeongguk.” Taehyung snapped out of it and walked away from the automatic doors that kept opening and closing because he was too close. “How afraid should I be for today? How competitive are you?”

Jeongguk shrugged. “I just want to hang with you, so not very much. Let me pay real quick.”

“That’s wild because I already paid online.” Taehyung was one step ahead of Jeongguk.

“You…” Jeongguk let out an exasperated sigh. “What am I supposed to do with you?”

“Let me always pay, of course.” Taehyung pocketed his hands and went over to the front desk.

Taehyung took out his phone and pulled up the barcodes he had for his ticket.

Once it was scanned, they got their shoes and sat down at their designated lane.

Then, they got their bowling balls and put their names into the system.

Taehyung had to go first because he was older, according to Jeongguk.

“Damn, nice!” Jeongguk said from his seat. “Spare on your first turn. Are we making this a competition?”

“That was luck. I’ll flop now.” Taehyung went to sit down and, as the pins were being set up again, he checked his phone.

12:14 PM
From: Bora
Message: plz make sure u tell me. when the game is bc i really want to see him

Man, Taehyung felt really bad. It wasn’t cool of him to hang out with Jeongguk and not have Bora there. He could slowly introduce them to each other. He didn’t know if it was what he wanted to do, but it was what he should do.

Taehyung sent her a text and set his phone down. If she showed up, cool. If not, that was more than perfectly fine.

They played a few more rounds until Bora showed up. It was surprisingly quick.

“Hey.”

Both Jeongguk and Taehyung glanced up from where they were looking at something on Jeongguk’s phone.

“Hi, Bora.” Taehyung replied. He looked at Jeongguk. “My sister, if you remember.”

“Oh.” Jeongguk locked his phone screen and looked at Bora. “Right. Hi.”

For some reason, Jeongguk seemed disappointed. Bora looked happy, though.

Jeongguk was popular, yes, but he also seemed like a decently shy person like he said he was. He had his team mates and change, but Taehyung remembered Jeongguk saying that he didn’t know anyone else he had that much in common with besides Taehyung.

“Uh, hey, Bora.” Taehyung got up and Jeongguk was going to follow suit, but Taehyung stopped him. “I’m going to go get something, so do you want to play my turns for me?”

“Definitely!” Bora chirped. She excitedly sat down and kept her eyes on Jeongguk, who was looking at Taehyung.

“Be back.” Taehyung tapped the table before he walked away and tried to figure out something else to do.

Meanwhile, Jeongguk sat quietly and Taehyung’s sister, whose name he forgot, sat across from him.

“I’m Bora.” It was like she could read his mind.

“Um,” Jeongguk got up to play his turn, “Taehyung told me. I’m-“

“Jeongguk. I know who you are!” Jeongguk wondered why she looked at him the way she was.

Jeongguk lightly exhaled before he took his turn and barely knocked down three. It was the first time he didn’t at least get nine down.

“So, Jeongguk.” Bora said once Jeongguk sat down. He just wished she would take her turn, or Taehyung would come back. “What kind of stuff do you like?”

“…Programming. Video games. Concerts.” Jeongguk curtly replied.

“Really?” Bora questioned. “But concerts are so loud. How can you enjoy them? Sure, maybe one or two, but that’s it. I have only been to a few and most were with Tae when he took me to ones he thought I would like. I didn’t, but I pretended I did. He’s the one who likes concerts.” She wouldn’t stop talking. “Like computer programming? So you’re smart then, huh? I’m really bad with computers, but great with numbers. I need to get better. I’m majoring in finance, though. It’s pretty fun so far, but it’s my first semester. We’ll see how it goes.”

Jeongguk glanced around to see if he could find Taehyung, but he had no idea where he was.

“That’s cool.” Jeongguk tried to be polite. There was nothing wrong with Taehyung’s sister, but he didn’t ask her to hang out as well.

Hopefully Taehyung would come back soon.

.

Taehyung decided that stopping next door to get some snacks might suffice. He lingered longer than normal, but he really wanted to get back.Taehyung wanted to hang out with Jeongguk. They were friends, after all.

Finally, Taehyung headed back with a tray of fries and some nachos.

When Jeongguk saw Taehyung, he broke out into a smile.

Even before Taehyung got to their table, Jeongguk got up to help him.

“You’re back.” Jeongguk took the nachos and headed towards the table. “I missed you.”

“I missed you too.”Taehyung laughed. “Did you have fun with my sister?”

“Sure.” Jeongguk lied. “She seems nice.”

They both watched Bora roll before they focused on each other again.

“I just…I dunno. I’m not good with strangers. I’m probably boring her and now I feel like I’ll be intruding on your sibling hang out.” Jeongguk’s shoulders slumped.

“I don’t think you can associate you with boring in any way, shape, or form.” Taehyung honestly replied. “You’re super fun.”

“Thanks, Tae.” Jeongguk felt a lot better when Taehyung was around.

Taehyung and Jeongguk’s eyes lingered on each other for longer than they probably should have, until Taehyung came back to reality. They were way too close together. And Taehyung didn’t mind it.

“Let’s finish this game up.” Taehyung was there for Bora. He needed to go back to the table and not leave her hanging.

The three took a pause from the game to eat.

“Tae, my roommate has basically professed her love for you to me. Can you please go out with her, or let her down? I’m so tired of her talking about you. Like…you’re my brother. That’s weird.” Bora picked up a nacho chip.

Jeongguk snickered. “Damn, Taehyung. What are you gonna do?”

“Can you just…lie to her?” Taehyung let out an exasperated sigh. “She doesn’t even know anything about me.”

“I know. But she doesn’t care. She keeps saying how hot you are, which is disgusting, and that it doesn’t really matter what your personality is like. I tried telling her that you weren’t available and she said she can make you available.” Bora paused to reach for a napkin. “You want me to tell her you’re gay, or something? She probably won’t believe it though, or will try to ‘convert’ you like that’s possible.”

“No offense, but she sounds insufferable.” It was slightly easier to talk with Taehyung around, in Jeongguk’s opinion. Especially since they were sitting next to each other occasionally bumping their knees together by accident.

“Right?” Bora laughed. “What about you, Jeongguk? Do you have a girlfriend?”

Taehyung already knew the answer, and so did Bora.

“No, I don’t.” Jeongguk replied. “Do you have a boyfriend?”

“Nope!” Bora seemed happy that Jeongguk asked the question. “I want one, though.”

“Well, there are plenty of new faces around here. I’m sure you’ll find someone.” Jeongguk said.

Bora didn’t seem faltered by his comment. “I have some ideas already. But I have to make sure they like me too.”

“They probably do. You’re very pretty. You and your brother look alike.” Jeongguk rested his chin in his palm and looked from one sibling to the other.

“Does that mean you’re calling my brother pretty, too?” Bora grinned at the comment. She knew he didn’t mean it that way, but she wanted to see if he could provide a witty response.

“Yeah.” Jeongguk’s gaze went back to Taehyung. “I guess I am.”

Bora clicked her tongue. “Don’t try to flatter him. Enough people have already made it clear they find him attractive. Like…I couldn’t ever have friends around because they would want to go watch Taehyung play soccer outside, or go in the pool. They were even willing to watch him play video games just to look at him. And then people in school were obnoxious too. I think they liked his shy personality. He’s always been the quiet one. I’m the opposite. What are you into? Outgoing?”

“You’re friends have taste.” Jeongguk quickly said. “I think I prefer people more mellow, since I’m a little bit more on the quiet side too.”

“I love quiet guys. I think they’re so cute.”

Taehyung felt weird about the conversation, so he got up to take his turn. He wasn’t so hungry anymore.

Luckily, there were only two turns left and they finished up.

“Well, thanks for coming out. I’ll see you, Bora.” Taehyung put his bowling ball away after he returned his shoes.

“See you, big bro. I’m going to go meet up with some friends at the gym.” Bora texted away on her phone. “Feel free to join me anytime at the gym, Jeongguk. Can I get your number, so we can plan times to go together?”

“I’ll text it to you. You don’t want to be late.” Taehyung gave his sister a side hug. “Love you.”

“Love you too.” Bora gave her brother a proper hug before she gave Jeongguk one.

Once she left, Jeongguk faced Taehyung. “Um, thank you for hanging out with me.”

“You sound like you’re leaving.” Taehyung furrowed his brow. “Weren’t we going to go to the arcade?”

“Huh?” Jeongguk sounded confused. “You let your sister go, so I figured…”

“I did because I kind of put you in an awkward position having her here when you weren’t expecting it. I’m sorry about that.” Taehyung felt guilty that Jeongguk seemed pretty unhappy for the past hour, or so.

Jeongguk shook his head. “No, no. Don’t apologize. You really didn’t want to invite her to the arcade?”

No, he didn’t. It was simply because Taehyung didn’t want to make Jeongguk uncomfortable. That was it.

“I can, if you want. I just thought it might be fun the two of us. She doesn’t really like video games.” Taehyung made sure all of the trash was off of their table before he walked away with Jeongguk in tow.

“I want it to be the two of us.”

…

Taehyung and Jeongguk ended up hanging out until nearly nine in the evening. Taehyung then walked Jeongguk back to his dorm and they shared a warm hug before Taehyung left.

From that night, Taehyung and Jeongguk hung out frequently. When Taehyung went to the library to visit Jihun, Jeongguk would stop by and keep them company. They had lunch together when they could, and the two often messaged each other.

To prepare for the game, the two would stay a bit longer after practice and Jeongguk would give Taehyung good tips.

Sometimes, other team members would want to stay, and Jeongguk insisted that it was a one-on-one practice and that the could practice with each other ‘some other time’.

Taehyung felt a little ridiculous when he had trouble nailing a trick Jeongguk was trying to teach him one of the many times they practiced together.

When Jeongguk tried to teach Taehyung the rainbow kick, Taehyung was not getting a hang of it.

“If I kick it into my head one more time, I’m quite literally going to lose my mind.” Taehyung sighed. He had been trying to no avail.

“Try not to overthink it, Tae.” Jeongguk assured Taehyung. “Just focus on the footwork.”

“I’m one thousand percent going to trip over my own feet.” Taehyung wasn’t convinced he was capable of those kinds of tricks.

“I promise I’ll catch you if you do. You’re not getting hurt on my watch.” Jeongguk went to get the ball and set it next to Taehyung. “Try again.”

Taehyung heaved the nth sigh he did while practicing and failing.

And, as expected, he tried and failed.

Taehyung pouted as he went for the ball. When he looked at Jeongguk, he saw that he was watching on with a smile on his face.

“Are you making fun of me, Jeongguk?” Taehyung set the ball down and lightly kicked it in front of Jeongguk.

“Not at all. You look really cu-“ Jeongguk caught himself. “You look so determined.”

“Alright, captain. Can you show me again?” Taehyung wanted to impress Jeongguk.

“Sure.”

Jeongguk demonstrated again before he brought the ball back to Taehyung.

“Okay. Try starting up by jogging a bit more than you are, so it gives you time to prepare. Are you right handed? I’m assuming yes with how you have been kicking the ball.” Jeongguk asked.

“Mhm.”

“Okay, Awesome. Then you should use your right foot to almost roll the ball up your left leg. Make sure to roll it up the side and not the back, or else it will just go right past you. You’ve been doing great, but don’t be afraid to show the soccer ball some dominance. Use force on it— it won’t pop.” Jeongguk rubbed Taehyung’s back in a comforting manner when he saw his expression. “Don’t worry! You can do it. All you have to do after that is roll the ball up your calf. Once the ball has leverage, use your left heel to kick it up. Take your time because you’ve got this. Step forward on your dominant foot when the ball is in the air and then you're golden.”

“Okay.” Taehyung wiped away some dirt on his hands from when he fell onto his knees earlier. “You really think I can do this, or am I just wasting your time?”

“You’re not wasting my time. I don’t have to be out here, you know. No one is forcing me.” Jeongguk assured Taehyung and retracted his hand before he stepped back from Taehyung. “Go for it.”

It wouldn’t hurt to try. Actually, it might.

Still, Jeongguk wasted way too much time trying to teach Taehyung that attempting the trick was the least he could do.

Taehyung prepared for the worst, so he was baffled when the ball went over his head and he kicked it into the goal.

He froze for a moment, certain that it was someone else. There was no way that Taehyung finally did the trick.

“See!” Jeongguk jogged over and ruffled Taehyung’s hair. “You killed it.”

“Only because of your help. It probably won’t happen again.” Taehyung replied.

“It will. Let’s try for a bit more before we call it. I don’t want you to over exert yourself when we have a game in two days.” Once again, Jeongguk somehow had more energy than anyone should ever have.

And Taehyung wasn’t going to tell Jeongguk no. It was fun playing with him anyway.

Before Taehyung knew it, he was in the locker room, clad in his uniform, and surrounded by a ton of half-dressed teammates.

“Coach,” Doyoung stopped Coach Kim, “Do you think we’re ready for this? The first game is always stressful.”

“You all are more than ready. I assure you.” Coach Kim held a clip board in his hand. “Hurry up because you’ve gotta be on the field soon.”

Everyone obliged, not wanting to disappoint their coach, and quickly got onto the field.

“You ready for this?” Jeongguk walked alongside Taehyung. “I know you are.”

“Hey, guys!” Doyoung forced his way in between them and threw his arms around their shoulders. “Good luck.”

“Thanks, Doyoung.” Taehyung smiled at his friend. “Good luck to you too.”

“I feel lucky already since I got to see that gorgeous smile of yours.” Doyoung boldly responded.

Jeongguk almost gagged at how cringey the comment was, but he restrained himself.

They had better things to do…like play the game.

When the game started, Taehyung felt incredibly nervous. Especially when Rowoon fell pretty hard, but he was a trooper and got up.

Taehyung got ready on the field and heard his name from behind him. He looked and saw Bora waving at him.

Taehyung waved back before he tried to focus completely on the game again.

The game went well so far, but Taehyung noticed that the people around him didn’t kick the ball to him. Maybe it made sense because he was new on the team, but it discouraged Taehyung. He joined the team to talk to Jeongguk, but that didn’t mean that he wanted to not fully participate.

Jeongguk must have taken note, because he went to kick the ball to Taehyung despite being a striker, but Seungsik came in and nearly knocked Taehyung down.

It honestly made Taehyung feel pretty shitty. He wasn’t the best, but he was trying.

In the end, they still won the game.

The team went to the locker room. Taehyung was going to meet up with Bora after and convince Jeongguk to go with him.

As soon as they got into the locker room, Jeongguk ripped off his knee pads and glared at his team.

“What the hell was that, guys?” Jeongguk slipped his shirt off.

“What? We won, dude.” Jinho also took off his shirt and replaced it with a zip-up hoodie. It was a cold night and, needless to say, the team was much colder rather than sweaty on the field.

“Yeah, but we’re a team. You’re supposed to include everyone.” Jeongguk replied. “And not intercept a perfectly good pass.” He glared at Seungsik.

Rowoon simply nodded in agreement, but he booked it to the showers before he had to say anything else. It was too much work. Doyoung did the same, because he felt guilty that he didn’t include Taehyung more. He just wasn’t used to him being on the team.

“This was our first game.” Jinho picked up his bag. “When he improves, we can maybe include him.”

Jeongguk let out an exasperated sigh and ran his hand through his hair in frustration. “Dude, what’s with you? Why are you suddenly like this?”

“It’s nothing against you.” Jinho assured Jeongguk with a harsh slam of his locker door. “See you.”

A few of the guys did come up to Taehyung and apologize, but they clearly wanted to get out of the locker room because Jeongguk wasn’t happy with them.

Taehyung quietly changed into a hoodie and sweatpants.

While he was grabbing his duffel bag, he looked down and saw Jeongguk’s black Converse. Looking up, Jeongguk was there, offering him a small smile.

“Hey, are you okay? You looked so great out there.” Jeongguk would be upset if what happened to Taehyung happened to him, so he tried to figure out a way to make Taehyung feel better.

Taehyung zipped up his bag and stood up. “Can’t really blame them. I’m surely not on the same level as all of you. Thanks for sticking up for me, though.”

“Of course. I’m pissed for you. Do you want a hug? I don’t know how you feel about physical stuff, but the offer is very much open.” Jeongguk offered.

Well, Taehyung immediately wanted to say yes. That way, he could know if Jeongguk was…a good hugger, or something. It would help Bora, so he had to do it.

“Yeah.” Taehyung set down his bag and Jeongguk gently embraced him.

“This won’t happen again, okay?” Jeongguk let go of Taehyung and held him at arm’s distance. “You don’t have class tomorrow, right?”

Taehyung shook his head. “Nope. Do you?”

Jeongguk grinned. “I do not. I wanted to ask if you’re available to hang out with me. I figured we could go to a museum or something, since you love art.”

Taehyung was flattered that Jeongguk was so thoughtful. “I doubt you want to do that and spend the day with me, but I appreciate how considerate you are.”

Jeongguk dropped his arms from Taehyung’s biceps and, instead, grabbed his bag that was on the ground. “I wouldn’t suggest it if I didn’t want to. Believe it or not, I really like hanging out with you. We haven’t known each other for too long, but I already feel like we’re really close. Is this only one-sided?”

“Not at all.” Taehyung didn’t forget his bag before they headed out. The bleachers were still filled with people, although the game was over. “I feel the same way.”

Jeongguk rubbed the back of his neck and shyly focused intently on the ground as they walked. “Cool.” He responded. “It’s going to be us – just us. If that’s okay.”

“Oh no.” Taehyung sarcastically responded. “I get Jeon Jeongguk, future soccer captain and head of a very successful gaming franchise to myself? How will I ever manage such a horrible day?”

Jeongguk lightly shoved Taehyung. “Shut up.”

Their conversation became more hushed when Taehyung saw that Bora stepped down the bleachers with a couple of friends Taehyung didn’t recognize in tow.

“You’re not sweaty, are you?” Bora raised her brow at her brother.

“Nah. I’m cold if anything.” Taehyung replied.

That was good enough for Bora. She gave him a hug.

“You looked so cool out there.” Bora said. It almost felt like Bora wanted to be there for him, but then he remembered that it was for Jeongguk. He almost thought she cared as much about what he did as he cared about what she did. Taehyung had never missed anything Bora participated in. Even when he had finished his senior year and Bora still had school, he would drive her to school, to volleyball practice, anywhere she wanted. Meanwhile, Bora met up with Taehyung one time when she was in the area and it was only because she didn’t want to take the metro alone. He obviously didn’t hold it against her because Taehyung understood that she was trying to enjoy her own life. Meanwhile, Taehyung had to grow up at such a young age to be able to take care of Bora every time they had to take the train to and from one parent’s house to another. Maybe when she got older, things would change. He adored her nonetheless.

“Thank you.” Taehyung fixed his sister’s hair when the wind picked up. “It was so nerv-”

“And you did amazing.” Bora cut Taehyung off to focus her attention on Jeongguk.

It was fine. Taehyung was fine. Bora had a huge crush on Jeongguk and it was probably normal for people to make their whole personality trait wooing their crush until they won them over. Still, something about Bora talking to Jeongguk didn’t feel right. Especially when she would randomly touch his arm, or get a little too close when she was laughing.

Jeongguk was polite to Bora. Meanwhile, Bora’s friends and Taehyung kind of waited around awkwardly.

“Shoot. I forgot.” Taehyung could tell that Jeongugk was anxious. It was too much at once and he would save the day. “We have that thing we have to do. Coach told us to meet him, remember?”

“Uh, I don’t re-” Jeongguk caught on when he saw the look Taehyung gave him. “You’re right. We should go.”

Taehyung took Jeongguk’s hand and pulled him away from the gaggle of freshman that lurked all around him.

“She’s very touchy. I’m sorry.” Taehyung let go of Jeongguk’s hand. “And sorry for doing that.”

“I don’t mind when you do it. I just, well, your sister seems nice.” Jeongguk tried to figure out something to say. Bora really was a decent girl, but Jeongguk wasn’t focused on her.

“She’s pretty cool. What do you think of her? Do you like her?” Taehyung struggled more than he should have getting the words out.

“Yeah, I guess so. I liked when she showed me old photos of you.” Jeongguk and Taehyung walked towards the dorms.

It kind of hurt to hear that Jeongguk liked Bora, or that was how Taehyung interpreted it. He probably meant it as a person more than anything, but still.

“I like talking with you. I don’t really want the night to end.” Jeongguk confessed.

That gave Taehyung an idea.

“It doesn’t have to.” He said. “What do you think about staying over? We can pick up some stuff on the way and then go to your dorm to grab whatever you need. Totally don’t have to, but it might be fun.”

“I’d love that. Thanks, Tae.” Jeongguk nodded to himself, a small smile on his lips.

Taehyung was also proud of himself for being so bold. Bold with his friend.

.

Taehyung and Jeongguk stopped at a burger place and Jeongguk’s dorm before they got back to Taehyung’s.

“You did not get a concussion like that.” Taehyung took out his dorm key and put it in the lock.

“The only good part of it was that I now know to get out of the water when I see someone on a surfboard. Those things fucking hurt. I can’t imagine the lifeguard when it happened.” Jeongguk had taken Taehyung’s bag while his friend searched for the key. Once Taehyung found it, Jeongguk just kept holding it for him. Taehyung had the food they got in his other hand, anyway.

“I’m glad you’re okay.” Taehyung unlocked the door. He opened it for himself and Jeongguk. “I accidentally almost burned down my kitchen when I was like fifteen. Here’s a tip for you. If you need to warm up a tortilla for a burrito, use the microwave for a couple of seconds. Don’t do what I did and put it in the oven and proceed to forget about it for fifteen minutes.”

“Tae.” Jeongguk laughed. “Remind me to be the one that cooks.”

“Hey, I’m not that bad. I-” Taehyung shut right up when he saw a very shirtless Hyungu exiting Jihun’s room.

Hyungu stopped in his tracks when he saw Taehyung and Jeongguk.

“Oh, hey.” Hyungu laughed nervously. “I thought you had a game.”

“Yeah…it finished.” Taehyung was utterly confused about whatever was happening.

“Cool.” Hyungu rocked back on his heels. “I was just helping him…clean his room. It’s looking great now, but you totally shouldn’t check it out at the moment. He’s still making some improvements.”

“Who are you talking to?” Taehyung heard movement from Jihun’s room. “I swear, if it’s Sooah, you should just tell her you’re not,” Jihun exited his room, messy hair and a shirt halfway on. “Interested.” He finished his sentence and fixed his shirt. “Hey, Taehyung…I thought you had a game.”

“It finished.” Taehyung looked from Hyungu to Jihun. “Um, don’t you guys hate each other?”

Jeongguk knew a bit about the situation from what Taehyung told him, so he was also confused in his own way.

“Like I said, I was helping him cle-”

“We were exercising. He was showing me this cool new way to do a push up. Who would have known that there was more than tiredly doing two the standard way and then calling it a day?”

Hyungu elbowed Jihun.

“Oww, what?” Jihun glared at Hyungu.

“So, you guys are hooking up? I mean, it’s more than obvious. You two aren’t really good at trying to cover up.” Jeongguk set down the bags he was holding.

“Us? What? Psh.” Hyungu chuckled even more nervously.

“Oh, whatever. Taehyung’s not going to judge us.” Jihun spoke up. “Yes, we are.”

Taehyung gasped. “For how long?”

“Uh,” Hyungu and Jihun looked at each other before they focused back on Taehyung, “For like a week.” Hyungu said. “We were arguing and then it just kind of happened. It was awkward at first, but then we got to actually talking the next morning and found out we actually have a lot in common.”

“That’s typically how they room people. They want to find some similar interests they share.” Jeongguk added. “Carry on.”

“Can you not say anything to anyone?” Hyungu didn’t act like a dick for once. “I didn’t want you to find out in case you would flip, or something.”

“I’m more shocked that you’re not straight.” Taehyung said in a nonchalant manner and hung his keys on a hook near the door.

“Me too.” Hyungu shrugged.

“See? I told you Taehyung wouldn’t care.” Jihun crossed his arms over a chest. “He’s not straight, either.”

“What?” Taehyung sputtered. “Where did you get that information?”

“Bro, the gaydar is real.” Jihun leaned against the wall. “I mean, you’re bringing a guy home to presumably stay over.”

“We’re friends.” Jeongguk interjected for Taehyung. He knew it wasn’t the most comfortable topic to talk about. “But, congrats I guess?”

Jeongguk and Taehyung forced more small talk with the two before they went to Taehyung’s room and closed the door.

As soon as Taehyung closed the door, he mouthed “what the hell” to Jeongguk.

“I know!” Jeongguk mouthed back.

Taehyung went to sit next to Jeongguk on his bed. “That’s wild.”

“Right?” Jeongguk shook his head in disbelief. “And the gaydar thing. Like…what?”

Taehyung felt the same as Jeongguk. “I know. They were probably just saying whatever because they were happy we weren’t judging. Maybe you were internally.”

“Absolutely not.” Jeongguk assured Taehyung. “Well…I mean…do you think that gaydar thing could be legit? Like, what if he was accurate. Was he accurate?”

“Huh?” Taehyung looked confused.

“Nothing.” Jeongguk quickly changed the topic. “Should we change before we eat?”

“For sure. If you happened to forget anything, let me know. Or grab whatever. I don’t care.” Taehyung shrugged. “I’ll be back. I, unfortunately, am going to go out there and change. Then, I’ll grab us some water.”

“Good luck.” Jeongguk saluted Taehyung.

Once Taehyung closed the door, Jeongguk checked out his room.

Taehyung had posters on the walls, a nice easel set up next to a large desk. A laptop was placed on the right-hand side, while a sketchbook and colored pencils took up the rest. A drawing mannequin was dangerously close to falling off of the desk, as well.

Jeongguk went to fix it and caught a look at Taehyung’s bookshelves. He had a lot of comics and video games on it. A few books, too, but mostly other stuff.

As much as Jeongguk wanted to look around some more, he didn’t. All he did was switch from one top to another. The sweatpants were fine.

Taehyung came back not too long after, anyway.

“I had to go to the living room to get some clothes out of my laundry basket and was deathly afraid of hearing anything weird, but it was okay.” Taehyung closed the door behind him and handed Jeongguk a water bottle. “What should we watch?”

“Would you rather watch Days of Future past or, if you want something comically bad, we can watch Spider-man 2.”

“We have to watch Spider-man. Great call.”

The two sat on the floor leaning against the bed while they ate and, when they were done, they cleaned up and sat on the bed instead.

Taehyung turned off the lights to further immerse themselves into the trainwreck that is Spider-man 2.

It didn’t feel weird at all for it to just be them enjoying each other’s company. Taehyung knew he got a few messages on his phone, but he was spending time with the person he really wanted to be hanging out with. There was no reason to bother with anyone else; especially when he caught a glance of a preview of one text where Bora was asking for Jeongguk’s number.

Jeongguk did prove himself to be a great guy, but Taehyung still had his reservations about suggesting he and Bora go on a date.

Maybe, deep down, he still wasn’t sure if Jeongguk would treat his sister right. That was probably it.

…

“Who is your favorite painter, or artist?” Jeongguk clasped his hands behind his back as he walked through the museum with Taehyung.

“Will you call me basic if I say Renoir?” Taehyung replied.

The museum was incredible. Taehyung was so grateful that Jeongguk took him. But, in the back of his head, Taehyung knew that he should have invited Bora. He just couldn’t make himself. Besides, Jeongguk was really shy when it was the three of them. He was probably uncomfortable. Or attracted to her because he was shy and quiet. That would make sense.

Maybe Jeongguk did like Bora. He probably couldn’t express it well since he’s never actually been in a relationship.

They walked out of the exhibit they were in and sat on a bench just before the next room. “Not at all. I happened to see your phone wallpaper last week and spent way too long trying to figure out the artist. That painting is A Road in Louveciennes, right? If it’s not, then I’ve done a ton of research on the wrong guy.”

“It is.” Taehyung unlocked his phone to show Jeongguk his wallpaper on his home screen. Taehyung was flattered that Jeongguk wanted to learn about his interests. “What did you learn about him?”

“Well, that he was one of the founders of Impressionism. And that he and Monet were really close.” Jeongguk replied. “His style is so cool.”

“Right? It’s wild to me that his work was ever rejected. But the fact that he got to see his art in the Louvre before he died is really cool.” Taehyung realized that Jeongguk probably didn’t care that much. “Sorry, I’m boring. I know it’s not that interesting.”

“Stop.” Jeongguk got up, so they could check out the next exhibit. “I love hearing about what you like. Tell me more when we get out of this exhibit.”

They checked the next exhibit and walked around for quite a while after before they decided to wind down in the arboretum.

When Jeongguk got up to find a map, Taehyung checked his phone.

1:42 PM
From: Bora
Message: why arent u responding??can you pls text me jeongguk’s number

2:12 PM
From: Bora
Message: ???? what’s your problem??

2:32 PM
From: Bora
Message: thanks for nothing

Taehyung felt a pang of guilt in his chest. He had upset Bora, which was never his intention. He was just having such a good time with Jeongguk. Taehyung actually went out over the weekend for once. The last time he did was probably previous semester when he had to work on a project with his group that was less than competent.

Jeongguk was walking back, so Taehyung set his phone down and watched him fiddle with the pamphlet he was holding. He looked so good, not that he usually didn’t, but Taehyung thought Jeongguk’s style was cool. It was baffling how someone could look as good as Jeongguk did in oversized jeans tucked into combat boots and a black tee. His hair was nicely styled, too. Plus, he was obviously physically fit. He probably went to the gym all of the time.

“I think we have yet to check out the upstairs of this place.” Jeongguk sat down close to Taehyung and rested the pamphlet on their thighs. “Want to check it out?”

“Jeongguk,” Taehyung chuckled, “You’ve spent a ton of time with me here. Why don’t we do something you want to do?” He suggested.

Jeongguk searched Taehyung’s eyes before he spoke. It was easy to be mesmerized by the older. “Guess what? This is what I want to do.”

Jeongguk seemed genuine. Maybe he was actually having a good time.

“Can I choose what we do next time, though? I want to plan something fun for you.” Taehyung bumped shoulders with Jeongguk. “It’s the least I can do.”

Surprisingly, Jeongguk threw an arm around Taehyung’s shoulders. “That sounds fun, but it’s totally not necessary. But, if it’s an excuse to hang out with you some more, then I’m here for it.”

“I already have some ideas.” Taehyung would take into consideration what Jeongguk liked. “Are you busy next weekend? Actually, that’s annoying for me to even ask. I don’t want to take up any of your weekends. Surely, you have other stuff to do.”

Jeongguk retracted his arm from behind Taehyung, so he could lean back. “I’m free. Even if I’m not, I’m free. What day?”

Taehyung hummed to himself. “Are you free Friday after practice? And it might possibly move into a bit of Saturday, too. You’re going to have to pack some stuff, but I’ll give you more details when I actually execute my plan.”

“Wow.” Jeongguk offered Taehyung a dazzling smile. “This is exciting.” He paused. “Tae, can I just say how happy I am that you joined the soccer team? We’ve clicked so quickly and I have so much fun with you.”

“Likewise.” Taehyung patted Jeongguk’s thigh before he got up. “I’m glad we met, too. Now, come on, captain. We have thousands more square feet to cover.”

Jeongguk made sure that he showed Taehyung how interested he was in the museum, because it was obvious that Taehyung felt like he was forcing Jeongguk to walk around with him. It was anything but accurate.

Afterwards, Jeongguk and Taehyung checked out the surrounding area.

There was a food stall that looked less than appealing, but the person running it approached Taehyung and made him feel bad. Taehyung begrudgingly bought a corn dog. Jeongguk was smart and declined.

As they walked away, Taehyung sighed. “This is not appealing.”

“I wouldn’t eat it. It looks like it has been out there a while.” Jeongguk was wise to politely decline anything from that stall.

Taehyung glanced behind them. “The dude is still watching. I’ll just…try it. Maybe it’s really good.”

“I doubt it.” Jeongguk warily eyed Taehyung.

When they crossed the street, Taehyung tried it and immediately regretted it.

“Holy shit.” Taehyung couldn’t do it. What kind of meat was that and how long was it freezerburnt before they dipped it in pre-made pancake batter and called it a day?

“Holy shit because it’s incredible, or holy shit as in it tastes like old oil and regret?” Jeongguk tested Taehyung’s expression.

Taehyung plastered a smile on his face and tried to hand it to Jeongguk. “Try it.”

“Uh-uh. Don’t use your charm to try and make me eat something that’s gross.” Jeongguk took the corn dog and found a garbage bin. He sauntered back over and continued to walk alongside Taehyung.

“If I die…tell everyone that it was the corndog.” Taehyung sighed dramatically. “That’s going to be the dumbest way to die ever. Bury me in my one designer jacket. It’s Gucci.”

“You are so dramatic.” Jeongguk linked arms with Taehyung. “I love it.”

“Good. You better.” Taehyung grinned at Jeongguk.

It was super comfortable walking with Jeongguk but, once again, he felt incredibly guilty. Maybe he should ask Jeongguk if he can give his number to Bora. It would probably be best.

“Hey, Jeongguk?” Taehyung asked as they entered a store close to the museum.

“What’s up?” Jeongguk held the door open for someone exiting before he caught up to Taehyung.

“Can I give my sister your number?”

That was not what Jeongguk was expecting Taehyung to ask.

“Oh, okay.” Jeongguk replied. He didn’t know why she wanted his number, but maybe it would work out if he couldn’t contact Taehyung, for some reason. His tone didn’t sound very excited, though, so maybe he needed to step it up. “Sure! I’d love that.” Jeongguk said in a more chipper tone.

“...You would?” Taehyung’s thumb hovered over his texting app.

Jeongguk nodded. “Mhm. She seems really sweet.”

“Ah.” Taehyung didn’t know why, but he suddenly felt incredibly sad. It sucked to hear that Jeongguk was interested in Bora, although that was the only reason why Taehyung pursued a friendship with Jeongguk initially. “...Okay.”

“You get along with her, right?” Jeongguk asked. “You should invite her to our next game.” It was a way that Jeongguk could see Taehyung’s sister, but not actually spend time with her. There was absolutely nothing wrong with her, but he was far more focused on another Kim.

“You like her? I wasn’t sure because you were shy around her.” Taehyung kept his eyes downcast, dreading hearing Jeongguk’s answer.

“Sure I do, but I just don’t know her very well yet. I’m shy around people sometimes. But I couldn’t help it.” Jeongguk could see himself becoming friends with Bora at some point in his life, sure.

Taehyung pocketed his phone without sending the text. They were heading out of the store they entered once they saw that it was full of overpriced tourist souvenirs. “I’ll be right back, okay? I just need to make a call quickly.”

Before Jeongguk could respond, Taehyung walked away briskly from the store they were exiting and went into a different store. This time around, it was a clothing boutique. It felt like he went through a maze full of mannequins and clothing racks before he found somewhere to sit.

Everything was working out, but why did it feel so bad? Taehyung kind of hoped Jeongguk’s kindness and charisma was just for him. Taehyung was wrong.

“Dammit.” Taehyung couldn’t sit. Instead, he paced around. “What’s my problem?”

The annoying part was that Taehyung was upset and all he wanted was Jeongguk to comfort him.

Taehyung started to envision what it would be like if Bora and Jeongguk dated. He would third wheel a lot. Jeongguk would hang out with him less, which would suck since they had become very good friends. The two people Taehyung talked to the most would be occupied with each other.

Something felt wrong about picturing Bora holding hands with Jeongguk and having sleepovers as they fell asleep while watching a movie. And kissing…no way. Taehyung wanted to be that person. He wanted to be in that position with Jeongguk.

And then it clicked.

Taehyung covered his mouth in shock. He had a crush on Jeongguk. He had a crush on his sister’s crush. No one could ever know. Bora would have to be kept in the dark forever.

“There’s no way I like him.” Taehyung said to himself. He thought about it for a second and shook his head. “No, there is a way because I do.”

It’s not like it would change anything, probably. Taehyung would just be extremely miserable trying to set up his sister and his crush.

Taehyung needed to get it together. His crush was just outside, probably worried about where Taehyung went and why he hadn’t given him Bora’s number yet. He had to compose himself.

When Taehyung calmed himself down, he went back outside and Jeongguk was already on his way over. He placed a hand on Taehyung’s shoulder and tried to catch his gaze.

Taehyung didn’t want to look at Jeongguk – not at that moment. He needed to get rid of his crush and looking into his eyes would make things worse.

“You good?” Jeongguk questioned his friend.

“Mhm.” Taehyung focused on something else.

Jeongguk gently touched Taehyung’s face to get Taehyung to look at him.

“You sure?” Jeongguk’s brows were knitted together in concern. “We can get you back to your dorm, Tae.”

“No, no.” Taehyung snapped out of it. He wasn’t doing anything wrong. He and Jeongguk were just good friends and acting differently would be weird. There was nothing wrong with continuing how they were. “Sorry, it ‘s not a big deal. I thought it was someone else, but it was just a call for someone trying to sell me life insurance.”

“I hate those.” Jeongguk rolled his eyes. “They’re relentless.”

“I know, right?” Taehyung tugged on Jeongguk’s arm to get him to walk. “Want to take an ice cream pit stop?”

“Absolutely.”

…

Taehyung woke up with a horrible headache. He blindly reached for his phone to check the time, and even that amount of brightness made everything worse.

Maybe a shower would make him feel better. Taehyung forced himself up and into the shower. The heat made him dizzy and the cold made him nauseous.

After Taehyung took the fastest shower in existence, he took some headache medication and went to just sit in his bed to see if he would feel less horrible.

Taehyung couldn’t even focus on anything with how his head was spinning. Even an hour after he took some medication, he still felt horrible.

There was no way he could go to class or practice.

Missing one day wouldn’t be so bad. Taehyung had patched things up with Bora when he gave her Jeongguk’s number the day prior, but there was no reason to tell her that he wasn’t going to his classes.

However, Taehyung did have to reply to Jeongguk because he asked to have lunch together.

11:14 AM
To: Jeongguk
Message: Hey:) sorry I can’t today. I’m not going on campus today, feeling pretty sick haha

11:18 AM
From: Jeongguk
Message: No :( what kind of sick?

11:24 AM
To: Jeongguk
Message: way too much nausea for comfort, headache, dizziness, all of that fun stuff.

11:25 AM
From: Jeongguk
Message: i’m assuming the culprit is that cursed corn dog. I should have tried it too so we could feel shitty together

11:27 AM
To: Jeongguk
Message: nooo haha I don’t want you to be sick. We can have lunch together wednesday :)

11:32 AM
From: Jeongguk
Message: okay, tae. Just so i know for then what makes you feel better when you’re sick

11:33 AN
To: Jeongguk
Message: for sure some comfortable sweatpants and ummm ice cream and marshmallows…don’t judge me

11:33 AM
From: Jeongguk
Message: that’s cute i would never judge you

11:35 AM
To: Jeongguk
Message: what about you hotshot? What would you choose?

Texting with Jeongguk did make Taehyung feel better. And he was fine. Yes, he had a crush on Jeongguk, but that didn’t matter. It would never be reciprocated in the first place, which is what Taehyung had to constantly tell himself.

He wondered if they had texted. Jeongguk and Bora.

Taehyung set his phone back down on his nightstand when Jeongguk didn’t respond for a while. He pulled a gray hoodie over his head that matched his sweatpants when he forced himself up. Taehyung hated being sick.

A little bit later, Taehyung heard a knock on his bedroom door. He didn’t want to, but he got up to open it.

It was Hyungu and he looked like he had just come back from the gym. He didn’t even have a shirt on.

“Hey.” Hyungu said. Since the night Jeongguk and Taehyung found out Hyungu and Jihun were kind of a thing, Hyungu had been a lot nicer to Taehyung. Jihun had also been cleaner. “Someone’s at the front door. Can you get it?”

“Uh,” Taehyung gave Hyungu a confused look, “Yes, but isn’t it right behind you?” He got a better look at Hyungu. “Well, you must be tired. Looks like you came back from the gym.”

“Nah, I didn’t. I’m kind of in the middle of something and I need to get back to it.” Hyungu replied.

“What could you be doing th–oh. OH. Yeah, okay.” Hyungu’s pointed look was enough for Taehyung to understand.

“Thanks, man.” Hyungu was gone in a flash and Taehyung heard a door shut.

Taehyung went to the door to their dorm and opened it.

He most certainly wasn’t expecting Jeongguk.

“Jeongguk?” Taehyung was more surprised than anything. “It’s nice to see you, but what are you doing here?” He moved aside to let Jeongguk in.

“You’re sick and I’m not okay with that.” Jeongguk replied. He set down the canvas bag he was holding and retrieved a carton of ice cream. “Can I put this in your freezer?”

“If you can find space, then sure.” Taehyung watched Jeongguk open the freezer. “You didn’t have to do that. Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me.” Jeongguk shut the freezer once he put the ice cream away. “There’s an issue, though. You’re standing here and you’re not in bed, so come on.”

Before Taehyung could respond, Jeongguk grabbed his canvas bag and then took Taehyung’s hand in his free one to lead Taehyung to his room.

Jeongguk closed the door and motioned to Taehyung’s bed. “Lay down.”

Demanding Jeongguk was kind of attractive. But Taehyung shouldn’t think that about his friend.

“Okay.” Taehyung obliged.

Once he did, Jeongguk sat on the foot of the bed.

“Sorry you’re not feeling well.” Jeongguk frowned. “I should have slapped that stupid sausage on a stick out of your hand.”

“Don’t apologize. It’s not your fault. It was really sweet of you to come here, though.” Taehyung said. “Don't you have class today, though?”

“Eh,” Jeongguk shrugged, “Fuck class. I’d rather be here anyway, if that’s cool with you. You shouldn’t be out of bed. Like…I don’t even know why your dorm mates didn’t just open the door. Unless they’re not here.”

“No, they are.” Taehyung sat up enough to lean against the headboard of his bed. “Hyungu knocked on my door. I’m pretty sure they were getting intimate in Jihun’s room. And. by pretty sure, I mean that they are.”

“Jeez.” Jeongguk whistled. “They waste no time.”

“It’s the perfect enemies to lovers trope.” Taehyung replied. “You’re more than welcome to stay as long as you want, but I know you’ll have to go for practice.”

“You’re my priority, not soccer practice. We can hang a little more after practice on Wednesday to make up for it.” Jeongguk removed the rest of the contents from the canvas bag he brought. Everything just barely fit on Taehyung’s nightstand, but they had plenty of medication, snacks and drinks for the day. “I couldn’t find regular marshmallows anywhere, so I hope that these weird twisty ones will do.” He held up the package of marshmallows.

“You’re the literal sweetest.” Taehyung was doing a bad job at not crushing on Jeongguk. “You can come lay with me if you want. Unless you think you can somehow contract my food poisoning.”

Jeongguk laughed and got up, so he could go to the other side of the bed and sit cross-legged on Taehyung’s bed. “Nah. I know I won’t.” He reached out his hand and removed Taehyung’s hair from his forehead.

Taehyung’s heart nearly beat out of his chest. It almost felt like Jeongguk was going to lean in and kiss him, but he was checking his temperature instead.

“You’re a little warm.” Jeongguk fixed Taehyung’s hair. “We can’t play games because that’s too much for someone who should be relaxing. Will a show or movie be too much brightness?”

“That’s fine.” Taehyung felt around the bed for his television’s remote. “Here. I have a ton of streaming apps.”

“Perfect.” Jeongguk turned on the television. “Want to spend the morning watching trash tv and making fun of the horrible people on them?”

“Nothing sounds better than that, honestly.”

Jeongguk didn’t have to be told twice. He put on some show that was getting its rounds online. Apparently, some of the people on it are just absolutely awful. So, if Jeongguk did make fun of them, it was justified.

.

The day flew by. Jeongguk made sure Taehyung took headache medication right when the interval between being able to not take them was up. Jeongguk was happy that he got some pretty basic snacks, as well, because Taehyung probably shouldn't overdo it when he’s not feeling so great.

It wasn’t deliberate but, at one point, Taehyung ended up with his head resting on one of Jeongguk’s thighs as they were watching the same stupid show they had been for hours. Taehyung didn’t move it when he realized it. It was innocent enough and, again, him physically recoiling once he realized he was touching Jeongguk might make Jeongguk feel bad about himself.

“She full on sucks. If he chooses her over the other girl, I’m going to lose it. This one is so fake.” Taehyung said from where he felt quite content under a comfortable blanket and using a very attractive human pillow.

“Right?” Jeongguk raised a hand in frustration. “This dude is dense, though. I like the other couple better. Do you think they’ll last?”

“I sure hope so. For a straight couple, they’re pretty cute.”

Taehyung didn’t mean to say what he did, but he was relieved when Jeongguk agreed.

“That’s what I was thinking.”

The two watched in silence for a bit before Jeongguk prepared to make a comment, but he noticed Taehyung was sleeping. It was something he should have been doing hours ago, but at least it was happening.

Jeongguk checked his phone and saw some notifications from an unsaved number.

4:47 PM
From: Unknown
Message: heyyy

4:58 PM
From: Unknown
Message: it’s bora btw

5:18 PM
From: Unknown
Message: taehyung’s sister

Jeongguk was with the Kim he wanted to be with, but he wanted to be nice to Bora because it would give him an advantage with Taehyung. Not that he and Taehyung were a thing, or would be a thing. He didn’t even know Taehyung’s sexuality.

5:55 PM
To: Bora
Message: Hey yeah sorry! I saved your number

5:56 PM
From: Bora
Message: no worries lol whats up

5:58 PM
To: Bora
Message: Not much, hanging with your brother

5:58 PM
From: Bora
Message: wait u have class w him??

6:02 PM
To: Bora
Message: Nah, he’s sick so I’m hanging out with him at his dorm

6:02 PM
From: Bora
Message: he didnt tell me lol r u still there

6:06 PM
To: Bora
Message: yeahhh i want to stay until he kicks me out just to make sure he’s okay

6:06 PM
From: Bora
Message: dang it sucks he is sick but nice to know hes at his dorm

6:11 PM
To: Bora
Message: Yeah

Jeongguk honestly didn’t have much else to say. He just wanted Taehyung to feel better. All he could do was watch obnoxious couples gaslight each other until Taehyung woke up.

Meanwhile, Taehyung was just so comfortable that he didn’t notice he dozed off. He didn’t even know how long he was sleeping when he forced his eyes open.

Jeongguk was carding his fingers through Taehyung’s hair and Taehyung was unsure if he should pretend to be asleep to enjoy their moment, but he decided against it. He stirred enough for Jeongguk to lift his hand and lean forward just enough to see if Taehyung was awake or not.

“That’s so embarrassing.” Taehyung sat up and leaned back much like how Jeongguk was. “Sorry.”

“Why? You slept. That was what I wanted.” Jeongguk massaged the back of Taehyung’s neck. “Still have a headache?”

“It’s not as bad right now. Thanks to you.” Taehyung replied. “How long was I asleep?”

“Umm,” Jeongguk checked his phone, “Like an hour?”

Taehyung suddenly felt super self-conscious. He buried his face in his hands. “That’s seriously so embarrassing. I’m sorry you had to be subjected to that.”

“Subjected to what?” Jeongguk furrowed his brow. “I’ve never seen anyone look good while they’re sleeping until you came along. It shouldn’t be allowed.”

“Oh, stop.” Taehyung lightly hit Jeongguk’s thigh. “You’re so full of sh-”

Taehyung stopped talking when he heard a knock on his door.

“If it’s one of them asking for condoms, I’m out.” Taehyung sighed and began to get up. “Not out like I had some and ran out. I mean out like I’m out of the conversation. And now I realize I’m digging myself into a very deep hole.”

“Hey, I got the door.” Jeongguk zoomed over to the side of the bed closest to Taehyung and gently pushed him back.

Taehyung rolled his eyes, but he was very appreciative.

Jeongguk went to open the door and was more than surprised to see Bora.

Taehyung was equally as surprised.

“…Bora?”

“Why didn’t you tell me you were sick?” Bora went ahead and walked into Taehyung’s room. “I could have gotten you some medication.”

“You have class all morning. Finance class. I wouldn’t make you leave to bring me something when those classes are hard enough when you are present. Plus, aren’t you meeting up with those girls you met at orientation today?” Taehyung always listened to Bora. Even she seemed surprised that he remembered.

“Yeah…” Bora replied. “I can’t believe you remembered. But, anyway, yeah.”

Taehyung looked over at Jeongguk and Jeongguk simply shrugged his shoulders.

“Do we have some kind of sibling telepathy where you can tell I’m sick, or is this coincidence?” Taehyung moved to sit on the edge of the bed next to Bora.

Bora looked over at Jeongguk and motioned him over. He came over and stood in front of the two of them.

“I was texting with Jeongguk.” Bora lightly touched Jeongguk’s forearm. “You should have told me you were sick and that he was here.”

“He didn’t want to bother you.” Jeongguk spoke up. “Really. He didn’t tell me to come here. He probably wouldn’t have even told me he wasn’t feeling well.”

Taehyung needed something to distract himself, so he grabbed a water bottle Jeongguk brought him.

Bora looked up at Jeongguk and smiled. “You’re so nice for taking care of him. You’d make such a great boyfriend.”

Taehyung nearly choked on his water.

Bora probably thought she should start making moves since Taehyung was friends with Jeongguk. The guy must have been pretty decent.

“I’m glad you think so.”

Taehyung suddenly felt like a third wheel.

Plus, Taehyung thought Bora would leave, but she didn’t. She stayed.

And Bora couldn’t leave it there. Another knock came from the other side of the door.

Bora went to open the door and Taehyung audibly groaned. Why the hell did Bora invite her roommate?

“Oh my gosh.” Bora’s roommate, Haeun, went over to Taehyung. “Hi. I don’t have class today and Bora said that you wanted to hang out.”

Bora was messing with Taehyung. She probably wanted it to be some sort of double date situation, since Jeongguk was always talking to Taehyung. She wanted his attention. Taehyung understood that she had a crush, but he was pissed. He stayed in his dorm because he was sick and didn't want to be around people. People other than Jeongguk.

Taehyung didn’t mean to have an attitude, but he couldn’t help it. “If I’m not feeling well, what makes you think that I would ask Bora, who I didn’t invite over, to have you tag along?”

“Tae, stop being like that. You guys should talk.” Bora frowned disapprovingly at her brother. “She’s really nice.”

“I don’t really need nice right now, Bora.” Taehyung retorted. He didn’t get angry a lot, but he wasn't too far from it at that point.

It was Jeongguk’s turn to chime in. “He’s been throwing up all day. Like everywhere. It’s been a lot, so he isn’t feeling to great. He got embarrassed that I was around, so I’m sure you two very pretty girls would make him feel worse. Tae didn’t tell you he was sick,” He focused his attention on Bora, “Because he didn’t want to worry you. I promise I can handle this.”

“You’re such a great friend to him.” Bora seemed to have been satisfied that Jeongguk called her pretty. “Then we’ll all have to hang out really soon. Promise me?”

“Yeah.” Jeongguk used his smile to convince Bora. “Get back safely. Text me when you get to your dorm, okay?”

“Will do.” Bora went to the door with Haeun. “I’m glad you think we’re pretty, because I think you’re gorgeous.”

Jeongguk’s smile dropped. “Thanks.” He said. He wasn’t good at taking compliments.

Just to make sure they were going to go, Jeongguk walked them through the threshold and closed the door once they were gone.

“Sorry, I’m an ass.” Taehyung fell back onto his bed and stared at the ceiling. “I love her, I really do, but she’s been acting differently lately.”

“I know I’m also a freshman, but a lot of kids new to college kind of try to discover themselves and that means sometimes having an attitude.” Jeongguk also laid back. “She doesn’t mean any harm.”

“I know she doesn’t.” Taehyung said. “I could have handled just her, but I have told her countless times that I’m not interested in Haeun. Never have, never will be.”

Jeongguk flipped over to lay on his stomach. “That’s good.”

“It is?” Taehyung questioned the younger.

Jeongguk cleared his throat. “Mhm.” He replied. “Because what if you two broke up? Then your ex would be your sister’s dorm mate.”

“True.” It’s not like Taehyung even entertained the idea.

“Let’s get back to some us time, unless you really do want to be alone.” Jeongguk crossed his arms on the bed and rested his head on them.

“I want you here.” Taehyung assured Jeongguk. “Let’s find out how many of these couples on this stupid show last.”

“You know the answer is none.”

“I know, but it’s fun to watch with you.”

“You too.”

…

“Hey, Taehyung!”

Taehyung wasn’t expecting Doyoung to be heading his way. Taehyung had finished class and was going to hang out with Yunho in the library.

“Hi, Doyoung.” Taehyung waved at his teammate. “How are you?”

“Good now that I got to see your handsome face.” Doyoung walked alongside Taehyung.

“I’m going to see you at practice in like an hour.” Taehyung chuckled.

Doyoung shrugged. “Guess I got lucky. Where are we going?”

“Library. My friend works there part-time. You can come, if you want.”

“Sure. I’ve actually never stepped foot in this library, despite having gone to this college for three years.” Doyoung adjusted his backpack strap. “You must be such a good influence.”

“Hardly.” Taehyung always felt so flattered by Doyoung’s compliments.

“Let me compliment you!” Doyoung grinned at Taehyung. “I’m sure people compliment you all of the time, though, so maybe it gets annoying. Or will your girlfriend somehow find out and be pissed? Is that why you’re rejecting anything nice I say about you?”

“Doyoung, I do not have a girlfriend.” Taehyung didn’t understand why everyone assumed he did.

“...A boyfriend?” Doyoung pressed just a tad more.

“No boyfriend, either.” Taehyung replied. “You’re the first person to ask that. Usually people just hear the no girlfriend thing and that’s enough for them.”

“Not all of us are hardass close-minded people.” Doyoung opened the door to the library.

“Thank you.” Taehyung went into the library. “And love that.”

“I like this information I am gaining from this conversation.” Doyoung seemed to tuck it away for future use. “Maybe sometime we can go-” He paused when he looked at the front desk. “Who is that?”

“That’s Yunho.” Taehyung nodded in the direction of his friend. “Come on, I’ll introduce you.”

As soon as Yunho heard footsteps coming towards him, he looked up and beamed at Taehyung.

“Yo, Taehyung!” Yunho summoned his friend over. “Teach me your workout regimen, holy shit.”

“The trick is to trip on the field at least five times every practice.” Taehyung joked. “Actually, it’s better to ask this guy. This is Doyoung, he’s on the soccer team.”

“Hey.” Yunho nodded at Doyoung. “You look familiar.”

Doyoung seemed shocked. “I do?”

“Yeah. Where did you go to high school?” Yunho asked.

“Abroad.”

“Hmm. I don’t go to soccer games, so it can’t be from there. Are you in any other activities?”

“No.”

Yunho needed to pinpoint where he knew Doyoung from. “Wait, I’m a dumbass. Maybe you frequent the library a lot? I don’t know why you would, but yeah.”

“I’ve literally never stepped foot in here.”

“The cafe?”

“I’ve gone but haven’t seen you.”

Yunho thought for a bit and then buried his face in his hands. “I was shitfaced last week. Did I sleep with you?”

Doyoung laughed loudly. “No. We’ve probably seen each other in passing, but I’m totally open to the sleeping with you part.”

“Holy shit.” Yunho also bursted out laughing. “You’re funny. I like when guys are bold.”

“Wait, really? I was just fucking with you.” Doyoung pocketed his hands in his hoodie pocket. “I mean, I can take you out for starters though.”

“Hell yeah. I’ll give you my number.”

Yunho relayed his number to Doyoung.

“Wow, am I not a matchmaker?” Taehyung proudly watched his friends get along. “I’ll catch you two later.”

“Wait, I’ll go with you.” Doyoung didn’t look like he wanted to leave, though.

“Nah, you’re good. I’ll tell Rowoon and Coach that you won’t be at practice today. I know Yunho is off soon, so go have fun.” Taehyung started heading towards the door of the library.

“He’s just the best, isn’t he?” Yunho said to Doyoung.

“For real.”

Taehyung was in a good mood. It was nice to see the two hit it off well. He also didn’t know that Doyoung was interested in guys, which was just another bonus. At least Taehyung would probably have his support if he ever came out. Taehyung obviously knew about Yunho, given he had the joy of hearing about many of his escapades.

Taehyung had to walk past Jeongguk’s dorm to go to soccer practice, so he shot him a text.

3:50 PM
To: Jeongguk
Message: are you already at the soccer field? I have to go by your dorm and wanted to see if you wanted to come with me

3:51 PM
From: Jeongguk
Message: Yeah i w

3:52 PM
To: Jeongguk
Message: full words, guk. You can do it. I believe in you

As Taehyung pocketed his phone, he felt two hands slam onto his shoulders from behind him.

“Boo.”

Taehyung nearly dropped his phone. “Take ten years off my life, won’t you?”

“Sorry, sorry.” Jeongguk pulled Taehyung into a side hug. “You’re heading over to the field pretty early.”

“Yeah, I was going to hang with my friend who works in the library until I had to go, but Doyoung found me. Long story short, I introduced Doyoung to my friend Yunho and Doyoung’s skipping practice to hang out with him. If he gets flack, I’ll take the blame because I literally told him not to come.” Taehyung looked at Jeongguk and smiled. They walked close to one another, despite there being plenty of space around them. “You should have seen them. They were so cute.”

“Damn, nice. I think Doyoung liked you though. So now you lost your chance.” Jeongguk elbowed Taehyung. “Kidding. I know you’re not into that.”

“One, he didn’t like me and, two, into what?” Taehyung waved to Jihun when he passed him.

Jeongguk scoffed. “He did. I have eyes, Tae. And I mean like he’s a guy, so yeah.”

Taehyung half glanced at Jeongguk and furrowed his brow. “If he did like me, why would I care if he’s a guy?”

“I dunno.” Jeongguk shrugged. “Some guys don’t like the idea of that.”

“Well, I’m not some guys.” Taehyung replied. “Wanna be on my team today?”

.

“Great job today. Everyone did amazingly. If you keep up like this, we might have two wins already by the end of next week.” Coach Kim adjusted the baseball cap he was wearing. “Rowoon?”

“Yeah, hey guys.” Rowoon stepped forward a bit. “As coach said, great job. You all did well with it today, but remember during the game that everyone is part of the team. All of us.” Next, he motioned for Jeongguk to come to his side. “Want to add anything, co-captain?”

“Hmm,” Jeongguk wasn’t prepared, “We should focus on drills during Friday’s practice. They’ll keep us on our toes.”

“Right.” Rowoon nodded in agreement and began to talk about the other college they’re playing against. Taehyung kind of tuned it out. The rest of the team seemed to do the same, until he caught Jeongguk’s gaze. He had the faintest smile on his face as he looked at Taehyung. But, when Taehyung noticed him, Jeongguk quickly averted his eyes.

“Alright, go home. Get some sleep, boys.”

Coach Kim dismissed the team and they all parted ways. Taehyung was just going to grab his things and shower at his dorm. He was still a little tired from when he wasn’t feeling well.

Before he left, he needed to update Jeongguk on some information about Friday. Taehyung planned something that would hopefully be very fun.

“Guk,” Taehyung stopped Jeongguk once he exited the locker room, “I know I’ll see you at soccer practice Friday, but I wanted to give you an update of what you should bring for the thing I have planned. I figured we can pack up our stuff and just leave the bags in the locker room until after practice. That way, we can just leave right away. But, umm, I would advise you to bring some swim trunks. Not that you have to because there’s definitely no reason why I am making such a suggestion.”

“I won’t think too much into it, so all of the excitement and surprise will remain.” Jeongguk assured Taehyung. “Got it. If there’s anything else I need to bring, just shoot me a text.”

“Got it. See you Friday.”

…

Just as they planned, Taehyung and Jeongguk brought their things to the locker room in the morning. They showered after practice and got their bags before Taehyung called a taxi.

The taxi took them nearly half an hour until they stopped at a small beach house.

“Thank you.” Taehyung tipped the driver on his way out.

Jeongguk was utterly confused as he scanned the area. “I swear, if this is all an intricate plan for my demise, then kudos to you. But, for real, why are we at someone’s house?”

“Just follow me.”Taehyung made sure they had all of their bags before he went to the front door of the house. He began to put a number into the keypad.

“Correction. Why are we breaking into someone’s house?” Jeongguk wasn’t in the mood to go to prison. He was too young.

“We aren’t breaking in, you goon.” Taehyung opened the door and went inside before he beckoned Jeongguk in. “It’s ours for the night. I know you said you love the beach and I found this place that let me rent for one night. All of the others wanted like a four day minimum stay. Would love that for us, but we kind of have school.”

“Wait, wait. Slow down.” Jeongguk shrugged his bag off of his shoulder. “You rented this place out? For us?”

Taehyung nodded. “Mhm. I was thinking that we can go to the beach since it’s still early. And I’m extra glad that we finished everything early, because we are going scuba diving at five.”

“We’re what?” Jeongguk eyes lit up with excitement. “I’ve always wanted to.”

Taehyung breathed a sigh of relief. He made the right choice. “I’m glad to hear that. I was afraid I messed up. For the next part, it’s up to you. There are some really good restaurants around here, but we also have the option of cooking. That’s why we aren’t in a hotel. I needed to get a place with a kitchen, so we can at least make a dessert. So, would you prefer to cook here, or go to the restaurant?”

Jeongguk didn’t care. He was over the moon with Taehyung. He needed to give him an answer, though.

“How about dinner there and we make something here?” He suggested.

Another sigh of relief. “Awesome, because I made reservations at the place.”

“Can you set your bags down for a sec?” Jeongguk asked Taehyung, who obliged and set them against the wall.

Jeongguk pulled Taehyung into a hug.

“You’re so thoughtful.” Jeongguk ran a hand down Taehyung’s back. “Thanks for doing this.”

“Happy to do it.” Taehyung really was. He didn’t tell Bora, though. Things were fine after Jeongguk complimented her and expressed interest in her. They were probably texting a ton. Hopefully Jeongguk didn’t tell her that Taehyung planned an overnight trip with Jeongguk. He was probably the world’s worst brother.

Jeongguk and Taehyung separated and took a grand tour of the rest of the house. It was really nice and was literally on the water.

Hopefully everything would pan out how it was intended to.

.

And it did. The evening was picture perfect. That was the best restaurant Taehyung had ever been to, and Jeongguk was happy. They took pictures together and just enjoyed each other’s company.

After dinner, they had gotten some groceries and brought them back to the house.

Taehyung was currently outside watching the water while Jeongguk was sifting through his bag trying to find a specific jacket.

He shouldn’t have, but Taehyung took out his phone and checked his texts.

8:16 PM
From: Bora
Message: can u believe he called me pretty :) also sorry about just showing up i was just wondering why he had to be the one to tell me u were sick and he was with u

8:56 PM
To: Bora
Message: It’s because you are pretty Bora haha and I didn’t tell you because I thought it was the perfect opportunity to talk to him about you

Taehyung was flat out lying, but he didn’t want his sister to be mad at him. Which was selfish because he was totally going behind her back. Taehyung was going to try his hardest to compartmentalize his romantic feelings for Jeongguk from his platonic feelings. That way, he could get over his crush, and not feel awkward when Jeongguk and Bora start dating. And no one, not even a soul, could or would know about Taehyung’s infatuation with Jeongguk that was turning into a very serious like. It was wrong, so wrong, but Jeongguk was the kind of guy Taehyung could fall in love with and that was terrifying.

8:59 PM
From: Bora
Message: aw thank u i just like him so much and i think he might actually like me hehe also i appreciate u meaning to talk to him i know u have been trying to help me

“Dammit.” Taehyung locked his phone and set it down on a small outdoor table. He got up and leaned against the railing instead.

It wasn’t like Taehyung was going to date Jeongguk, but he still felt bad that he was crushing on his sister’s love interest.

“I finally found it.” Jeongguk exited the house. “But I got hot looking for it, so I don’t need it anymore.” He made his way over to Taehyung and stood next to him.

“Of course you did.” Taehyung grinned at Jeongguk. “Wanna make dessert now?”

“Absolutely.”

The two went inside and got all of the ingredients they needed out.

They wanted to make something practical. They probably couldn’t eat a whole cake in between them before they had to leave and a pie was out of the question.

Jeongguk ended up suggesting cookies, since they would travel well, and Taehyung readily agreed. They had all of the ingredients and were ready.

“I said I like to cook. I’m a very basic baker.” Jeongguk put on one of the aprons that were in the kitchen. He didn’t need it, but it added to the vibe. Plus, he saw Taehyung do it and he looked cute.

“I’m sure you’re great. You already told me that you know this recipe by heart.” Taehyung grabbed a mixing bowl from one of the cabinets.

“Of course I know it by heart. Do you know how many chocolate chips had to sacrifice their existence for this recipe? Too many, Tae, too many.” Jeongguk placed some measuring cups between them. “Alright. Let’s measure dry ingredients.”

“Got it, captain.” Taehyung saluted Jeongguk.

“I’m not even captain yet and this isn’t soccer.” Jeongguk moved Taehyung away by bumping into his hip. “Move. You’re in my way.”

“I breathed.” Taehyung held his hands up in defense. “Want me to measure the sugar?”

“Please.”

While Jeongguk finished with the dry ingredients, Taehyung prepared the wet ingredients.

“Okay, now we can combine.” Jeongguk began to pour the dry ingredients into the wet ones. He poured some and then cursed. “Shit. I wanted to mix the wet into dry. Not the other way. The whole recipe is compromised. Everything is ruined.”

“Wait…really? I can prepare the ingredients again if you want.” Taehyung checked to make sure they had enough which was stupid given they got full sized containers of everything and they were only making twelve cookies.

“I’m just kidding.” Jeongguk appreciated Taehyung being willing to redo everything. “It will be fine this way.”

Jeongguk poured in the ingredients while Taehyung mixed them in.

“Cool.” Most of the dry ingredients were in and Jeongguk wanted to see if they actually needed all of it, so he set down the bowl a little too harshly because the mixture proceeded to get on Jeongguk’s sleeves and the apron.

“Oh no.” Taehyung set down the spatula he was using to mix and went to Jeongguk’s side. “Here. You have flour all over your hands. Let me roll up your sleeves.”

“I promise that usually doesn’t happen. Thank you.” Jeongguk watched Taehyung intently as the older rolled up his sleeves.

“Was the fact that you got milk instead of semi-sweet chocolate chips that distracting?” Taehyung smiled to himself. He began to roll up the other sleeve.

“You caught me.” Jeongguk watched Taehyung move to the other sleeve. It kind of hit him at that moment that he was having one of the best nights he had ever experienced at that very moment. And it was with Taehyung.

Taehyung must have felt Jeongguk’s heavy gaze on him, so he looked up from what he was doing.

Jeongguk’s eyes searched Taehyung’s, almost as if he was making sure he wasn’t about to make a huge mistake.

Taehyung didn’t know what came over him, but he leaned in and kissed Jeongguk.

Almost as soon as he did it, he retracted.

“I'm sorry.” Taehyung quickly finished with the sleeve and backed away.

“Wait.” Jeongguk searched for the closest thing to wipe his hands on. It was the apron. He approached Taehyung and looked at him curiously. “Why are you sorry?”

“I’m just sorry. I shouldn’t have done that.” Taehyung basically just ruined everything. Now his crush was obvious and he may have compromised Bora and Jeongguk’s relationship.

“But why are you sorry?” Jeongguk reached for one of Taehyung’s hands. “I like you.”

“Bec-” Taehyung wasn’t sure if he heard Jeongguk correctly. “What.”

“I really like you.” Jeongguk confessed. “I really love being friends with you, but I just can’t help that I happened to fall for you. Pretty much as soon as we met.”

“Are you messing with me, because I-”

Jeongguk kissed Taehyung again to prove a point.

“I’m serious.” Jeongguk replied. “So don’t be sorry.”

There was nothing Taehyung wanted to do more than kiss Jeongguk again, but he had to tell him the truth. The problem was that Jeongguk would probably hate him if he knew the truth.

“There’s something I need to tell you before anything else. So, let’s finish the cookies and then we can talk.”

Jeongguk was confused, but he agreed.

They quickly added the chocolate chips and put the cookies into the oven.

Afterwards, they went back outside.

Jeongguk sat down on the couch and motioned for Taehyung to sit next to him.

“You won’t want to have anything to do with me after I tell you everything.” Taehyung leaned against the railing, but Jeongguk wasn’t having it. He reached out a hand for Taehyung to take and Taehyung couldn’t reject him. He sat next to Jeongguk and faced him. “I lied to you.” He said.

“About?” Jeongguk questioned. “You’re not going to tell me you’re married or something, are you?”

“No, no.” Taehyung couldn’t help but laugh. “It’s about the whole reason why we met. And please let me say everything I need before you rightfully get mad at me.”

Jeongguk simply nodded in understanding and squeezed one of Taehyung’s hands for assurance.

“Okay. So, Bora has a huge crush on you. She wanted to ask you out and stuff, but I wanted to check you out and see if you would treat my sister right. Because that’s what she deserves. Anyway, I joined the soccer team because I wanted to get to know you. And I did. I completely forgot about Bora’s crush the more we hung out. Because I really enjoy our friendship, but I obviously have feelings for you too. I kept telling myself I was wrong, or you would never like me back, because that’s what I needed to believe. I got upset when my sister would talk about you and stuff. And then you said you liked her…so I was just really confused. I am really sorry about lying to you, but we just clicked so much that I couldn’t let you go. I figured I wouldn’t have a chance with you, but Bora would. I don’t want you to think that we got to this point because of my sister’s infatuation with you. This has been all me and I think the fact that I refused to do something as simple as give her your number speaks for itself. Umm, but I did this because I really care for you. More than you think.”

When Jeongguk was silent for a moment, Taehyung expected Jeongguk to rightfully push him away, but he didn’t. He stayed exactly how he was for a moment before he shifted closer to Taehyung.

“Why did you think that any of that would upset me? Even if you talked to me and I went out with your sister, we would have been friends anyway. You already told me you didn’t think you’d make it on the soccer team, so it’s not like you were dead set on it. As for me, I’ve liked you since day one. Like, straight up. Why do you think I kept asking if you had a girlfriend? And then Jihun said that one thing indicating that he thought you weren’t straight, so I was extra desperate for answers.” Jeongguk paused. “Regarding your sister, I was awkward the first time because I wanted to spend the day with you. In my eyes, it felt like a date, and I was just shy because someone else was there. Then I realized I was being stupid and I could try to be friends with her, since I very much like her brother. When I said I liked her, I meant as a person. Not romantically. I was jealous of your sister’s dorm mate, I was jealous of Doyoung, I was just jealous in general. I didn’t think that you would like me.” He spoke like he was going to be cut off at any time. “Why the hell would I think any differently about you?”

Taehyung had a huge weight lifted off of his shoulders. Yes, he still worried about how he would deal with Bora, but everything seemed to be good with Jeongguk.

“I felt the same way, but I was in extreme denial.” Taehyung replied.

“Me too. I thought you would never be into me.” Jeongguk had a huge smile on his face. He was over the moon.

“I’m seriously the worst brother ever, though. This isn’t fair to her. She really likes you.” The guilt was certainly going to eat away at Taehyung.

“Tae.” Jeongguk pulled Taehyung closer, so he could relax his legs over Jeongguk’s. “It wouldn’t have worked between me and her anyway. I’m not necessarily out, but I am gay.”

That was music to Taehyung’s ears, but not good for Bora.

“Me too.” Taehyung replied. “No one knows.”

“And it’s no one’s business.” Jeongguk said. He was right. “But, just to confirm, you like me?”

“Yes, Guk. I like you.” Taehyung leaned his head against Jeongguk’s for a moment before retracting. “But.”

“Oh no. Saying but is never a good thing.” Jeongguk prepared himself for the worst.

Taehyung sighed. “This isn’t fair to Bora. I would feel really guilty trying to pursue this.”

Jeongguk let out a slightly exasperated sigh. “You don’t want to, or you feel like your sister will hate you?”

“I really want to.” Taehyung clarified. “I’m like the one person she trusts.”

“If you can’t, I understand.” Jeongguk sounded extremely disappointed. “She’s your sister.”

Taehyung tried to think of something that would lessen the damage, but it was going to be bad either way. “Yeah, I know. But you’re also a person with feelings.”

“What if…” Jeongguk tried to think of some way to fix everything. “I mean, we can just act like friends around everyone else. When we’re by ourselves, then we can do whatever we want. That’s probably how whatever we have would work anyway, until we’re ready to come out. If you need me to, I can tell her I’m not interested. If she starts to like someone else and gets over her crush on me, then she might be indifferent.”

“I want her to be happy. But I also want to be happy, and I am when I’m with you.” Taehyung constantly put his wants on the back burner, so he should try to focus on himself. Even though he felt like the worst person in the world. “We can try it out. Everyone already knows we’re close, so we can just continue what we have been doing.”

“But then I get to kiss you and stuff behind closed doors?” Jeongguk felt great. He never thought he’d get the guy.

Taehyung nodded. “Whatever you want.” He looked into the house through the porch doors. “I don’t want to interrupt what we have going on, but we should probably check on the cookies.”

“Shit. You’re right.” Jeongguk let Taehyung get up first and they made their way to the kitchen.

Luckily, the cookies were perfect and helped distract Taehyung from his inner turmoil. He also didn’t want to make Jeongguk suffer by openly worrying about the situation. It wasn’t fair to him.

So, the rest of the night, they didn’t talk about it.

When it got late, the two didn’t even need to think about what room they each wanted, because they were going to share one.

“This bed is stupidly comfortable.” Jeongguk watched Taehyung turn off the lights and use his phone to get to the bed. “Can we buy this place?”

“Yeah, I’m sure it’s very affordable.” Taehyung turned off his phone light when he got close enough and set it on the nightstand. “Where are you?”

“Let me find you.”

Eventually, they both found each other’s hands and Taehyung was heavily encouraged to cuddle with Jeongguk.

They were both laying in silence for a bit before Jeongguk spoke up.

“Hey, Tae?” Jeongguk nearly whispered.

“What’s up?”

“I really like you.”

Jeongguk was so cute. Taehyung couldn’t handle it.

“I really like you too.” Taehyung found one of Jeongguk’s hands and intertwined their fingers. “I’ve never done anything like this before. Not that I’m assuming we’re dating. But, like, everything.”

“I’m not very experienced either. And I really don’t want to mess this up. Let me know if you don’t want to kiss, or cuddle. I want you to be comfortable.” And to think that Taehyung even entertained the idea of Jeongguk being a jerk.

“I do. I really do.” Taehyung just needed time. He felt so wrong for falling for his sister’s crush and maybe he should have waited until his feelings went away instead of waiting and hoping Bora would get over Jeongguk. But Taehyung couldn’t. Or, maybe he could, but he didn’t want to.

…

Jeongguk had some plans Saturday, so he and Taehyung headed back pretty early.

However, since they had confessed to each other, both himself and Taehyung were in that honeymoon phase where they wanted to spend every waking second with each other. Well, it didn’t help that they were basically best friends. It just added fuel to the fire.

Taehyung was going to work on some assignments he had been slacking off on the rest of the day, but Jeongguk said that he wanted to do something together later. Taehyung was obviously all for it.

Jeongguk said he’d be over at Taehyung’s dorm at around seven in the evening. So, in the interim, Taehyung decided that he should go to the gym. He never thought he would, but he really wanted to improve and show Jeongguk that he was genuinely trying.

It has been a little bit since Taehyung had seen Bora, so he invited her. She agreed to go to the gym with him.

“Hi Tae Tae.” Bora approached the door of the gym, where Taehyung was waiting for her.

As soon as Taehyung made eye contact with his sister, he felt like complete shit. She didn’t deserve to be let down by her own brother.

“Hey there.” Taehyung gave his sister a hug. “How are you?”

Bora sighed. It made Taehyung think that maybe everything wasn’t okay between them.

“I’m just…I dunno. I’ve seen you plenty of times when you’re not feeling well and you just like disregarded me when I could have been talking with my crush. I’m pretty much over it, but I haven’t seen him since then. I really want to talk with him.” Bora set her bag down to put her hair up in a high ponytail. “I don’t think you understand how much I like him. And I think he might like me, I really do. Haeun said that he seems like a super shy guy and, if he’s shy around me especially, then it might be because he has a crush on me. I know he’s your friend but, honestly, you two are only friends because of me.”

Taehyung picked up his sister’s bag to bring into the gym. His own was slung over his other shoulder.

“Um,” Taehyung opened the door to the gym, “You never told me to join the soccer team, though. I did that on my own.”

“Doesn’t matter.” Bora walked inside of the gym. “You joined for me. I know you did because you’ve done the same thing with other people I have dated, too.”

Taehyung was kind of annoyed that Bora was taking complete credit for his and Jeongguk’s relationship. “Sure, Bora. Whatever helps you sleep at night.”

Bora snatched her bag from Taehyung. “You’re just gaslighting me.”

It wasn’t what he wanted to do, but maybe Taehyung should just apologize. He didn’t want Bora to be mad at him. She could do plenty of that if she somehow found out about him and Jeongguk.

“Sorry.” He replied. “I just didn’t want you to see me sick and vulnerable. I want to take care of you and to be the one to focus on you being okay instead.”

“No.” Bora pinched the bridge of her nose. “Don’t apologize. I shouldn’t have said that. I’m sorry.”

Taehyung gave his sister a side-hug, which she pretended she hated, although she hugged him back.

“There is a way you can make it up to me, though.” Bora began to walk to the weights.

“How?”

.

6:42 PM
To: Jeongguk
Message: we have a small issue on our hands

6:44 PM
From: Jeongguk
Message: oh no! Are you okay? Im almost there btw

6:45 PM
To: Jeongguk
Message: I’m okay but maybe i should tell you in person when you get here

6:45 PM
From: Jeongguk
Message: omg are you breaking up with me?? Not that I assumed we were dating haha

6:46 PM
To: Jeongguk
Message: No! Why would I break up with the perfect guy?? And i think we can safely say we’re going out??

6:50 AM
From: Jeongguk
Message: don’t flatter me:) jk im living for it but i’ll see you soon and i hope everything is okay.

Taehyung sent one more ‘okay’ text to Jeongguk before he exited his room. He fashioned a dress shirt tucked into some fitted suit pants and a pair of Oxfords. Taehyung had no idea what Jeongguk had planned, so he dressed kind of nicely. But it was the way he usually dressed pretty much.

“Hey, Taehyung.” Jihun exited the bathroom with just a pair of sweatpants on and a towel around his neck. “You going somewhere?”

“I think so?” Taehyung was unsure. Maybe they were even hanging out in the dorm.

“Let me guess.” Jihun smirked at Taehyung. “Jeongguk?”

“Wait, how do you know?” Taehyung questioned.

Jihun only laughed. “I can just tell you like him and vice-versa. Don’t even try to deny it.”

Taehyung opened his mouth to say something, but he closed it. He instead offered Jihun a sheepish smile.

“Gotcha.” Jihun winked at Taehyung. They had a mutual understanding and didn’t have to vocalize what they were thinking. “Well, I’m going to go change. Hyungu and I are going to the movies once he gets back from football practice.” He saw the look Taehyung gave him. “I don’t know how it happened either, dude. Really, I don’t. But I’m not mad at it.”

“Well, it got him to be nicer, so I say good job.” Taehyung grinned at Jihun.

There was a knock on the door and Taehyung went to get it.

When he opened the door, he saw Jeongguk looking mildly concerned, but also happy to see Taehyung.

Taehyung moved aside to let Jeongguk in and closed the door behind him.

“Hi, Jeongguk. You two have fun on your date now.” Jihun waved at the two before he retreated into his room.

Jeongguk offered him a questionable look and Taehyung just shrugged.

“I didn’t say anything to him. Apparently it was obvious that I liked you. Like you.” Taehyung took Jeongguk’s hand to lead him to his room.

“It wasn’t obvious to me, damn.” Jeongguk happily followed Taehyung.

The two went into Taehyung’s room and he closed the door behind them.

“Well, it wasn’t obvious to me that you also liked me.” Taehyung sat on the edge of his bed and motioned for Jeongguk to do the same. Jeongguk was so curious as to what Taehyung needed to talk to him about.“Anyway, what is it that you needed to tell me?”

Taehyung took in a deep breath and released it slowly.

“Uh-oh.” Jeongguk didn’t like that Taehyung had to mentally prepare himself.

“Okay. So, I went to the gym with Bora earlier and-” Taehyung was cut off by Jeongguk.

“You did? Nice! We’ll have to go together.” Jeongguk realized he interjected. “Sorry.”

Taehyung huffed and smiled at Jeongguk. “Yes, we can. But she was still kind of pissed that I didn’t want her here when I wasn’t feeling well. She started saying that the two of us wouldn’t be friends if she hadn’t expressed interest in you.”

“Okay,” Jeongguk held up his index finger, “Not true. If we hadn’t met through soccer, I can guarantee you that I would try anything to talk to you the first time I saw you. Carry on.”

Taehyung took one of Jeongguk’s hands and squeezed it before he rested their clasped hands on his thigh. “She said I can make up for it by going on a double date with her tonight. Meaning you and her and Haeun and me.”

Jeongguk’s eyes widened in shock. “You’re actually kidding, right? Is this like a date date because I don’t want her to think I like her like that.”

“I told her that, even if we do all go out, it’s not a date.” Taehyung replied. “What should we do?”

Jeongguk had to think for a moment. “Well,” He finally said, “I’m not too crazy about the idea of someone flirting with you in front of me, but I also don’t want your sister to be mad at you.”

“Yeah.” Taehyung didn’t want to, but it might be necessary. “And it’s going to be weird to have my sister flirting with you in front of me. Even though she liked you first, but still.”

“Aww, it will be okay.” Jeongguk assured Taehyung by enveloping him into a gentle hug. They were keeping things super slow, since being ‘together’ was new to them. “We can all go out.”

“I’m sorry, though. We were supposed to go and do something. I even got dressed for a date. Between us.” Taehyung and Jeongguk separated.

“You look great.” Jeongguk touched the collar of Taehyung’s shirt. “As per usual.”

“Nah, you do. I don’t know how you pull off the all black look so well.” Taehyung replied. “Should I text my sister?”

Jeongguk really didn’t want the evening to turn out the way it was going to, but it would work out better for them in the end. Somehow they would need to get Bora to get over her crush on Jeongguk.

“Yeah, go for it.”

Taehyung took out his phone and texted Bora.

7:12 PM
To: Bora
Message: jeongguk is in. when do you want to hang out?

7:12 PM
From: Bora
Message: omg really?? <3 omg okay let’s meet outside my dorm and then we can go to some place for food or whatever and then the movies??

7:13 PM
To: Bora
Message: okay, on way.

Taehyung sighed and got up. He put his phone in his back pocket and looked at Jeongguk.

“We’re going to meet them in front of my sister’s dorm. They want to go to the movies later.” Taehyung thought movies were a bad place for first dates because it was either complete silence or one of the people on the aforementioned date trying to make out with the other. But it probably worked since they weren’t going on a date.

“Ugh.” Jeongguk groaned, but he got up. “I can’t even hold your hand on the way there, can I? It’s dark enough to not be too weird for others to see, but we can’t risk your sister seeing.”

“Maybe you want to stay over after?” Taehyung said out loud before he processed the idea. “To just hang out and stuff. I don’t mean it in any other way.”

“Shame.” Jeongguk grinned and opened the door to Taehyung’s room. “Kidding. But, I mean, I won’t be opposed to sleeping through the night with you by my side again.”

Taehyung blushed. “Me too.”

The two left Taehyung’s dorm and headed over to Bora’s. Almost as soon as Taehyung knocked, the door swung open.

Bora looked beautiful, but she always did. She wore a pretty blue sundress and had hair accessories that matched.

“You look so pretty.” Taehyung said to his sister.

“Aw, Tae.” Bora smiled at her brother. But, of course, that didn’t last long. Jeongguk was there.” Hey, Jeongguk. You look good.”

“Thanks.” Jeongguk politely responded. “You too.”

“Okay, sorry.” Haeun emerged from behind Bora. “I couldn’t find the right shoes. But I got them now.” She also looked very pretty in a plaid skirt with purple accents and a matching crop top to go with it. The heels she had were also the same purple that was in her outfit.

“Uh, so, should we go?” Taehyung felt so off. He wished the night could end already.

“Mhm.” Bora and Haeun exited their dorm and the four went off campus. Bora suggested a bakery near the movie theater she picked out. It wasn’t far from campus at all – maybe a fifteen minute walk tops. Their campus had plenty forms of entertainment, but it was nice to go off campus too.

“Hey, Taehyung.” Haeun caught up with Taehyung, who was walking with Jeongguk. Meanwhile, Bora caught up with Jeongguk. “You look cute.”

“I appreciate that.” Taehyung wanted to give her a compliment back, but somehow needed to make it completely clear that he was not flirting with her. “I like your outfit.”

“Thank you!” Haeun continued to walk alongside Taehyung. “This date is going to be fun.”

Jeongguk must have overheard, because he glanced over at the two of them.

“This isn’t a date, though.” Taehyung clarified. He didn’t want to lead the poor girl on.

Haeun shrugged. “Yeah, but maybe it could turn into something.”

“Hey,” Jeongguk interjected and held onto Taehyung’s arm, “We need to talk soccer stuff, so go ahead and walk ahead. We’re just right behind you.”

Bora and Haeun shrugged and quickly delved into a conversation about their classes. Apparently they were both finance majors and Taehyung wanted nothing to do with math, so he couldn’t follow along.

“I’l be honest with you,” Jeongguk lowered his voice, “I’m kind of jealous. And, by kind of, I mean a lot. It’s just weird to hear someone flirt with the guy I very much like. Like a lot.”

“I’m sorry.” Taehyung felt the guilt eating at him again. He was lying to Bora and making Jeongguk uncomfortable. “This is my fault that I got you involved in all of this.”

“Tae, no.” Jeongguk went to put an arm around Taehyung’s waist as they walked, but he quickly retracted his hand and instead crossed his arms over his chest. “Don’t say that. I don’t even know what I’d do if I was in your situation. I know that telling her is out of the question for you and I completely understand that. It’s just…we haven’t known each other long, you and I, but I really care about you and don’t want you to be stressed.”

Taehyung and Jeongguk smiled at each other and Taehyung had to refrain from too much admiring Jeongguk. He could later. “I wish I could kiss you right now.”

“Me too.” Jeongguk sighed. “Me too.” He tried to sound more lighthearted. “Let’s just do this. It’s going to be okay. You can sit next to me.”

“Sounds good.”

.

The trip to the bakery only included picking up a few things to sneak into the theater because Bora thought the movie started later than it actually did.

Taehyung paid for everyone’s tickets and, maybe he shouldn’t have, because Haeun clearly read too much into it. He was pretty sure Bora was expecting Jeongguk to buy hers.

They got into the theater and Bora wanted to sit in an order where it would be Taehyung, Haeun, Jeongguk, and Bora, but Jeongguk and Taehyung really wanted to sit next to each other.

“But…” Bora looked over at Taehyung as if he was going to agree on the seating arrangement, but he avoided her gaze. “Alright.”

There wasn’t much time to argue, since the movie was about to start. Everyone sat down and Jeongguk handed them the things that they got.

Once they were finished with what they got, they were maybe thirty minutes into the movie. Jeongguk kept the arm closest to Bora as far away as possible, so she wouldn’t try to hold his hand. Taehyung did the same with Haeun.

It was dark enough in there for it to be relatively inconspicuous, so Jeongguk removed his jacket and set it in between himself and Taehyung. He slipped his hand underneath and found Taehyung’s hand.

When Jeognguk held Taehyung’s hand, Taehyung side-eyed him and smiled. Sure, Jeongguk couldn’t see it much, but Taehyung appreciated how affectionate Jeongguk was. He tried to ignore the fact that Bora was there and she was the one who wanted to be with Jeongguk.

But Taehyung also tried to rationalize it. Jeongguk made it clear to Taehyung that it would have never worked out anyway with him and Bora.

It offered Taehyung some reprieve, but it was still difficult. If Jeongguk told Bora he wasn’t straight, he would be outing himself. And he wasn’t ready for that, understandably so. He was just a freshman in college. Jeongguk didn’t know how others would react.

Things were going to get a lot more difficult.

…

Taehyung was right. Things did get more difficult. They were fantastic between Jeongguk and Taehyung. They were taking things super slow and often slept over at each other’s dorms. It was innocent enough – they just wanted to be in each other’s company.

What was shocking was when Doyoung proudly told Taehyung that he and Yunho were dating. He thanked Taehyung for introducing them and actually happened to tell Taehyung that he was his initial crush but “something told me that Jeongguk wouldn’t be too happy if I did anything about it”. Taehyung tried not to read too much into it.

Taehyung saw less of Bora. Any time he asked to spend time with her, she said she only would if Jeongguk was going to be there too. And, she asked Jeongguk to hang out a lot, but he was allegedly always busy.

They even had a game a week ago that Bora and Haeun attended, but everything was awkward at best. It was clear that Bora was upset with Taehyung, like he specifically told Jeongguk not to talk to her.

Bora told Taehyung that she needed to have a talk with him Saturday morning, but Taehyung told her that he couldn’t. He was going to be practicing.

And he was. With Jeongguk.

“That was great, Tae!” Jeongguk proudly jogged over to Taehyung. They still hadn’t put a label on their relationship, but they both cared for each other deeply. “That energy is what got us our winning goal last game. I’m so glad the guys wised up and included you more. You’re better than me already.”

“Lies.” Taehyung lightly shoved Jeongguk’s shoulder. “You’re the one that got most of the goals last game. Seriously, I was floored. And also kind of super proud. Like, there’s the guy I like killing it and guess who he’s going to stay the night with after the game? Me.”

Jeongguk smirked and set the ball he was holding down. He stepped in front of Taehyung and relaxed a hand on his waist. “That’s the best part too. It’s nice to wind down with you. And, you know.”

Things were relatively innocent between the two of them, keyword being relatively. Not much happened, but it was clear that their relationship was progressing.

“I feel the same way.” Taehyung really did. He was enamored with Jeongguk.

“Hey,” Jeongguk let go of Taehyung’s waist and picked up the ball he set down, “Be my goalie? I get one in and I choose what we should do later and, if you get it, you choose.”

“Deal.” Taehyung already made his way to the closest goal. He mentally prepared himself, considering Jeongguk was one of the best, or the best, player on the team.

Taehyung felt his heart race when the ball was kicked towards him. He was way too close the left side of the goal and everything happened so fast. Taehyung had to dive to his right to block the ball from going into the goal.

He felt the soccer ball against his stomach when he fell onto his side before he even processed that he got the ball.

When Taehyung opened his eyes, he did indeed have the ball held against his midsection. He had no idea how he caught it, but he was proud. Who cares about the bruises he’ll get?

“Wait,” Jeongguk ran over and placed a hand on Taehyung’s bicep when he crouched down, “Are you okay? Still have all your teeth? No broken bones?”

“Nah, I’m good. That was a good kick.” Taehyung threw the ball to his side when Jeongguk extended a hand to help him up.

Instead, Taehyung pulled him down. Jeongguk seemed surprised, but the two started to laugh.

“You’re very impressive.” Jeongguk propped himself on one of his elbows to not absolutely crush Taehyung. “Maybe you should be captain instead.”

“Absoutely not. I like it better when it’s you.” Taehyung replied.

Then it happened again. Taehyung and Jeongguk found themselves looking at each other with content smiles on their faces.

Jeongguk leaned in first and Taehyung met him halfway.

They had kissed quite a few times, but it was always just as exciting.

Taehyung leaned his head back against the grass once he separated from Jeongguk. “Does that mean I won?”

“Mhm.” Jeongguk dipped his head down to kiss Taehyung once more. Taehyung looked around the field to make sure no one else was there, considering it would be devastating for someone on the team to see them the way they were. “Then I th-”

Then Taehyung saw her. Bora must have come down to give Taehyung no choice but to talk to her.

She saw everything.

“Shit.” Taehyung scrambled up. “Bora.”

Bora glared at her brother. “Save it.” She replied. “I never want to see you again.”

“Wait,” Taehyung called out, but Bora stormed off. He couldn’t just let her go, so he followed. Once he caught up to her, he reached out his hand to stop her and she slapped it away, “Bora, please.”

“What, Taehyung? What do you possibly have to say?” Bora looked hurt, devastated. “You knew. You know how I feel about him. Was it your goal the whole time to steal him away from me when I saw him first? He probably doesn’t even like you, you know. He’s a talented soccer player when you’re a nobody who barely knows how to play. You’re corrupted him, because he was into me. There you go ruining everything.”

Obviously, Bora’s words hurt. Taehyung completely understood why she was upset, but he wished she would listen. Maybe she could try to understand.

“Can you please let me explain?” Taehyung pleaded. “Just hear me out.”

“Why? Why do you deserve to take up my time when you’ve just been lying to me all along? Is that why you haven’t approved of some of the other people I dated? Did you like them too and want to steal them away from me? You’re literally the worst.” Bora was becoming more furious than anything. “You’re a joke.”

Taehyung sighed. “You have every right to be upset at me, but can you please listen to me? This wasn’t supposed to happen. I genuinely didn’t plan for this. It just kind of happened.”

“I don’t give a shit how it happened because you did it anyway. Tha’s the reality of the situation.” Bora crossed her arms over her chest.

Taehyung could hear jogging behind him. Jeongguk was surely heading over and it might make things worse.

Taehyung let out an exasperated sigh. “I know and I’m so sorry. I promise this wasn’t supposed to happen. I just…I don’t know. I knew I liked guys, but I never ever expected this. And please don’t blame him. He has nothing to do with this.”

“I don’t blame him, Taehyung.” Bora faced away from her brother. “You’re the one in the wrong. You were supposed to help set us up and you, instead, only cared about yourself.” She scoffed and began to walk away. “Stay out of my life. I hate you.”

Those words were like a stab to the chest. Taehyung sacrificed so much for Bora, and to have her say that she hated him sucked.

“Bora…you don’t mean that.” Taehyung could feel himself getting upset. He shouldn’t be allowed to get upset, given he was the one in the wrong.

“I do mean it.” Bora couldn’t even spare Taehyung a glance. “I hate your guts. Stay away from me and stay out of my life.”

There was nothing else Taehyung could do, so he let her walk away.

“Tae…” Taehyung felt Jeongguk pull him into a hug before he could process it. “I’m so sorry. It’s my fault for kissing you.”

“No.” Taehyung leaned his head against Jeongugk’s shoulder and reciprocated the hug. “It’s my fault for doing this to her. I really screwed up.”

“She can’t be mad at you forever, right?” Jeongguk tilted Taehyung’s chin up and smiled at him, although he knew he probably wouldn’t get one back.

Taehyung shook his head. “She probably can and will. She knows how to hold a grudge. I’m usually the one who has to say I was the one in the wrong for things to be okay between us.” He paused. “She likes you so much, Guk. She adores you.”

“She’s cool and funny, but I just can’t like her. There’s no way. Maybe I should talk to her.” Jeongguk replied.

“You don’t have to involve yourself.” Taehyung let out a shaky sigh. He hated conflict, but he brought this upon himself. “I don’t want you dragged into the drama. If it wasn’t for the fact that she still cares about your feelings, I feel like she’d tell her friends what happened and word would get around about us.”

“Then so what?” Jeongguk said in a nonchalant manner. “If that happens, whatever. We’d unveil our relationship faster than anticipated, but it’s going to happen regardless. I mean, I hope it would. You’re literally everything I could want in a partner. Not that we’re official, or anything. Unless you want to be. But this is probaby not the best time to ask.”

“Of course I do, Jeongguk.” Taehyung could be happy about one thing, at least. But he had other things to worry about. “I’m going to go see if I can find her and talk to her.”

“Wait,” Jeongguk stopped Taehyung, “Give her a bit to cool down. This all just happened. She needs some time.”

Taehyung hoped it wouldn’t be too much time.

.

The stress of having Bora mad at him made Taehyung overthink everything. He tried to text her multiple times, and he was pretty sure she blocked him after many messages never delivered. And it was fruitless going to her dorm. She wouldn’t open the door and Haeun kept saying that Bora wasn’t there.

Taehyung didn’t know what to do except catch her after her last class on Monday. He would have to skip soccer practice, but it would be worth it.

Taehyung waited outside of her statistics class to maybe see if he could talk to her.

When he saw Bora exiting her class, Taehyung stopped her.

Bora was talking with another student and, when she saw Taehyung, she nodded at them to keep going.

Once the area was clear of anyone else, Bora sneered at him. “I said to stay away from me.”

“Can you please just sit and listen to what I have to say? You can choose to hate me if you want, but please.” Taehyung, once again, pleaded.

Bora rolled her eyes and looked around before she saw a vacant picnic table. She jutted her chin in the direction of the table and they both sat down.

“Well? Get on with it.” Bora said impatiently once she sat down.

“Okay.” Taehyung prepared himself. “I went into this trying to set the two of you up. I always mentioned you to him and talked about you. I even invited you to go bowling. I did this because I wanted you to be happy. He and I were just becoming friends along the way, which was bound to happen anyway. I continued to try and figure out the kind of person he was for you even though I already had an idea, but it was my subconscious making me do so because I probably already liked him. We became really close friends and then…we kind of kissed one day It was completely initiated on my part and I didn’t even process that I did it. I didn’t want to hurt you and was hoping that maybe you could get over your crush. I shouldn’t have thought about it like that and, again, I’m truly sorry. You probably didn’t expect anything to happen, considering I’m not out to anyone. But…yeah.”

Bora half paid attention while she typed on her phone. “You know,” She began, “I don’t care about your sexuality issues. Like, that’s not my problem. I don’t care what you are, or how you identify. What I care about is the fact that you knew what you were doing was wrong, but you continued to do so. And, guess what? I’m not going to stop going after him. I’ll prove that at least one of the Kims isn’t a shitty human being. He doesn’t even like you – he feels sorry for you. You’re talentless and honestly it was charity work to have you on the team. I can’t believe that you seriously think that you’re worth his time. Face it, you’re a joke. You know what Haeun and I did after we went to the movies with you and Jeongguk? We made fun of you. Because you’re the most awkward, uninteresting, and obnoxious person I’ve ever met. You put yourself on this pedestal like you’re so much better than everyone around you.”

Taehyung had to interrupt. “When have I ever put myself above anyone else?”

Bora bitterly laughed. “All of the time! You thought so highly of yourself that you joined a team you’re not qualified for. You have no friends, yet you like to act like you do. I’m trying to think of one friend you’ve ever had and I genuinely can’t think of one.”

“You want to know why I have never had any friends?” Taehyung was getting frustrated. “When we had to go to mom and dad’s, there was only so much time after school and over the weekends. You didn’t and don’t have your license. What did I do any time you wanted to hang out with someone? I drove you. Who made sure they gave you spending money from their job so you could enjoy yourself? Me. Who convinced mom and dad to let you do things you wanted to? Me. Who helped you study in school? Me. Who tried to make sure you were always happy? Me. I’m not saying this to make you feel any type of way, I’m just trying to express that I care about you.”

“Ah, there you go trying to bring up all of the things I never asked you to do and use it against me.” Bora replied. Taehyung was genuinely taken aback by her demeanor. He never thought she would act out over a boy. Of course, it was a guy that Taehyung also liked, but he wasn’t going to insult her.

“Are you serious?” Taehyung furrowed his brow at his sister. “How can you say that?”

“Because it’s true.” Bora retorted. “I do stuff for you too!”

“Name one time. Please, enlighten me.” Taehyung leaned back, arms crossed. Clearly looking at Bora with disapproval.

“Um, I just went to two of your soccer games.” Bora rolled her eyes. Her tone was utterly condescending.

“You didn’t go for me.” Taehyung was done. He stood up. “You went for Jeongguk.”

“Well, you happened to be there. So, it counts.” Bora glared at her brother. “Just think of who you would be without me. People were only nice to you in school because we’re related. You couldn’t even imagine the things people said about you. And, guess what? I agreed with them!”

“What does that have to do with anything?” Taehyung questioned. “Now you’re just throwing insults.”

“It’s deserved. I hate you.” Bora stared daggers at Taehyung, but she seemed to regret her words when she saw Taehyung get physically upset.

Taehyung shook his head in disapproval. He wanted to leave before she saw him potentially cry. “I’m sorry, Bora. I know I messed up. But you have no right insulting me the way you are.”

“Fine.” Bora huffed. “Break up with Jeongguk and I’ll apologize for insulting you. But I won’t forgive you.”

Taehyung raised his hands up in frustration. “Do you not care about the fact that I actually found someone I like?”

“Yeah, I don’t care! Because the person you like is the guy I claimed!” Bora nearly shouted before she quieted down.

“You can’t claim a person, Bora.” Taehyung clicked his tongue. “Do you really think that you can do that?”

“I can do whatever I want. Get out of my life, seriously. You’re pissing me off.” Bora shook her head and looked away from Taehyung. “I meant everything I said.”

“You-” Taehyung gave up. He was too upset to carry on.

So, he left.

Taehyung went back to his dorm and, when he did, he saw Jeongguk waiting outside.

Even though the whole issue arised around Jeongguk, there was no one he would rather spend more time with.

“Judging by your expression, it didn’t go over well.” Jeongguk had Taehyung’s bag with him, as well as his own.

“No.” Taehyung let out a shaky sigh. “She told me she hates me.”

Jeongguk didn’t know what he could do to make things better, so he hugged Taehyung.

Afterwards, they went into Taehyung’s room and Taehyung told Jeongguk how most of the conversation went.

“You know none of that is true, right?” Taehyung and Jeongguk were laying back on Taehyung’s bed together. He and Taehyung were facing each other, and it broke Jeongguk’s heart to see how upset Taehyung was.

“I dunno. She’s right, though. About a lot.” Taehyung had one more thing to tell Jeongguk. “She told me to break up with you and then she would apologize about what she said. But she wouldn’t forgive me.”

Jeongguk sat up and eyed Taehyung. “You’re…not going to break up with me, are you?”

“No, no.” Taehyung also sat up. “I’m finally happy with someone and I don’t want to let someone as great as you go. She seems to be under the pretense that you two still have a chance.”

“I should talk to her, Tae. It’s not fair that she’s blaming you when all of this is because of me.”

“Jeongguk.” Taehyung cupped one of Jeongguk’s cheeks. “Don’t blame yourself. I told her that this has nothing to do with you and she agreed.”

Jeongguk placed his hand over Taehyung’s. “I wish I knew how to make things better. What if she tries to contact me?”

“You can talk to her if you’d like. I’m not going to stop you.” Taehyung replied. “She blocked my number and all social media, so I know she won’t contact me.”

Jeongguk was frustrated for Taehyung. Maybe he was biased because he was dating Taehyung, but still. Maybe he could understand that she was upset, but he had never heard of someone being as upset as her. “You’ve been there for her and maybe she will come to realize that what she said was totally uncalled for. I’m sure she’ll come around.”

“Yeah. Me too.”

.

There was a soccer game the following Friday and Taehyung felt like he blew it. They still won, but clearly a lot of the people on the team weren’t happy with how he played. Rowoon and Doyoung didn’t even try to stick up for Taehyung. Only Jeongguk tried to, but Taehyung stopped him.

Taehyung was stressed. Bora hadn’t contacted Taehyung all week and, instead, tried to text Jeongguk. Taehyung told him that it was okay for him to respond, but it still felt weird.

However, Jeongguk’s breaking point was when Bora sent him a message talking badly about Taehyung. Jeongguk needed to intervene.

…

“Jeongguk?” Bora seemed surprised when she opened her door. “Hey, what brings you here?”

“We need to talk.” Jeongguk replied. “In private.” He noted Haeun was in the room.

“Sure, Jeongguk. One second.” Bora grabbed her bag that was on the couch and followed Jeongguk.

Jeongguk honestly didn’t know where to talk to her, so he opted for taking them to the courtyard. There weren’t many people out, so it would make things a lot easier.

“What did you want to talk about?” Bora questioned once Jeongguk slowed down.

Jeongguk stopped underneath a large oak tree and leaned against it.

“We need to talk about you and Taehyung. He-”

Bora cut Jeongguk off. “I don’t want to talk about him.” She said. “You aren’t really dating him, are you?”

Jeongguk knew that he was going to have some difficulties trying to talk to Bora.

“That isn’t the important part. And don’t be upset that I know what happened, because I asked him to tell me. Not the other way around.” Jeongguk replied. “You know what you said really hurt him, right? That you hate him?”

“Look,” Bora was definitely tongue in cheek as she spoke, “I like you. He knew that. He went behind my back and made moves on you. I’m sure that you don’t feel the same way about him as he does for you. I mean, there’s no way.”

“Why do you say that? What is wrong with him in your book?” Jeongguk desperately wanted to know. “He felt so guilty about everything and I was the one that convinced him to try to date. He was super apprehensive. But I really care for him. So, yes, there is a way I could like him. I adore him.”

Bora deadpanned at Jeongguk. “You’re joking. Stop messing around. You’re a star athlete and he’s nothing but a pathetic loser who doesn’t know when to leave things alone.”

Jeongguk was getting angry. He scoffed at her and stopped leaning against the tree. “Alright. There’s no getting through to you. I’m out of here.”

Jeongguk began to walk away, but Bora called out to him.

“Wait.”

Jeongguk forced himself to turn around and look at her.

“I want at least a friendship for now with you.” Bora said. “You can at least try to like me.”

“Bora.” Jeongguk wanted to pull at his hair. “I am in a relationship with your brother. I think I love him, alright? If you actually cared about me and wanted to be friends, you would accept that. I’m sorry I can’t reciprocate your feelings. I think you’re a great girl, but it’s your brother who I want to be with. And you really need to hear him out instead of throwing insults.”

“I just want to know…why him and not me? When did you start liking him?” Bora questioned. “I’ve liked you since the first time I saw you.”

“And I’ve liked your brother since the first time I saw him.” Jeongguk replied. “It would have never worked out between me and you anyway.”

“It could have. I would have treated you well. I’ve been planning dates and stuff we can go on.” Bora went to grab Jeongguk’s arm, but stopped herself. “Why?”

Jeongguk didn’t want to say it, but he felt like he had no choice.

“Because I’m gay, Bora. It’s not really something I want people to know just yet.” Jeongguk felt vulnerable saying anything about his sexuality. He wasn’t ashamed, he just didn’t want to be judged.

“But that still means bi, right?” Bora was most certainly in denial. Especially when Jeongguk shook his head.

“Nope. Which is why we wouldn’t have worked out. You have to understand that telling you this puts me in a very vulnerable position. If there had come a point where you asked me out and I wasn’t dating Taehyung, I’d have to turn you down without an explanation because I’m not ready to get into the details.”

Bora stood around for a little bit before she sat down in the grass under the tree Jeongguk brought them to. Jeongguk followed suit and sat next to her cross-legged.

“Damn.” Bora plucked at the grass below her. “I won’t tell anyone.”

“Thanks.” Jeongguk smiled at Bora. “I appreciate it.”

Bora offered Jeongguk the smallest hint of a smile in return.

“Tae told me that you guys went to fairs a lot growing up.” Jeongguk felt a lot more calm sitting down with Bora. He was still disappointed in what she said to Taehyung, but maybe he could talk to her now.

Bora hummed. “Mhm. He’d take me to the summer fair and the winter fair. It was super fun.” She giggled. “I remember that he absolutely hated the roller coasters. Rightfully so because they are far from structurally sound, but he went on them anyway because he knew I didn’t want to go alone. I think he liked when I would invite my friends, because then he had an excuse to not go on.”

“I can picture it now. You having the time of your life and him terrified next to you.” Jeongguk snickered and Bora laughed as well. “He told me your parents are divorced. Did they go with you to these things?”

Bora, once again, shook her head. “Mom’s a nurse. She spent more time working than at home. Which Tae and I both completely understood, of course. And our dad is a lawyer, so any conversation with him ended up being about the criminal justice system. Which I do not care about. He thought a fun trip would be taking us to the courthouse, which is why my brother planned things for the two of us to do instead.”

“At least your parents gave you money for the aforementioned trips, yeah?” Jeongguk questioned.

Bora chuckled. “Not really. Maybe enough for gas money and a ticket or two to the parks, or wherever we went, but it was never enough. Tae worked at a grocery store and then also held some painting classes at this place in our hometown that offers teens and younger an opportunity to learn skills from people their age. I tried tutoring a few times in math for some kids, but it was miserable. I don’t know how he was able to be around kids and not lose his mind. But, yeah. He paid for a lot and bought me whatever I wanted.”

“You said he took you to concerts for things he thought you were interested in?” Jeongguk brought his knees to his chest and rested his chin on top of them.

“It was horrible!” Bora said, although she had a smile on her face while telling the story. “My friend left this album in his car from this band she likes. Well, they were traveling abroad and came here. Taehyung thought it was mine, so he brought me. Another time, we went to this venue that was pretty big. The band was one I liked when I was a lot younger and I grew out of it. He freaking got us seats close to the stage and I contemplated that whole night as to why I was ever able to listen to them.”

“Makes for a good memory though, right?” Even when things went awry when Jeongguk had plans, he never thought about it negatively. There was a time that Jeongguk went in for a touch up on a tattoo he already had and his artist misunderstood. They designed a whole new tattoo for him and Jeongguk felt bad telling them he didn’t want it after all of the work they put into the piece. That was how Jeongguk ended up with the tattoo on his right arm just above his elbow. “So, he’s done a lot for you.’

“Yeah. Which is why I’m so surprised that he betrayed me.” Bora took her phone out of her bag to check the time. “He deceived me.”

“I understand you being upset and I probably would be, too. I’ve heard both sides now and I want to tell you to try to put yourself in his shoes like he did for you. In his opinion, your anger at him is well-deserved, but going beyond that by critiquing and scrutinizing him is uncalled for. It has nothing to do with the current situation. You telling him that you hated him was what truly got to him. Anyway,” Jeongguk paused, “Think about it. You feel alone because maybe there’s something about you that you are afraid of being judged for. You put it on the back burner and don’t think much about it. Suddenly, you meet someone you click with as friends, and you only see them as a friend. But things start to change. Getting closer doesn’t help to try and keep things friendly between the two of you, and things especially change when you find out your feelings are reciprocated. It’s not that simple, now is it?”

“I get that and all, but he could have at least told me.” Bora mumbled. “He messed up.”

“Sometimes, people make mistakes. I do all of the time.” Jeongguk tried to test Bora’s expression to see if she was any less angry. “But he’s done a lot for you, and I’m sure you’ve done a lot for him as well.”

“Define doing something for him.” Bora looked at Jeongguk.

Jeongguk thought for a moment. “Taking him to the movies, buying him ice cream, planning something fun to do. Things like that.”

“I wasn’t able to do those things because he always did them.” Bora complained. “If I wanted to go to a movie, he’d buy the tickets. Whenever we went out, he refused to let me pay. When I would talk about what I wanted to do over the weekend, he’d already be scheduling a time or booking the place. He didn’t give me an opportunity.”

Bora seemed to be compartmentalizing the parts where Taehyung did things for her and instead focused on what she considered to be the negatives.

“Okay, then what about school? I know he wasn’t on the soccer team there, but did you ever go to the place where he practiced with him?” Surely, Bora did at some point.

“Nah. Never did. We had art shows at school and he’d always be part of them, so they were just annoying to go to. It was done in the library, so I could just go during school hours if I really wanted to. I let him do his thing. Same for when he tried to plan something for his eighteenth birthday. He invited a few guys he played soccer with and that was enough to make me not want to go. No one ended up coming to it anyway, so no harm there.” Bora thought some more. “There was one time where he had the flu, but still drove me to hang with my friends. I told him to go home and my friend just took me later instead.” He added. “So, what I’m trying to say is that there were no valid opportunities for me to do stuff for him.”

Jeongguk couldn’t believe Bora was so ignorant. It probably wasn’t the kind of person she was, but it was just coming out since she was mad at her brother.

“So, let me get this straight. You never went to any of his art shows?”

“No.”

“You didn’t watch him play soccer?”

“Eww, no. No offense.”

“You didn’t go to his birthday party and no one ended up showing up?”

“No, but that’s not my fault.”

“And you never told him to just take it easy and you would figure out your plans?”

“No, because he has his license and I don’t.”

“Please, Bora. Please tell me you have at least gotten him a gift, or something.” Jeongguk felt sorry for Taehyung. Taehyung was such a sweet person and deserved a million friends and people to genuinely care about him, but it seemed like he never got that. And he never once complained.

“Like for his birthday?” Bora raised her brow. “He always said he didn’t want anything. If he doesn’t give me suggestions, how am I supposed to get him something?”

Jeongguk was done. All he wanted to do was go to Taehyung’s dorm and give him a hug.

“I’ll walk you back to your dorm.” Jeongguk got up and waited for Bora to follow. As they were walking, he gave her a pointed stare. “Are you starting to put together the sacrifices your brother has made for you? He loves you so much. “

“Mhm. That’s nice.” Bora plainly replied, yet it looked like she was actually thinking about what she and Jeongguk discussed.

Jeongguk got Bora to her dorm and waved goodbye to her.

“You’re not going to come in?” She questioned.

“No. There’s another Kim that needs some comforting right now.”

.

Jeongguk quietly opened Taehyung’s door when he saw it was cracked. He had brought some stuff to stay the night, besides what he already began to leave there, and a ton of snacks for Taehyung.

Taehyung was sketching away at his desk while he listened to somber music.

“Hey there.” Jeongguk kicked the door closed. “I come bearing gifts.”

Taehyung set his pencil down and swiveled in his desk chair to look at Jeongguk and smile. It was clear that Taehyung was upset, but he was pushing aside his feelings to not worry Jeongguk.

“You’re the best.” Taehyung got up from his chair and hugged Jeongguk from behind. “I have an idea for next weekend, if you’re interested.”

“Oh?” Jeongguk flipped around, so he and Taehyung were close. His hands found his way to Taehyung’s waist while he waited for more information.

“The springs.” Taehyung excitedly said. “Do you think that would be fun? I know it’s no Paris or Osaka, but is it good enough for now? I was also looking in the area and they have a super cool restaurant there with a ton of band memorabilia. Maybe they even sell some fancy drumsticks I can get you.”

Taehyung was truly kind to everyone. He listened to them and tried to make sure that he planned things they would like.

“I’d love to, Tae.” Jeongguk pecked Taehyung on the lips. “But is that something you want to do?”

“Of course, for sure.” Taehyung reassured Jeongguk. “If you’re busy, I completely understand and we can have a raincheck. I know I’ve been eating up your time.”

“You’re joking, right?” Jeongguk kissed Taehyung again. He was too precious. “I’m the one who keeps barging into your personal space. It’s just not fun when you aren’t around.”

Taehyung hugged Jeongguk tightly. “You can be in my personal space all you want. You’re my best friend and an amazing boyfriend.” He separated from Jeongguk. “Which still feels wild to say.”

“Right? It is wild.” Jeongguk agreed and went to open the bags he brought. “This is all for you, so help yourself.”

“We can share.” Taehyung could physically feel himself falling in love with Jeongguk, which was such a new and exciting feeling. Maybe he shouldn’t feel that way so quickly, but it was his first relationship. He was bound to feel that way.

“Awesome. So, are you free for the rest of the day then? Is there something you want to do?” Jeongguk checked out what Taehyung had been sketching. “Also, this is incredible. I love your style.”

“Firstly, thank you.” Taehyung rubbed Jeongguk’s back as Jeongguk admired his art. “Secondly, nah. I know it’s not the ideal way to spend a precious Saturday, but I dunno.”

“What would be ideal for you? Because I can try to make that happen, or we can just hang out here.” Jeongguk thought for a moment. “Perhaps the arcade again? But, this time, we can take cute couple photos in the photo booth?”

“Oooh.” That piqued Taehyung’s interest. “Sure, sounds good.”

.

Taehyung was thankful that Jeongguk distracted him and kept him company. Jeongguk was happy to be with Taehyung but, in the back of his head, he was still worried about what happened between Taehyung and Bora. All he could hope for was that Bora would take the conversation he and Bora had into consideration.

…

There was no game the following week and, even if there was, Bora wouldn’t have gone. She didn’t contact Taehyung at all and it was so upsetting to see Taehyung check his phone and deflate when he didn’t see any messages from his sister. From what Bora said to Taehyung, he was crushed. High school was a couple of years ago, but the idea that she and pretty much everyone she knew made fun of him behind his back was rather intrusive. If Bora had really disliked Taehyung for as long as she claimed, then she definitely spent a lot of time manipulating him to do stuff for her.

The week rolled by and the only thing Taehyung was looking forward to was going to the springs with Jeongguk. He had it all planned out – they would leave early in the morning, spend the day at the springs, get dinner, and then come back.

His mood was actually uplifted. Taehyung was on his way to Jeongguk’s dorm bright and early. He had forgotten to charge his phone, so he had it on a portable charger as he walked.

Finally, it had turned on and he shot Jeongguk a text to just remind him that Taehyung would be there soon.

There were no texts from Bora, but he did have a text from an unknown number.

10:12 PM
From: Unknown
Message: is this taehyung

10:32 PM
From: Unknown
Message: im assuming it is since you didnt respond

10:32 PM
From: Unknown
Message: its haeun

Before Taehyung read more texts, he saved Haeun’s number. Maybe he could ask her about Bora.

10:37 PM
From: Haeun
Message: youre an asshole taehyung and i cant believe i wasted my time on you. I cant believe you would do that to your sister and steal the guy that shes in love with like?? What kind of person does that?? And you like guys yet you still strung me along. I think that makes you the worst type of person tbh im glad your sister isnt talking to you because shes been in a bad mood for days bc of you. Youre a joke and the day she caught you she was so angry and i finally got all of the tea. I completely understand why shes angry at you and im glad she told me about you bc i dodged a huge bullet. Guess once a loser always a loser lol

Taehyung couldn’t believe that Bora would tell Haeun about his personal life. It was a line Taehyung thought Bora would never cross. Apparently, she wasn’t who he thought she was. It was incredibly frustrating.

There were even more texts after that, too. Taehyung scanned over them because it was nothing new. Insults were being thrown at him, and Haeun continuously brought up Taehyung’s personal life.

7:55 AM
To: Haeun
Message: I never strung you along. I made it clear I wasn’t interested. The audacity of sending such a conniving message is honestly respectable. Hats off to you, Haeun.

7:58 AM
From: Haeun
Message: ya thanks for waking me up asshole and im glad you respect me speaking the truth. Dont go flirting with anymore straight guys kay? Especially ones your sister likes because they sure as hell arent going to like you

Taehyung scoffed and put his phone into the pocket of his swim trunks. He didn’t want to be in a bad mood, since the day was about having fun with Jeongguk.

So, Taehyung picked Jeongguk up and they took the metro to the closest station to the springs. It was a short walk from there and being around Jeongguk was already making Taehyung feel better.

The springs were really nice. Jeongguk looked like he was really enjoying the day.

“This water is crystal clear.” Jeongguk and Taehyung found some rocks inside a small cave a bit of a swim away. “It’s so pretty. Thanks for planning this.”

“I’m just happy you’re having a good time.” Taehyung checked Jeongguk out, respectfully.

Jeongguk moved closer to Taehyung and they watched the water shoulder-to-shoulder.

Taehyung could feel Jeongguk’s eyes on him, so he finally looked over at his boyfriend.

“What?” Taehyung questioned with a smile on his face.

“Nothing.” Jeongguk maintained his gaze for a few seconds more before he looked away. “Just baffled at how much I lucked out. I’m dating the hottest person I’ve ever seen, and will ever see. Pretty cool, if I do say so myself.”

Taehyung clicked his tongue and swatted at Jeongguk’s thigh. “Stop. That’s not true.”

“Umm, excuse me. Yes it is.” Jeongguk replied. “Come on, I want to give you an ego.”

Taehyung hummed. “After everything that’s gone on lately, I don’t think it’s physically possible for me to have an ego.”

“She still hasn’t messaged you?” Jeongguk frowned at the thought that Bora still hadn’t reached out to her brother.

Taehyung shook his head. “No. But Haeun did.”

“Wait, why?” Jeongguk was genuinely curious. “Did she have to apologize on her sister’s behalf?”

“I wish.” Taehyung replied. “I don’t want to bring negativity to this great day I’m having with you, so I’ll hold off.”

“No, no. It’s okay. You can tell me.” Jeongguk insisted. “It won’t ruin anything.”

“I just really don’t want to think about it right now. I shouldn’t have brought it up.” Taehyung said.

Jeongguk faced Taehyung and expected him to do the same, but he didn’t. “What happened, Tae?”

“I really don’t want to talk about it right now.” Maybe it wouldn’t put Jeongguk in a bad mood, but it would ruin Taehyung’s day. He needed a break from thinking and worrying, since he had been ever since his sister found out about him and Jeongguk.

“But…it’s me.” Jeongguk continued to press, which frustrated Taehyung slightly.

“I know, and I trust you. But she crossed a line and I don’t want to talk about it because it’s upsetting.” Taehyung had to bite the inside of his cheek to not tell Jeongguk to drop it.

Jeongguk still continued to push Taehyung to tell him. “It’s not good to internalize those things. Maybe telling me will make you feel better.”

“Jeongguk, I want to think about anything else but the situation with my sister right now.” Taehyung finally looked at Jeongguk. “Please.”

“I know, I know. I understand that. Come on, please tell me?” Jeongguk asked once more.

Taehyung felt too many emotions and he was getting upset. He refused to look at Jeongguk as he spoke.

“Because,” Taehyung finally said, “Because she outed me, okay? Bora told Haeun about my sexuality and she said a lot of hurtful things. She said my sister told her all about what happened and that I need to stop going after straight guys. If I took a shot however many times she insulted me, I would have alcohol poisoning.”

Jeongguk was not expecting that. Outing someone was an absolute no in any way, shape, or form. Bora didn’t learn from her actions, she was acting like a bully. Once she found out that Jeongguk was gay, she should have realized they never had a chance. Yeah, she would be upset, but she went to too many lengths to hurt her brother who has done everything for her. And Jeongguk probably made it worse by pressing. He needed to fix things.

“Hey, I’ll be back.” Jeongguk dove back into the water and swam to where they had their stuff.

Jeongguk was hoping that Taehyung wouldn’t follow, because he was about to give Bora a piece of his mind.

He took out his phone and immediately started typing up a message.

1:45 PM
To: Bora
Message: I cannot believe that you outed Taehyung to Haeun. How could you do that? Do you not realize how big of a deal that is? If that information gets into the wrong hands, that could really be bad for your brother. I don’t care if you “hate him” or not, but this is beyond me. I’m so disappointed in you and I guess our talk meant nothing.

1:48 PM
From: Bora
Message: she wasnt supposed to say anything shit

1:49 PM
To: Bora
Message: That’s all you have to say? After going over everything your brother has done for you, you do that? I feel like, at this point, you just want to be mad at someone without having any grounds to do so. This feels like it’s about more than the crush thing. Especially since you’re only telling people about him, and not me. You’re attacking just him. Lose my number because I’m always going to prioritize his feelings over yours.

1:52 PM
From: Bora
Message: it was before our talk i promise and ive been thinking a lot about everything u said

1:53 PM
To: Bora
Message: I doubt that, because you haven’t even unblocked his number. He’s upset every freaking day when he doesn’t get a message from you

1:55 PM
From: Bora
Message: are u at his dorm

1:56 PM
To: Bora
Message: No

1:56 PM
From: Bora
Message: where r u

1:58 PM
To: Bora
Message: blue side springs. You gonna talk to him? If that’s the case, absolutely come.

1:59 PM
From: Bora
Message: ill go there to talk to him bc i dont want haeun to send anymore messages before i do

2:00 PM
To: Bora
Message: Good. You should come here and handle things properly.

At least Bora was going to try to talk with Taehyung. It would be a step in the right direction and might improve Taehyung’s day.

“Guk?”

Jeongguk put his phone back in his bag and turned around to see Taehyung about to get out of the water.

“Hey.” Jeongguk helped Taehyung out and gave him a towel. “Sorry, I just wanted to take a break. I don’t like when my fingers shrivel up. It feels weird.”

“I get what you mean.” Taehyung sat down against the tree where they placed their things.

“I’m sorry about pushing you to talk earlier.” Jeongguk sat cross-legged to Taehyung’s right. “I shouldn’t have.”

“Don’t apologize.” Taehyung replied. “Want to take a small break? I went to the store last night and grabbed a few things to eat until we go to the restaurant. Does that sound good to you?”

“Ugh,” Jeongguk groaned, “Why are you the best? It’s baffling.”

“I’m not.” Taehyung laughed. “We can watch something on my phone, too.”

Taehyung and Jeongguk spent the next thirty minutes eating and watching some random gaming videos that showed up on Taehyung’s home screen. They didn’t talk much, but that was to be expected, given they were eating.

“I think that whole waiting thirty minutes after eating to go back into the water is dumb, so we can dive in again whenever you want.” Jeongguk suggested.

From where he was, Jeongguk could see Bora. She seemed to be looking around for Jeongguk and, when she finally saw him, she waved and made her way over.

Jeongguk wasn’t sure if he should forewarn Taehyung.

“I agree with you. It’s probably made up to give parents more time to not have to chase after their kids once they eat.” Taehyung shrugged his shoulders. “But I don’t know.”

Before Jeongguk could respond, Bora made her way over and stood to Taehyung’s left.

When Taehyung saw her, the slight hint of a smile that he had on his face dropped.

“Hey.” Bora said. “We need to talk.”

“I can leave.” Jeongguk went to get up, but Taehyung stopped him.

“You don’t have to. It’s okay.” If Taehyung knew that Jeongguk was the one who told Bora to come, he might get upset. So, he probably didn’t know if he told Jeongguk that he could stay. However, it would be quite the coincidence if she happened to be at the exact place where he was.

Taehyung stared blankly at his sister. “What?”

“It wasn’t cool of Haeun to tell you that.” Bora said. “She promised she wouldn’t say anything.”

“Why did you tell her in the first place?” Taehyung raised his brow. He reached for a tee shirt he had in his open bag near him and stood up to put it on. Once he did, he leaned against the tree and eyed his sister expectantly.

“Because you were being annoying and I was mad. Like…you would have done the same.” Bora pocketed her phone that she was still holding.

“I wouldn’t have.” Taehyung replied. “And you know that.”

Jeongguk felt uncomfortable, so he also stood up and stayed close to Taehyung.

“Whatever, Taehyung.” Bora performed her signature move of rolling her eyes. “Like I said, I told her not to say anything and she did. So that’s on her.”

“You provided her with that information.” Taehyung felt hurt. “I guess my feelings mean nothing to you, given you have apparently been talking shit about me for years. I thought we got along super well, but I guess I don’t know anything. I’m just a nobody, right?”

“Stop harping on that.” Bora huffed. “Seriously. If you’re going to be a jerk, then I wasted my time. Maybe people would actually like you if you stopped playing victim. I mean, you’ve got this one,” She motioned to Jeongguk, “Wrapped around your finger. I can’t wait until he gets enough common sense to leave you.”

Taehyung was a bit taken aback by her aggressiveness.

“I don’t need this.” Taehyung bent down to grab his bag and slip on his shoes.

“The truth had to come out somehow, Taehyung. And it’s not like you have any friends to lose if and when everyone finds out about you.”

Jeongguk gasped at Bora’s harsh words. Taehyung stiffened next to him.

“I wanted one day,” Taehyung got quiet, “One day to not think about this. Just one day was all I needed.”

“I thought you were going to come here to apologize.” Jeongguk interjected. “What the hell is this?”

Taehyung’s eyes shot to Jeongguk. “Wait, you knew?”

“He was the one who told me to come.” Bora replied.

Taehyung felt utterly betrayed by the two of them.

“I’m leaving.” Taehyung stepped away from where he was and began to head for the bridge to get him back to civilization.

“Tae, wait.” Jeongguk followed quickly behind Taehyung.

“I just-” Taehyung’s gaze softened when he looked at Jeongguk. “I need time. Alone. Please.”

Jeongguk didn’t want to let Taehyung go, but he had already done enough damage. He made him talk about what happened with Haeun and then invited his sister to essentially ruin a day that Taehyung had planned all around Jeongguk’s interests.

“Great.” Jeongguk threw his arms up in frustration. “Now I’ve upset him, too.”

“He’s so dramatic.” Bora didn’t even watch Taehyung leave. “You should break up with him while you’re ahead.”

“I thought I had gotten through to you.” Jeongguk glared daggers at Bora. “He’s done everything for you and then you just ruin his day like it was nothing. I can’t believe that you just came here to make things worse. And now you’re implying that his personal life won’t stay confidential. That’s a new low, even for you. I hope you’re proud of yourself.” He took in a breath before he continued to rant. “I messed up too because he just wanted a day to not stress and I pressed too hard for information. Bora, do you not understand how much you’re hurting him? He loves you more than anything and you know he’d do anything for you. He has done everything for you. I bet you didn’t even submit your own application to go to college. He probably did it for you, didn’t he? Did you even request your own transcripts?”

“He only did that because I forgot and it was almost the deadline for applications. I was out with friends and he obviously didn’t have anything better to do. And he had to get transcripts from high school, so he already knew how to do it.” Bora seemed to cool off a bit.

“Have you always been this horrible to him, or is this a new thing? I know he’s done everything for you, that’s nothing new, but I genuinely hope you were nice to him. I thought you were just going through a weird phase of being mean, but it seems like this might just be who you really are.” Jeongguk wanted to call her worse, but it would be disrespectful. “And you do understand that he cannot just suddenly leave your life, right? You’re siblings. You’d see him when you went back for holidays. Winter break? You guys are going to be stuck with each other at home and your mom or dad is going to be confused as to why you two aren’t talking.”

“Oh, they don’t care.” Bora replied. “Besides, we were probably going to go on a trip for winter break.”

Jeongguk raised his brow. “Really now? Who planned that and who was going to be paying for that?”

After some deliberation, Bora spoke. “Taehyung.” She said.

“Okay.” Jeongguk wanted to pack up his things and head out too. Maybe he could talk to Taehyung. “I’ve told you before, but did you ever stop to think that he wasn’t able to do much in the past because he was busy making sure you could do the things you wanted to do? How could he hang with friends after school when he had to drive you to practice? His weekends were booked because you made plans and, of course, didn’t include him. You’ve made everything about you. So, I think you should try to make things right before you completely destroy any chance of mending your relationship with your brother.” He paused. “Well, I don’t know if I should call him your brother. I think he’s more of a bank account, chauffeur, and punching bag to you.”

Bora went to speak, but Jeongguk interrupted her. “Nope. Don’t want to hear it.”

Jeongguk left Bora there.

Taehyung had every right to be mad at both of them. His and Jeongguk’s relationship was still pretty new, so Jeongguk worried that what he did could possibly break them up.

…

“Yo, Taehyung!” Hyungu was, once again, watching shows with a few of his, presumably, football friends.

“Hey, Hyungu.” Taehyung waved at him, and a couple of the guys Hyungu was with did the same.

“You wanna watch something with us?” Hyungu glanced around at his friends for confirmation it was okay.

“Yeah, you totally should.” One of the guys said.

“There’s plenty of space.” Another one added.

“Raincheck, okay?” Taehyung appreciated their, surprising, kindness. But he wasn’t in the mood. “I’m going to go to the pool.”

“Alright, we’ll hold you to that ‘next time’.” The third guy said.

“Have fun!” As soon as Hyungu looked at the television again, he was sucked back into whatever they were watching.

Taehyung went to his room and packed up his sketchbook and a few pencils before he went to the pool.

The pool was nice. It was enclosed, so Taehyung didn’t have to worry about the wind blowing away his artwork. Plus, not many people frequented it. He used to go there last semester when he needed a change of scenery.

Plus, swimming was fun. Taehyung would after he finished drawing, so he wouldn’t potentially get water on his paper.

Taehyung was also glad that he brought his headphones, because drawing and being immersed in music was really therapeutic for him.

The center of Taehyung’s artwork was a street view of Japan. It was challenging for him to draw buildings and apparently he was in the mood to suffer.

Before Taehyung knew it, he felt a hand on his shoulder and nearly threw his sketchbook down.

When Taehyung looked to his side, he was relieved to see that it was Jeongguk. He paused his music and took off his headphones.

“Now that’s twenty years you took off my life.” Taehyung closed his sketchbook and set it on the lounge chair next to the one he was using.

“Sorry.” Jeongguk sat down on the lounge chair closest to him. “That was an accident this time around.”

“It’s all good.” Taehyung shrugged.

Jeongguk wanted to be silent for a bit, but he couldn’t. He felt horrible.

“I’m really sorry about what happened earlier with you sister. I genuinely thought she was going to apologize to you after a long conversation with her.” Jeongguk wanted nothing more than to physically comfort Taehyung, but he didn’t want to when Taehyung was mad at him and probably didn’t want to be touched.

“You talked with her?” Taehyung questioned. “When?”

“I went to her dorm not too long ago and called her out. I tried to make her realize all of the things you have done for her, and she seemingly fully acknowledged it. I truly, truly, thought that she was going to apologize. But I texted her after I found out that she told Haeun about you. She was still being pretty disrespectful but she asked where you were for her to talk to you. Clearly, that was a mistake. I should have been honest with you.”

“Thank you for standing up for me. I’m not mad at you, though. I just tried really hard to plan everything today for you and it got ruined. It’s just disappointing.” Taehyung replied. “I’m sorry that you thought I was upset with you.”

“You’re the last person who needs to apologize.” Jeongguk reassured Taehyung. “Can I sit next to you?”

Taehyung moved to the side. “Sure.” He managed a smile and it made Jeongguk feel a whole lot better.

“Are we okay then?” Jeongguk leaned against Taehyung. “I thought you might break up with me.”

“No way. That wasn’t even a thought that went through my mind.” Taehyung chuckled. It was endearing how much Jeongguk cared for him. “I was going to swim for a bit. Wanna join?”

“Eww, gross. I have to see you shirtless? Absolute torture.” Jeongguk smirked when he saw Taehyung’s reaction. “Sure.” He replied. “Sounds good.”

.

Taehyung felt worlds better after hanging out with Jeongguk. Jeongguk insisted that they still try to go to the restaurant Taehyung told him about. It wouldn’t be too inconvenient, since it was a thirty minute metro ride away. Taehyung figured it would be fine. He was pretty excited to go.

The two were going to meet up once they showered and changed at their dorms.

Taehyung went into his dorm and didn’t see Hyungu or Jihun. Which was fine, since they were probably out having fun. He showered and put on something decent before he grabbed all of his things and opened the door to his dorm.

When he did, Taehyung was more than surprised to see Bora.

“Can we please talk? For real this time?” Bora actually looked sincere, which always made Taehyung crack.

Taehyung sighed and stepped aside to let Bora in.

They went to sit on the living room couch and Bora cleared her throat.

“Tae, I’m so sorry. I wasn’t thinking and, instead, took out my frustrations on you. I shouldn’t have flipped out as much as I did once I found out that Jeongguk doesn’t date women. We would have never had a chance, yet I still acted out. It took Jeongguk talking to me to help me realize how much I messed up. You’ve done everything, literally everything, for me for as long as I can remember. You’ve sacrificed your time just to make sure I’m happy. But I’ve never been appreciative. I’ve never supported anything you did because I was stuck in my own world. You and I have always gotten along and you’re forever kind to me, so I didn’t see an issue.”

“You had every right to be upset when you saw me and Jeongguk on the soccer field. I understand that and that was such a messed up move on my part.” Taehyung said.

“I shouldn’t have reacted the way I did. Especially since you were trying to be honest about your sexuality with me. I understand why you didn’t tell me because that’s a very personal thing, which is why I had no right to tell Haeun. After Jeongguk made me realize everything you did for me, I think that I didn’t want to believe that I never did anything for you, so I got angry instead. I was angry at myself, but I took it out on you. Your life and sexuality aren’t a story for me to tell. It’s your life.” Bora tapped her foot anxiously. “And I didn’t make fun of you with people and they never made fun of you. My friends admired you for always being there for me. I should have showed my appreciation because you have been the one to take me on trips and stuff when mom and dad couldn’t. I’ve said some horrible stuff to you. Obviously, I don’t hate you. And I know that you’re sorry about what happened. So, don’t apologize for that. You’ve been stressed about it for far too long. It’s fine, I’m over it. I love you so much and I’m sorry for hurting you. You have every right to stay mad at me.”

“It’s okay. I’m not going to lie and say that I wasn’t hurt by what you said, but it ultimately all derived from me messing up. I love you too. I don’t want to fight, Bora. I don’t want you to hate me.” Taehyung felt a huge weight be lifted off of his shoulders.

“I’ve never hated you. And I’m going to put in an effort to show my support for you. You better expect me at all of your games cheering you on, because I’ll be there. I also talked to Haeun and she won’t be saying anything. I have plenty of dirt on her that could get her in serious trouble and I will absolutely hold that over her head.”

Taehyung chuckled. “It’s always good to threaten someone with their own secrets.” He joked. “Uh, are you hungry?”

“Tae, I will perish if I don’t eat within the next hour.” Bora grinned at her brother. “I know, dramatic. But, yes, I am hungry.”

“Come with me. Jeongguk and I are going to this cool restaurant near the springs we were at earlier.” Taehyung sat up from the couch and extended a hand to his sister. “And dinner is on me.”

“Absolutely not.” Bora scanned the room and saw Taehyung’s wallet in the kitchen. She snatched it and put it in her bag. “It’s the least I can do to make up for all of the years you have taken care of me.”

“I have virtual credit cards,” Taehyung held up his phone, “But go off.” He went to pocket his phone, but remembered that he should text Jeongguk.

7:39 PM
To: Jeongguk
Message: Hey guk. Bora and i talked. Things are cool now, so do you mind if she tags along?

7:40 PM
From: Jeongguk
Message: omg not at all! Firstly, yay, and secondly my roommate is down in the dumps bc its his birthday and his gf broke up with him last week. I want to invite him out

7:41 PM
To: Jeongguk
Message: that’s perfect! I’m going to see if Bora needs anything from her dorm and then i’ll head out with her. Want to meet at the restaurant?

7:44 PM
From: Jeongguk
Message: :)sure! If i get there before you, then i’ll get a table

7:45 PM
To: Jeongguk
Message: you’re the best:)

“Alright.” Taehyung put his phone away. “He’s going to meet us at the restaurant because I’m assuming that you probably don’t want to wear athletic wear to the restaurant.”

“I’m dumb. I should have changed earlier.” Bora looked down at her outfit. “I’ll make sure Haeun doesn’t say anything.”

“Sounds good.”

…

Bora and Taehyung took the metro to the restaurant. The journey there was pleasant because they were able to talk and get over that initial post apology awkwardness.

The restaurant was even cooler in person, as opposed to the photos Taehyung saw online.

There was also a merchandise store seemingly inside of the restaurant, so maybe Taehyung could get Jeongguk some drum sticks.

Bora held the door open for Taehyung and they both entered the restaurant.

The siblings had talked the whole metro ride there and things seemed to be perfect. Taehyung was incredibly relieved.

“Hi.” Taehyung approached the host. “We’re meeting some people here. It should be under Jeongguk.”

The host looked down at a tablet on their podium. “Ah.” They must have found the table. “Sure thing. Follow me.”

Taehyung and Bora obliged. They were led through a maze essentially, but it was okay because there were so many cool things to see on the way.

When the hostess motioned to the table, Taehyung thanked them and began to head over to it when Bora grabbed his wrist and yanked him back.

“Dislocated wrist. Got it.” Taehyung rubbed his wrist. “What’s up? Do you hate the place or something?”

“No,” Bora lowered his voice, “It’s not that.”

“Then what is it?” Taehyung questioned. “Please don’t tell me you checked Yelp reviews on the way here. If there was even one review about a mystery hair in someone’s food, I’m out.” He thought about it for a moment. “Actually…if we found it, maybe they would comp the whole meal. Free dinner.”

“Not that either, dummy.” Bora chuckled. “That.”

She pointed at the table where Jeongguk was sitting with his roommate.

“Who? Jeongguk’s roommate?” Taehyung maybe saw him in passing, but that was it. He didn’t look familiar.

“Is he single?” Bora asked.

“I think so? Guk mentioned that he was broken up with recently, hence why he’s alone on his birthday.”

“Is he straight?” Bora squinted at the table to get a better look at the guy.

“I know that his ex is a girl, at least.” Taehyung shrugged. “Not sure if he’s straight, but he likes women to some degree.”

“Okay, let me get this straight.” Bora clasped her hands together. “He’s single, likes women, and he’s cute?”

“I guess?” The guy was good looking, but there happened to be a very attractive man next to him that Taehyung couldn’t wait to hug.

“Taehyung…” Bora grabbed onto his arm. “This is a revolutionary moment. I think I’m in love.”