Work Text:
WHY DO YOU NEED A ONE NIGHT STAND WHEN YOU HAVE ME IN THE PALM OF YOUR HAND
Jeongguk rolls his shoulders as soon as he enters the house that is shaking with the vibrations of the ginormous speakers. Every inch is filled with horny students, smell of alcohol, cold pizzas and hair extensions.
Jeongguk grins happily.
After thinking about it from last one year, he finally has gathered the courage to go for it. The ‘It’ in reference here being a /one night stand/. Yes, he’s been dreaming about it since his high school days.
Now that he’s in second year of his college life, having never dated anyone, he is dying to do this. A grumpy Jimin beside him would call him a fool for losing his virginity this way but he doesn’t care. He’s gonna have sex with a stranger today for the first time.
He is brought out of his daydream when him and Jimin are shoved to a corner when the rambunctious drama club members enter the house like a pack of wild wolves and the crowd erupts into even louder hoots.
Jeongguk’s cheek gets smushed to the wall and as soon as Jimin is done glaring at the drama club, he makes some space for Jeongguk, pulling him to his chest.
Now, Jimin is shorter than Jeongguk so Jeongguk has to hunch to let the elder do so, who then speaks over the volume,
“I’m sorry, Gukkie! Do you finally want to leave now?”
Jeongguk forces his body out of the hold of those tiny hands as he huffs and checks his attire to see if it has wrinkles on it, “I told you, hyung! I am gonna do it today!”
Jeongguk turns into the party’s direction and finally leaves the entryway of the house. The house is big- way too big for a college student to afford. Big in the way that it could fit three cars parked inside the living room and still the room wouldn’t seem packed to its limit.
Jeongguk imagines how wealthy the parents of the student that is throwing this party must be.
He had planned it all in high school with Jimin during one of their sleepovers- he will go find the alcohol - take only limited amount because Jeongguk is a lightweight - shake it off on the dance floor because dance is something he’s always been good at and then when someone comes to dance behind him, pressing their body to his as they try some pick up lines on him- he will lean into their ear and pop the question!
The question being- /do you wanna take it to a room?/
It was a perfect plan but there are only two problems now- it’s his first time at such a wild party and Jimin isn’t done with his nagging yet.
As soon as Jeongguk reaches the kitchen, making a beeline for the alcohol, he bumps into The Min Yoongi. Jeongguk lowers his eyes as soon as Yoongi looks up. Jimin comes to stand in front of him.
That’s how it’s always been since their childhood. If Jimin smells even a flicker of discomfort in Jeongguk, he would come to stand in front of him like a soldier. Yoongi takes a sip of the pink drink in his hand as he takes in Jimin’s face,
“Finally decided to mingle with humans, /Minnie/?”
Minnie is the pet-name Jeongguk gave his hyung since their childhood and ever since Min Yoongi got a whiff of the pet name, he’s been using it to get on Jimin’s nerves.
Jimin folds his hands on his chest, his eyes narrowing, “I was trying to but then you came in my way and now my streak of bumping into /humans/ is broken.” Jimin clicks his tongue, “Guess I’ll have to start again.”
He might be a bit intimidated with the English major and with strangers in general but he has become used to these two bickering like teenagers in a romance novel so he lets them be and sneaks his way towards the jar filled with a shining pink liquid.
He gets a plastic cup, fills the cup and takes a sip. Jeongguk grins at the sweet taste like a kid with a candy and proceeds to fill the cup up to its brim.
As soon he brings the cup to his lips, a voice from behind his shoulder startles him, making him spill a bit of the drink in the process.
“Are you sure you can handle that much?”
Jeongguk turns around to see the guy that made him spill the delicious drink. His eyes widen when he sees who it is- the drama club president and the most famous guy in the uni- Kim Taehyung.
Taehyung smiles at him after a beat, as if amused, “How do you make your eyes go this round?”
Jeongguk brings the cup to his chest, almost hugging it close to protect it from Taehyung, “I can handle it. I drink soju all the time.”
His voice comes out as shy because he never thought he will be talking to Kim Taehyung ever. Their social circles are jarringly opposite.
Taehyung is friends with almost all the famous and extroverted people in the uni like Yoongi and Jin whereas Jeongguk is friends with Jimin and…well, Jimin is the only closest one to him. All others are just classroom acquaintances for him.
Anyway, Jeongguk never felt the need to get close to these /famous/ students. He is happy with Jimin and his other acquaintances that may become his close friends in future.
Taehyung leans on the shining surface of the slab, looking very comfortable around the place, not in a hurry at all, “And you think that /this/,” he points at the cup Jeongguk is holding onto as if Taehyung will steal it, “holds a candle to soju?”
An easy smile is plastered on Taehyung's lips but Jeongguk is starting to feel stuffy in his baggy jeans and equally baggy t-shirt.
Taehyung is dressed in an equally baggy pants and a simple white tee but Jeongguk has zero clue about how the boy can pull off such a plain outfit as if he is ready to be a show’s topper at a ramp walk for a Milan designer.
“I don’t know what this is but I wanna drink it. It’s delicious and I need to get tipsy.”
He doesn’t even know why he is explaining his actions to a stranger, but then Taehyung has always been like this- having an authoritative aura around him whenever he enters a room. At least that’s what he seemed like to Jeongguk from far away.
Taehyung tries to control his smile at the pout that is trying to take over Jeongguk’s lips but then he raises a brow at the statement, “You /need/ to? What is the reason that a person like you would need to get tipsy at such a wild party?”
Jeongguk starts taking small sips of the delicious drink as his brows furrow at the inappropriate question, “What do you mean by /‘people like me’/? I didn’t know I belonged to a type.”
A sober Jeongguk would never dare talk to a stranger, especially one like Kim Taehyung, like this. He is too shy to object to whatever a stranger says, be it blaringly wrong but the alcohol cup in his hand is working as a shield for him.
Taehyung straightens up from the slab, thinking he might have offended the younger, his expression sombering too, “I didn’t mean it in a wrong way. I’m sorry if it came out like that. I just meant that you don’t look like one to trash yourself with too much alcohol intake. I meant it as a compliment.”
Jeongguk never thought that the Kim Taehyung would be such a courteous guy. He thinks that maybe Taehyung is not the douchebag most of the people make him out to be.
When Jeongguk doesn’t reply instantly, lost in his thoughts, Taehyung brings his hand forward as he clears his throat, “My name is Kim Taehyung. It’s a pleasure meeting you.”
Jeongguk finishes the cup filled with the sweet liquid quickly, not leaving even a drop in it and takes the offered hand, with a smile taking over his face given the effect of the drink he has had,
“I know your name already, Taehyung hyung. My name is Jeon Jeongguk. It’s a pleasure meeting you too.”
Jeongguk takes it as a cue from Taehyung. He must have been wanting to finish the conversation because he can’t even fathom Taehyung wanting to continue the bland conversation with him, so Jeongguk turns around to move toward his second step- the dance floor.
Jeongguk misses the /I know it already too/ that Taehyung whispers under his breath with stars in his eyes.
He is a man on a mission anyway. Jeongguk smiles to himself when an image of Tom Cruise appears in his mind. That is it- he is like Tom Cruise on a mission impossible.
The alcohol must be the strongest he has ever had to have an effect in such a short span of time.
Before he has even made it out of the kitchen, his steps falter and a hand comes to hold him by his elbow, “Easy there, tiger.”
Jeongguk turns around and then hiccups with a huge smile to see that it’s still Taehyung, “Thank you so much, hyung!”
Jeongguk takes his elbow away from Taehyung's gentle hold and signs with his thumb towards his back, “I’ll take it from here, hyung. It’s time for step 2!”
Jeongguk brings two fingers in front of Taehyung's face to show the number as if the words were not enough and Taehyung suppresses the urge to just squish those cheeks, which are starting to turn rosy with alcohol.
Taehyung still keeps his hands in the air, ready to catch the boy in case he loses his footing again, “And can I ask what is Step 2, Jeongguk-ssi?”
Jeongguk laughs and slaps Taehyung's bicep lightly, “That sounds funny, hyung! Ssi? Jeongguk-ssi? Nobody ever calls me that! I am Gukkie!” Jeongguk taps on his own chest to sign that he is talking about himself.
Taehyung feels endeared by knowing a new habit of the most adorable boy he has ever laid his eyes on and that habit is that his hands take a mind of his own when he is drunk.
Taehyung smiles at the antics of the younger, way too endeared to stop himself from tucking strands of hair that have been troubling Jeongguk, behind his ear. So he does just that.
Jeongguk doesn’t even realize the action, but when he does, he simply leans his cheek on Taehyung's palm, nuzzling like a kitten and Taehyung's heart might as well combust from the cuteness.
Taehyung caresses the high of his cheekbone, pushes every vein in his body to maintain the distance between them as Jeongguk is definitely under the influence.
“Okay, if everyone calls you Gukkie then I’ll call you Kookie.” Jeongguk closes his eyes at the soft caress of his cheek, so Taehyung continues, “What is all this about Step 2?”
Jeongguk perks up at that and much to Taehyung's chagrin, detaches his face from the palm as his lips form an o, “Oh thanks for reminding me, hyung! I should hurry!”
Taehyung laments talking about this bloody Step 2.
Jeongguk turns again but Taehyung gets a hold of his hand this time, stopping him,
“Where are you going? You are under the influence, Jeongguk.” Jeongguk glares at him over the shoulder which looks more adorable than anything else, so Taehyung adds with a gentle smile, “I mean Kookie. It’s not safe.”
Jeongguk tries to push forward again, his voice taking a whiny note by now, “But how will I find someone if I don’t go to the dance floor? Let me go, Tae hyung!”
Taehyung's hand stills when he hears what the younger has said, taking time to process. He comes out of the shock when the younger giggles and tries to run towards the hallway that leads to the living room-cum- dance floor.
Taehyung curses under his breath and runs after him. He catches him before he reaches the end of the hallway and pulls him into one of the open bedroom door.
He holds the wriggling boy with half-mast eyes by his shoulders as gently as possible and tries to pry the answer with his own frantic eyes, “What…what do you mean by finding someone?”
Jeongguk stops his ministrations and glares at Taehyung with a pout on his lips, “Why are you doing this, hyung? Do you even know how much planning this night took? It’s been years!”
Taehyung keeps his hold on the shoulders, scared that he might run away again to /‘find someone’/, “Kookie, baby, look at hyung?” He tries to catch the younger’s eyes which are now roaming around the bedroom with curiosity.
Taehyung goes closer to Jeongguk, his heart beating wildly as he finally catches the younger’s wide doe eyes, “Tell hyung who you are trying to find, baby? I promise I will help.”
Jeongguk looks confused for a second. Then his face lights up suddenly as if he finally remembered, “I am trying to find a one-night stand!” and he says it cheerfully as if it is not something that pierces through the elder’s heart,
“I have planned this since my high schools days.” /Hiccup/ “Go to a wild party, get drunk, dance on the floor and then when someone comes from behind and leans into me with a pick-up line, I’ll ask them to take my virginity!”
Jeongguk ends the narration of the successful plan with clapping as if delighted with his own wittiness and all Taehyung wants to do is for the floor to open and swallow him whole.
How can Jeongguk be so brazen with his words and actions?
Scratch that. He wants the floor to swallow Jeongguk with him too so that no one gets their hands on this innocent boy.
On /his/ innocent boy.
Taehyung tries to reason with Jeongguk, “Why do you want to lose your virginity with a stranger, Kookie? Don’t you want to date someone?”
Taehyung is frankly too shocked by what has transpired in the last few minutes. He has been trying to talk to Jeongguk from past one year but Yoongi had to go and develop the fattest crush on Jeongguk’s friend, Park Jimin.
And Yoongi being as emotionally constipated as always, he still doesn’t know that pulling on the pigtails of the girl you like never ends up in girl falling in love with them.
So, here is Taehyung, that has finally got the chance to talk to the man of his dreams, that he is whipped for from so long.
Jeongguk’s lips take a downturn and Taehyung wants to stab himself for saying something that would cause such a reaction in him,
“Everyone said that first times are supposed to be weird and awkward. I don’t want my partner to leave me just because I am awkward and don’t have experience. My one night stand is fool-proof.”
Taehyung finally gives into his urges and finally cups Jeongguk’s soft cheeks with his large hands covering those soft, round mounds, his thumb caressing the soft skin under his eyes,
“The person that likes you will never leave you for such fickle things, baby. Your plan is not even fool-proof. What if no one comes to dance with you and no one uses a pick-up line? Also, will /you/ leave someone if they are awkward with you during their first time?”
Jeongguk seems to give it a thought and then mumbles with barely audible voice, “But Jimin hyung always said that my dance is really good and that these days everybody looks down upon someone who doesn’t have experience in bed.”
Taehyung sighs, berating himself inside his mind for making Jeongguk doubt himself,
“You are the best dancer ever, okay? Hyung is wrong, someone will definitely approach you.” Jeongguk’s brightened face could put even the sun to shame but it has never hurt him before like this but he continues with a heavy heart,
“Although, I don’t feel happy with the later part. A person who likes you genuinely will never look down on you, baby.”
Jeongguk’s reply comes in an instant with an innocent pout, as if he truly believes it, his eyes shining with the fairy dust in them,
“But no one likes me.”
Taehyung's breath hitches with how clueless his sweet boy is. Maybe that’s what his charm is. He goes to explain how wrong Jeongguk is but Jeongguk interrupts before he can utter a word,
“Can I get a glass of water, hyung?”
Taehyung observes the younger’s face for a second, when he gets nothing but wide doe eyes and pouty lips, he lets go of his face to prioritize the thirst than the explanation which might lead him to say too much.
He doesn’t want to do this when his boy is inebriated and won’t understand the depth of Taehyung's feelings.
Taehyung leaves the boy standing in the middle of the room as he goes to pick up the jar and the glass that is kept on the bedside table.
He should’ve guessed it earlier, but he was too lost in his own mind.
So when the bedroom door opens and closes with a quick click, he turns around to some fading giggles and no Jeongguk in sight, the jar and the glass slips from his hand and breaks into million pieces.
Taehyung moves towards the makeshift dance floor with slow steps this time- because if fulfilling his high school plan is what Jeongguk wants then that is what he will get.
****
Taehyung spots Jeongguk on the outskirts of the rowdy crowd. He looks a little conscious of himself, looking around himself every now and then as he tries to move to the beat.
Taehyung knows Jeongguk is an excellent dancer, having had glued his eyes to the stage of the theatre whenever the dance club is there for any program. But he can see how much Jeongguk is struggling to even stand properly, let alone standing steadily.
A sudden surge of protectiveness captures Taehyung from all sides when somebody eyes Jeongguk’s flailing limbs.
The person is clearly drunk. When the stranger starts to move towards the younger, Taehyung marches forward with big steps and before the stranger is able to catch Jeongguk’s attention by coming to dance behind him, Taehyung covers Jeongguk’s back with his body and places his hands on Jeongguk’s waist to steady his body.
Jeongguk hiccups at the touch, still unaware of who is standing behind him and Taehyung just wants to hide him in his pocket and leave the premises.
Jeongguk tries to turn around but before he can see Taehyung's face, Taehyung presses his cheek to Jeongguk’s ear and whispers loud enough for the younger to hear,
“Do you happen to have a band-aid?”
Jeongguk shakes his head seriously to answer in negative, his brows furrowing slowly. Taehyung, for the nth time that night, suppresses his urge to carry him bridal style to one of the rooms and cuddle him all night. He continues instead,
“’Cause I scrapped my knees falling for you.”
It takes a few seconds for Jeongguk’s hazy mind to understand the line and Taehyung would burn the whole world down if that meant that he will get to see that bright smile again and again in his life.
Jeongguk’s nose scrunches up as he lets out giggles at the line. Taehyung gives in to his urge and wraps his hand around the waist completely, his front sticking to Jeongguk’s back.
Jeongguk’s leans his weight onto the elder as his body relaxes and he starts looking half asleep already.
Taehyung tightens his grip when a sudden thought comes unbidden in his mind – what would have happened if he didn’t saw Jeongguk entering the kitchen and wouldn’t have followed him?
The treacherous voice inside his head answers that he would have been in someone else’s arms or maybe someone else’s bed…
Taehyung starts to sway both of them side by side, the steps completely opposite to the pop song playing on the speakers.
But he doesn’t care if they look stupid, when Jeongguk is leaning and feeling relaxed in Taehyung's embrace.
Suddenly the song changes to a slow, romantic one and Taehyung's eyes dart towards the makeshift DJ stage to see Jin holding a red cup, raising it in the air when their eyes meet.
Taehyung’s friends have been aware of his hopeless crush on Jeongguk from a long time. He gives a thankful nod to his hyung.
When Jeongguk stirs, Taehyung brings back his attention to the dream of a boy he can’t believe he is holding in his arms. When Jeongguk tries to get out of his hold, his eyes still mostly closed, Taehyung speaks again,
“Are you a magician?” Jeongguk stills again, as if his alcohol induced brain is trying to hold onto and decipher every word that is being spoken around him,
“It’s the strangest thing but every time I look at you, everyone else disappears.”
Jeongguk turns around abruptly causing Taehyung to take away his hands from his waist. Jeongguk gasps when he sees who it is behind him.
A pout takes over his lips when he realizes it’s Taehyung.
Taehyung's heart goes in a frenzy thinking that Jeongguk might be disappointed to see him as a potential suitor for him.
His friends had laughed at him when he called himself one of the ‘suitors’ for Jeongguk but he doesn’t care as this is how he was taught to treat his better half – with a courtship.
But why is Jeongguk pouting to see him?
“Why are you pouting, Kookie?”
Jeongguk shrugs at him after a few seconds, his eyes now open wide.
Taehyung tries again, “Are you unhappy to see me behind you?”
Jeongguk talks with a pout and Taehyung doesn’t know what to do with his fragile heart anymore,
“I am” hiccup “supposed to pout when I see you here but I don’t remember why.”/hiccup/ “Was I supposed to be running away from you, hyung?”
Taehyung places his hands on the dainty waist again to steady the swaying boy, “No, you were supposed to be getting impressed by my pickup lines so that you could fulfill your high school wish. Don’t you remember?”
Taehyung wished Jeongguk would forget but he really must have thought about it deeply because it’s like a light bulb switches inside Jeongguk’s head and his face brightens again.
Taehyung wonders how important all this is to Jeongguk.
He grits his teeth when he imagines that his precious boy was ready to sleep with anybody just so he could get over the awkwardness about the first time of getting intimate.
Taehyung pulls Jeongguk to his chest to distract the boy and his body shivers when Jeongguk comes willingly. How many times has he dreamt of this moment?
Too many times to not be embarrassed about.
Overcome with all the emotions, he gathers the sleepy body to himself as he presses a kiss to the crown of Jeongguk’s head,
“Is your name Google? Because you have everything I am searching for.”
Jeongguk wraps his arms around Taehyung's waist and nuzzles his face on Taehyung's chest with a soft laugh.
And when Taehyung feels Jeongguk’s body getting loose after a few minutes he carries him /bridal style/ to a room on the top floor.
As much as Taehyung wants to keep the boy in his arms for the whole night and preferably forever, he steps away from the bed after tucking him in because he doesn’t want Jeongguk to think that he took advantage of him.
Though, Taehyung, takes a seat at the edge of the bed and keeps his eyes on his dream for the large part of the night that sleeps unaware with a gentle smile on his lips.
Jeongguk doesn’t know what is coming his way as Taehyung vows to court the heck out of Jeon Jeongguk.
***
Jeongguk wakes on one of the softest bed he has ever laid on. He tries getting up as he gathers his thoughts but his migraine hits him with full force.
Jeongguk falls back on the cloud-like pillow with a whine and closes his eyes again. He feels a soft call of his name from somewhere around him but he ignores it to cover his eyes to shield it from the bright light coming from the windows.
His migraines always make him sensitive to light.
The calls of his name pause for a few seconds and then,’
“You can open your eyes slowly, Jeongguk. I have pulled the curtains so the light won’t bother you anymore.”
He is also sensitive to voices during his migraines but the voice he hears is like a soothing balm to his raging headache, so he pries his eyes slowly, trying to remember his last night’s actions but to no avail.
Everything is like black screen ever since he stepped into the house.
Jeongguk opens his eyes warily to find the room dimly lit as if the sun is not shining brightly outside. The curtains at his dorm or home aren’t this effective, what kind of technology is this?
Jeongguk startles a bit and sits up abruptly when someone clears his throat near his bedside.
His eyes fall upon the figure standing with comfortable distance between them. It’s no one else but Kim Taehyung.
Why is Kim Taehyung standing here? It finally hits Jeongguk that he is in someone else’s bed. He suddenly checks under the blanket to see that he is not naked but he isn’t clothed in his last night’s clothes either.
He is wearing a silk night suit for god’s sake. That’s when the last night’s blurry memories come back to him: him and Taehyung talking inside the kitchen, Taehyung saying something to him on the dance floor but he can’t remember what; him waking up after sleeping for a few minutes to puke on the bathroom floor as he couldn’t reach the pot in time.
Jeongguk pales when he remembers that Taehyung was right there when he puked and passed out on the bathroom floor.
Everything starts circling around him as it seems too much to take in and his eyes start to moisten with embarrassment.
Taehyung must realize his discomfort as he swiftly takes a seat beside him on the bed and Jeongguk’s lips start to wobble.
Taehyung moves his hands as if to cup Jeongguk’s cheeks but keeps them hanging in the air, not touching the younger in case he is triggered even more by it, and then tries to comfort him with his words,
“Hey, shh, baby. Everything is alright, hmm? You don’t have to think of a thing right now. Just focus on taking deep breaths, alright?” Jeongguk keeps looking at him with his eyes sparkling with unshed tears as one of his sleeve paw unconsciously comes up to rub his hair as if he has hurt his head.
Taehyung refocuses on Jeongguk’s migraine as he picks a pill and a glass of water from the bedside table. Jeongguk takes the pill silently but his eyes stay on Taehyung who looks put together with ironed and fresh clothes on, his hair gelled to stay in place as always, when Jeongguk’s eyes are puffy and red, hair messy and most probably his breath smelly.
Taehyung finally gives in to his urge to soothe the younger’s distress as he caresses Jeongguk’s hair softly to comfort him.
“You are thinking too much, I can see it on your face. Tell hyung what’s wrong?”
Jeongguk starts slipping more and more under the covers by every second and Taehyung is just thankful that Jeongguk did not shy away from his touch, so he runs his hand through the silky strands to take away the migraine’s effect somehow.
Jeongguk finally speaks up, his voice little as if he is too conscious of himself,
“Where are we….hyung?” And adds as an after-thought, “Can I call you ‘hyung’?”
Taehyung realizes that Jeongguk doesn’t remember the most of last night’s events,
“Yes, you can call me hyung or whatever you want to call me, Jeongguk.” Jeongguk gives a shy nod as he fiddles with the helm of the blanket near his chin and Taehyung wants to bring his head to his lap so that he can caress his face as much as he wants.
For now, he continues running his hand through Jeongguk’s hair.
“And you are in my house. Remember the house you arrived at last night for the party?”
Jeongguk’s sleepy eyes widen for a second, he is already lying flat on the bed by now, the migraine med causing him to get sleepy and loose-limbed,
“The party-house is yours? Wow, you are rich, hyung.”
Taehyung chuckles at how Jeongguk didn’t even knew whose house he was going to party at last night but then possessiveness gets to him and he grumbles a bit on how Jeongguk didn’t even knew whose house he was going to party at.
He will need to teach Jeongguk to be more aware of his surroundings. This world is too wicked for him.
Jeongguk falls asleep after a few minutes but Taehyung doesn’t stop caressing his head.
When Jeongguk comes to again, Taehyung is sat on a study table, going through a book with focused light on his book, probably not to disturb Jeongguk.
Jeongguk studies Taehyung's side profile with soft glow of the study lamp on his face and he wonders how can someone always look like a model in every setting. For instance, Taehyung merely has a pair of glasses on his face and he looks like he can put any supermodel to shame right now.
After a few minutes, Taehyung turns his head towards Jeongguk and Jeongguk blushes when he gets caught staring. Taehyung doesn’t seem to mind though, as he gets up from his chair and walks with swift steps towards the bed,
“How are you feeling now, Jeongguk?”
Jeongguk’s eyes has it’s fairy dust back in them and Taehyung falls in love more when he hears the boy’s more horse and cute voice,
“No one calls me Jeongguk. Everybody calls me ‘Gukkie’. You can call me that too if want, hyung.”
Taehyung wants to laugh at how god seems to have granted his wish of starting it all again when Jeongguk is not drunk and not in his senses.
“Okay, if everyone calls you Gukkie then I’ll call you Kookie.”
Jeongguk’s eyesbrows furrow as he sits up with his hair sticking up in all directions and eyes lost, Taehyung thinks he looks like the most beautiful person in this world. Taehyung would never want to share this sight with anyone in this world.
“Wow, I just got my déjà vu moment. It feels like this has happened before.”
Taehyung rounds the bed and picks up a breakfast table from the bedside table to place it in front Jeongguk.
“Nothing has happened before, it is the first time that anything is happening.”
When Jeongguk roams his wide eyes around the sumptuous breakfast served to him in the best way possible, Taehyung knocks a knuckle on his forehead softly to break him out of his reverie, all too endeared with the cute boy sat in his bed.
“Dig in, bab-” Taehyung clears his throat to amend the slip-up “…Kookie.”
Jeongguk doesn’t seem to notice as he picks up the chopsticks to dig into the different types of hangout meals he has been presented to get a taste of.
Taehyung has observed Jeongguk enough in the cafeteria to know that scrunched eyebrows means the cook’s dishes have been approved. He knows it’s stupid but he feels proud of having provided Jeongguk with a meal that he loved.
He would love to engage his chefs in preparing something delicious for his boy.
In between of Jeongguk gobbling up the food, when he is almost done with all of the food, he pauses mid-bite to see a smiling Taehyung staring at him. It makes him keep the chopsticks back on the tray and swallow the food inside his mouth, as he dips his head low.
“I’m sorry I did not even ask if you wanted some of it.” Then he looks up with his hazel brown eyes that Taehyung can never get enough of and rushes to speak, “I swear I am not like this in normal days. I am sor…”
Taehyung stops Jeongguk in the middle of his rambling by moving a strand of hair from his temple and tucking it behind his ear. Jeongguk’s cheeks redden at the gesture and Taehyung can’t wait to confess so that he can lay his heart bare in front of his doe-eyed boy wherever and whenever he wants to.
Taehyung considers a possibility of Jeongguk rejecting but he has been pinning over him for too long to let his fears govern him. Last night was a close call of losing Jeongguk to someone else, he can’t just not give it his best shot.
So, without any planning, he blurts it,
“I like you.”
“What?”
Taehyung then takes a deep breath and starts again,
“Jeon Jeongguk, I, Kim Taehyung, likes you so so so much that I can’t explain it in words. There. I said it. It’s finally out there and you heard it. Now I don’t have to pretend to not know you every time we cross each other in the uni corridors. Now I don’t have to stop the urge of going up to you and simply ask you how your day was. Now I don’t have to live with the fact that you don’t even notice my existence around you.”
Jeongguk looks stunned, his eyes shoot as wide as is humanly possible, as his mouth hangs open,
“I…hyung…what? I don’t even…know you properly…”
Taehyung rubs his sweaty hands on his hands to get rid of the nerves that are starting to get the best of him after saying all of it to Jeongguk. He swiftly picks up the almost empty breakfast tray, puts it aside and moves closer to take one of Jeongguk’s hands in both of his, desperately wanting Jeongguk to give him a chance,
“I know you don’t. How would you? It’s hyung’s fault that he never came up to you, but that is why I want to court you, give you the time to know me and what it is like to be with me. You can always say ‘no’ to anything and I will never push.”
Jeongguk has a troubled expression on his face, which makes Taehyung hold Jeongguk’s hand tighter, as if holding onto his hand tightly will make Jeongguk stay in his life forever.
Jeongguk starts,
“But..hyung…”
And it’s like Taehyung can see it happening, can deduct from Jeongguk’s eyebrows that his mind is clouded with a lot of doubts, so renews his convincing attempts again,
“You won’t have to do a thing. Hyung will take care of everything. And as much as it will crush my heart, I will also not stop you from seeing someone else if you want to before you decide on who or if you even want to date.”
Jeongguk takes his hand back and Taehyung reluctantly lets go. Taehyung’s head bows down – whether he is bowing down in front of his better half to show his dedication or out of dejection Jeongguk still doesn’t know.
This time Jeongguk rushes to speak as if in a frenzy, not letting Taehyung interrupt,
“But, hyung, what do you mean you want to ‘court’ me?! What is ‘courting’?! Do you want to sue me?”
Jeongguk’s lips form a pout and that is when Taehyung realizes that Jeongguk has probably stopped listening to him after that word was used as he didn’t understood it. But it gives him hope and he starts anew.
Maybe his friends were right when they suggested that he shouldn’t use this term in front of Jeongguk.
Taehyung explains everything in simple terms this time around and when he receives a simple ‘Okay’ from a red-cheeked Jeongguk he doesn’t know what to think of it, because it can’t be this easy, can it?
To be sure and before celebrating, he confirms it again,
“So are you saying yes to going on a date with me tonight, baby?”
Jeongguk averts his eyes at the use of endearment term, and bites his lower lip to contain his expression. He gives a short nod, with his hair flopping around, but doesn’t look at Taehyung when he does so.
And Taehyung will someday have to wrap this boy and his own heart in bubble wrap as they both are too fragile for this world.
Taehyung realizes that Jeongguk is creeping his body inside the blanket again till only his eyes are visible.
“Do you fee shy right now, baby?”
A nod.
“Do you want to talk to hyung about something?”
A shake of a mop of fluffy hair.
“Would you like it if hyung gave you a few minutes alone?”
Jeongguk is almost completely inside the blanket but from the ruffling he can see that it was a nod. So he chuckles at the endearing sight in front of him, suppress his urge to take the boy on his lap, hug him to his chest- away from the world and sway him like someone would their baby.
Because that is what Jeongguk is- his baby. He takes the charged phone from the side table and pushes it inside the ball of blanket before he leaves the room with a short,
“I will be right outside. Call for me if you need anything.”
When he drops Jeongguk at the dorms, he gives him a big bouquet of baby’s breath.
***
6 months later
Yoongi groans when Taehyung gets up from his seat in the cafeteria to welcome Jeongguk with open arms and the warmest smile.
No one would believe that the employees of his father’s company were scared of the CEO’s son and called him ruthless when it came to business.
Only if they knew how he was around his boyfriend.
“Stop groaning every time you see a couple acting the way they should be acting. In love.”
Yoongi scoffs at Jimin’s back-handed comment,
“You would literally run for the mountains the day I start acting like that.”
Jimin shrugs,
“That’s not the point.”
Yoongi grumbles but louder ones come from Hoseok, Jin and Namjoon, as Jin speaks,
“You guys really need to work on how a relationship works. What are you guys? Kindergartners?”
As always, it makes Jimin snap, “We are fine. We know exactly what we doing, right, hyung?” as he turns to Yoongi with a warm set of eyes.
Yoongi simply picks up Jimin’s hand and places a kiss on his hand, his expression always endeared when it comes to the younger.
Namjoon sighs, “These guys give me whiplash like nothing ever has.”
Jeongguk reaches their table with small steps, still conscious of the eyes that are always on him these days, since he started dating the biggest heart-throb of this country and has that heart-throb wrapped around his little finger.
Jeongguk wasn’t aware how big of a deal Taehyung was till he started dating him. He is apparently the only heir of the Kim dynasty that used to rule over Korea way back in the days and his father and mother now own the biggest company in the country.
In short, he could be called the head of the chaebols.
But that is not what Jeongguk likes about him. It is the humility with which he carries himself and the gentleness with which he carries Jeongguk’s heart with.
As soon as Jeongguk is close enough, Taehyung takes the bag from Jeongguk’s shoulders as always and then proceeds to wrap his arms around Jeongguk’s tiny waist.
Jeongguk dips his head as he is still quite shy around Taehyung as he has never dated anybody and he is an introvert, but Taehyung gently holds his chin to have a look at the hazel brown eyes that hold the key to his heart and places a lingering kiss on those soft, pink lips.
As always, Jeongguk stumbles a bit backward and as always, Taehyung holds him securely against his body.
When they part to take in some breath, Jeongguk hides his face in Taehyung's neck. It is so because, after Taehyung realized that Jeongguk would get shy even from a few compliments, he had once told him that ‘if he ever wanted to hide from this world or anyone in this world then the crook of Taehyung's neck is the exact place to be at, once tucked in it, Taehyung will make sure no one sees him till Jeongguk wants to come out of his hiding spot.’
So Jeongguk goes in to hiding and mumbles against Taehyung's skin,
“I told you not to kiss me in public, hyung. Everyone keeps staring.”
Taehyung wraps both of his hands tightly against the shorter boy,
“I don’t care. It is their problem that they can’t find a better use of their eyes. Though, do let me know if someone makes you uncomfortable.”
Jeongguk simply nods and waits for a few seconds,
“No one is staring now, right?”
Taehyung roams his menacingly glaring eyes around the cafeteria, making people avert their eyes after getting caught at staring,
“Absolutely no one.”
Jeongguk nods and without even looking, goes to sit beside Hoseok who, as always, comments on how he should have met the younger sooner so that he could spoil him more.
Just like Taehyung, Jeongguk had everyone’s heart in the palm of his hand within a week of meeting them.
Taehyung pulls the elaborate lunchbox he brings every day, especially prepared by top chefs for Jeongguk. Jeongguk asks Taehyung everyday to stop doing so much for him but the look of contentment on Jeongguk’s face after eating the food is all Taehyung concentrates on.
When they are done with lunch, they get up to have a walk in the remaining minutes of their lunch hour. Taehyung wraps his hands around Jeongguk’s waist and whispers in his ear, “Is your name Dunkin?”
Jeongguk starts laughing, his eyes scrunched and Taehyung falls in love again every single day. He continues,
“Because I donut want to spend a single without you ever again.”
Taehyung had told Jeongguk later on about what had transpired that night, how Jeongguk had explained his one-night stand plans to Taehyung, which had almost made Jeongguk skip the next day of college because of his embarrassment but since then, Taehyung has made it a ritual to wrap his hands around Jeongguk from behind and throw a cheesy pickup line at him.
Jeongguk would has now started laughing about it whole-heartedly and has Taehyung thinking that maybe it was never liking for him and that he has found the love of his life in the world’s most precious doe-eyed boy that he gets to hold in his arms every single day.
***