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Yoongi has spent years believing he understands Kim Taehyung better than most people ever will.
That is the privilege—and burden—of being Taehyung’s best friend.
Officially, Yoongi is a producer, songwriter, and one of the few people Taehyung trusts enough to call at two in the morning when inspiration strikes. Unofficially, he is Taehyung’s emergency contact, reality check, designated critic, occasional chauffeur, keeper of embarrassing secrets, and the person management calls first whenever Taehyung disappears between schedules.
If Taehyung forgets to eat, Yoongi knows before anyone else.
If Taehyung hates a demo but is being polite about it, Yoongi can tell from one look.
If Taehyung is overwhelmed by cameras, fame, pressure, or simply being himself too loudly, Yoongi is usually the one quietly steering him somewhere calmer.
Somewhere along the way, Yoongi became the fixed point in Taehyung’s spinning life.
And around them, whether either of them liked it or not, existed the rest of their loud, meddling, impossible family.
Kim Seokjin treats everyone’s emotional breakdowns like a live variety show, gives unsolicited but often correct advice, believes beauty is a public service, and somehow keeps the entire group functioning through sheer confidence.
Park Jimin notices everything first and weaponizes that talent for gossip.
Jung Hoseok believes every emotional crisis can be improved with enthusiasm and volume.
Kim Namjoon gives thoughtful advice no one asked for, then acts surprised when people listen.
Jeon Jungkook behaves like a menace whenever romance is nearby
Together, they have spent years watching Taehyung orbit Yoongi like a lovesick moon while Yoongi remained aggressively oblivious.
They made bets.
They built timelines.
Jimin once made a slideshow titled: Evidence That Kim Taehyung Is Pathetic. Just like a good soulmate should, he would have added himself if ever asked. And everyone else just contributed to it, quietly, without asking questions.
Hoseok added transitions,
Namjoon initially refused to participate, then quietly corrected the grammar.
Jungkook asked if there would be prizes
.
Seokjin demanded snacks, a trophy for whoever guessed the confession date closest, and final authority over presentation aesthetics.
Yoongi although being part of the group chat the presentation was posted on never dared to open the file still sitting in some remote file on his phone. Because he had saved it to never look at it like the coward he was./>
.
Taehyung, on the other hand, really didn’t know any of this, because he was removed from said group chat two years ago after accidentally spoiling a surprise party for himself, sending thirty-seven voice notes during a minor crush crisis, and once trying to poll everyone on whether he should “look yearning in beige or yearning in navy.”
Seokjin had done the honors, he was having a bad day, his favorite moisturizer, which was an expensive tiny thing had just ended up on the floor, courtesy of one Kim Namjoon, and he had decided he couldn’t put up with more bullshit for the day.
They never added him back, but instead created a separate chat with Taehyung in it, but everyone agrees the real information lives elsewhere.
It’s just safer to speculate without the source of most of the tea, and Yoongi ignored it on most days anyways. So it was a safe space for them to share their unasked thoughts and opinions
Despite their friend group being so lively and close knitted, Yoongi is the one who knows Taehyung the best, privilege of being from the same home town, and having spent their formative years as trainees under the same company when they were both fresh out of high school, who bonded over being new to the big city and from having frequented the same spots growing up.
He knows the difference between Taehyung being quiet because he is thoughtful and Taehyung being quiet because he is about to do something reckless. He knows which smile means genuine happiness and which one means trouble. He knows Taehyung hates cold coffee, loves old jazz records played too loudly on Sunday mornings, and gets irritable when he hasn’t slept more than four hours. He knows Taehyung collects half-finished hobbies like trophies and abandons them just as dramatically.
He knows Taehyung better than magazines, interviewers, fans, and every talk show host who has ever claimed to know the “real” V.
Which is exactly why this feels like betrayal.
Because if Yoongi knew Taehyung so well, then how did he miss something this big?
At 2:13 a.m., Yoongi’s phone vibrates violently across his nightstand, buzzing itself against a stack of books.
Taehyung: stay awake
Taehyung: teaser in ten mins
Taehyung: i need emotional support
Taehyung: hyung????
Taehyung: don’t be fake
Taehyung: if you loved me you’d stream immediately
Yoongi squints at the screen through one half-open eye.
He types go to sleep with the speed of a man deeply offended to be conscious, tosses the phone face down on his bed next to him, and drags the blanket over his head.
He wakes three hours later to chaos.
Thirty-eight messages. Five missed calls. Social media notifications stacked like a threat across the lock screen.
The group chat is unusable.
Jimin: HE SAID WHAT HE SAID
Hoseok: no because this is INSANE
Jungkook: hyung are you alive
Namjoon: I believe several people owe me money.
Seokjin: WHY WAS I ASLEEP FOR THIS
Jimin: i told all of you this would happen eventually
Hoseok: no one thought he’d confess THROUGH MARKETING
Jungkook: i’m crying laughing
Seokjin: who had 3:00 a.m. dramatic soft-launch and why did no one wake worldwide handsome
Namjoon: We should all respect his artistic process.
Jimin: shut up you were gossiping with me ten mins ago
Hoseok: yoongi hyung answer right now
Seokjin: somebody call him and get me details in chronological order
Jungkook: if you reject him can i have the apartment art wall
Yoongi: what the hell are you all talking about
Jimin: OH HE LIVES
Hoseok: GET HIM ONLINE
Seokjin: everyone act natural. no one is acting natural.
Namjoon: Please watch the teaser before responding emotionally.
Jungkook: too late for that probably
Nothing good has ever followed those words.
This particular chat has survived scandals, world tours, missing passports, accidental livestreams, two broken kitchen tables, and one fight over whose turn it was to buy ramen.
It is where Seokjin narrates chaos like an awards host, Jimin spreads rumors, Hoseok sends fifty messages in a row, Namjoon drops philosophical observations at the worst possible times, and Jungkook treats everyone else’s suffering as entertainment.
Yoongi muted it years ago.
It has never stopped finding him anyway.
Yoongi narrows his eyes at Jungkook’s message.
The art wall.
Of course that menace would bring it up now.
It started three years ago when Taehyung casually asked if he could “leave one small canvas” at Yoongi’s place because his apartment was being reorganized.
One small canvas became three framed photographs.
Then two vintage sketches.
Then a moody black-and-white print the size of a refrigerator.
Then an abstract sculpture no one liked except Taehyung.
Now one entire wall of Yoongi’s living room is curated floor-to-ceiling in Taehyung’s constantly changing taste: old film posters, gallery finds, flea market disasters, expensive modern pieces, and one tiny crooked postcard Yoongi secretly likes best.
Taehyung rearranges it every few weeks with zero permission.
Jungkook has wanted it for months.
Not because he likes the art.
Because Taehyung once said, “If Yoongi ever kicks me out of his life, I’ll take my wall back.”
Since then, Jungkook has called it the custody wall.
Seokjin calls it undeniable visual evidence.
Yoongi hates all of them, viscerally and equally.
Yoongi decides it’s better to just ignore the dramatics of the group chat and goes on with his day. His curiosity though wins, and he looks for the teaser trailer on one of his apps.
He opens it while brushing his teeth, expecting something dramatic but manageable.
Thirty seconds.
Black-and-white film grain. Rain racing down a car window. Taehyung’s silhouette in profile. Piano notes slow and hollow, like footsteps in an empty room. Then Taehyung’s voice—low, roughened, intimate enough to feel invasive.
I loved you quietly / in the seat beside me
Watched you give your heart away
Smiled like it didn’t break me
Yoongi freezes mid-brush.
Foam drips down his wrist unnoticed.
Seat beside me?
No.
Absolutely not.
He replays it.
Then the final line arrives like a slap to the back of the head.
You call me friend like it’s enough.
Yoongi spits toothpaste into the sink so hard he nearly chokes.
“Nope.” It’s all he repeats over and over like a broken record, in his head and quietly as he towels his face staring at himself in the mirror as if he had seen a ghost.
His phone buzzes immediately.
Jimin: did you hear it
Hoseok: ????
Seokjin: blink twice if you need legal counsel, styling advice, or revenge
Jungkook: well?
Namjoon: Are you sitting down?
Yoongi picks up his phone grumbling like a gremlin, he can’t be eloquent with his brain running at 100 km/hr and his heart pummeling through his chest. He needs to sit down before he passes out.- his fingers trembling across the screen as he tries to come up with a mean answer, but he can’t come up with anything, the most he can do is type up a venomous “shut up” to his friends, dissatisfied he can’t express his belligerent feelings through the phone but he’s sure his friends feel it anyway if he concentrates enough.
By lunch, the internet has become deranged.
Trending topics include:
#WhoBrokeVsHeart
#SeatBesideMeTheory
#TaehyungsSecretMuse
People have compiled spreadsheets.
One fan thread insists the muse is a European model because Taehyung once liked a photo of a croissant.
Another claims it is Harry Styles because both have worn pearls.
A third says the muse must be someone “short-tempered but lovable.”
Thousands of replies mention Yoongi.
Jimin sends seven screenshots with no explanation.
Hoseok sends voice notes of himself screaming.
Namjoon sends a link to an article about emotional honesty.
Jungkook sends a poll titled HOW COOKED IS YOONGI?
Seokjin sends a flawless selfie captioned history is happening and i look incredible.
Yoongi throws his phone onto the couch like it has personally insulted him.
Because the worst part is—some of the clues make sense.
Seat beside me. Taehyung always steals the seat next to him in every van, waiting room, airport lounge, backstage couch, and restaurant booth. If Yoongi sits down first, Taehyung appears beside him within minutes as if summoned.
Quiet love. Taehyung has always been strangely attentive in ways Yoongi brushed aside as natural affection.
The lyric about tangerines from the full-song preview? Taehyung only eats them if Yoongi peels them first because apparently Yoongi “does it better.”
Which is nonsense.
Peeling fruit is not a skill.
Then there are the things Yoongi never counted as clues at all.
Taehyung bringing him noise-canceling headphones after one exhausting award show without being asked.
Taehyung memorizing Yoongi’s production schedule so he would know when not to interrupt.
Taehyung falling asleep in studios, cars, green rooms, and once on Yoongi’s shoulder during a twelve-hour flight like that was the most natural place in the world.
Taehyung slowly moving pieces of himself into Yoongi’s apartment until his presence lived there even when he didn’t.
Yoongi glances at the art wall and sighs. He is already exhausted and it’s hardly noon.
He leans his head against the wall, defeated. He should have known.
He laughs at himself, at Taehyung being so
ridiculously and painfully obvious. He cards a hand through his hair, quiet chuckles shaking through him.
“Oh, you unbelievable idiot.” He mutters as he picks up his phone that he had been trying to ignore, from
the kitchen table. All of their friends had texted him, but Taehyung had been suspiciously quiet.
He calls.
Taehyung answers before the first ring fully ends.
“Did you listen?” he asks immediately, voice too casual to be natural.
“Who is it about?”
A beat of silence.
Then Taehyung says, carefully amused,
“Good afternoon to you too.”
“Kim Taehyung.”
“That tone means you’re angry.”
“That tone means answer the question.”
A soft laugh crackles through the speaker, but it sounds nervous around the edges.
“Why do you care so much?”
Yoongi stops pacing in the middle of the living room.
Because it is a fair question.
Because he should not care.
Because the thought of Taehyung aching over someone else has left him restless since waking up.
Because hearing those lyrics felt less like discovering a secret and more like being confronted by one.
Because half his apartment already looks like Taehyung lives there.
“I care,” Yoongi says slowly, “because if you’re in love with someone who can’t return it, then you’re miserable.”
Another silence.
Then Taehyung says, very quietly, “What if he can?”
Yoongi’s grip tightens around the phone.
“He?”
Taehyung exhales shakily.
“I didn’t think you’d need it
spelled out.”
Yoongi sinks onto the arm of the couch. Hand still in his hair.
The room tilts slightly.
“You’re joking.”
“I’m absolutely not joking.”
“You released a teaser confession to the public before speaking to me privately?”
“I panicked.”
“You panicked with a production budget?”
“It was already scheduled!”
“That is worse!”
Taehyung laughs then, breathless and fond and anxious all at once.
Yoongi hates how much that sound steadies him.
“I asked the others what to do,”
Taehyung admits voice quiet and measured.
Yoongi goes still.
“You involved witnesses?”
“They said honesty was important.”
“Which idiot said that?”
“Namjoon.”
“That tracks.”
“They also said grand gestures are memorable.”
“Hoseok.”
“Yes.”
“And Jimin told you to create chaos.”
“…yes.”
“Seokjin?”
“He told me moisturize, speak clearly, stand where the lighting is best, and not upset you before breakfast.”
Yoongi pinches the bridge of his nose.
“That also tracks.”
“Jungkook?”
“He asked if there would be snacks.”
He closes his eyes.
Of course.
“Hyung, I gotta go, but I promise we will talk about this soon. Okay?”
Yoongi can only nod, although he knows Taehyung can’t see him. He’s left speechless and Taehyung is probably busy with the promotion, and doesn’t have time to try and extricate more words from him.
He mutters a quick okay and then he hears the call disconnecting and the ringtones just go off for a few seconds before he remembers to end the call.
He just sits in the quiet apartment and stares at nothing. He’s not sure for how long.
Memories begin rearranging themselves.
Taehyung bringing him coffee without asking how he wanted it.
Taehyung remembering dates Yoongi forgot himself.
Taehyung watching him whenever he thought no one noticed.
Taehyung refusing to stay interested in anyone for long.
Taehyung once saying, I think some people feel like home immediately.
Yoongi had answered, That sounds fake.
Taehyung had only smiled.
Idiot.
Not Taehyung.
Him.
His phone buzzes again and he lets out a breath as he sees the notification from the group chat.
Jimin: sooooooo?
Hoseok: that means progress
Seokjin: if you cry, hydrate first and send location
Namjoon: Please avoid making any permanent life decisions while dysregulated.
Jungkook: does this mean i still can’t have the art wall
Again he sighs answering the texts with an eloquent
Yoongi: leave me alone
The chat immediately erupts beneath it.
Jimin: HE RESPONDED FAST
Hoseok: THAT MEANS FEELINGS
Seokjin: somebody start rice and make soup, everyone is invited at my place, Namjoon bring the good shoju, we need to analyze all of this and we need alcohol for it
Namjoon: We should avoid overinterpreting limited data.
Seokjin: we have to deal with this, or Yoongi won’t stop lying to himself and Taehyung left to his own devices will create an even bigger scandal
Jungkook: Yoongi, put down in your prenuptial agreement that I get the art wall in case you guys end up divorcing
Jimin: why would you want that anyway? There’s no space in our house!
Yoongi throws the phone across the couch. He can’t deal with them right now, he’s still trying to navigate his feelings.
The doorbell rings twenty-three minutes later.
Yoongi knows because he’s been staring at the clock on the wall.
He opens the door to find Taehyung breathless, hair windblown, hoodie half-zipped, sunglasses crooked, one shoelace untied.
“You ran here? I thought you were busy?” Yoongi asks.
“I took the elevator for part of it.”
“That doesn’t answer the question.”
“I was stressed.
Taehyung steps inside, suddenly uncertain now that he is there. He had thought about the different scenarios as he ran like a man on a mission, but now, he wasn’t sure how to act.
For once, there is no celebrity polish. No practiced charm. No teasing confidence sharpened for cameras.
Just Taehyung.
Fidgeting with the cuffs of his hoodie. Avoiding Yoongi’s eyes for half a second at a time.
Meanwhile, the group chat continues exploding in Yoongi’s pocket. He glances down and Taehyung follows his movement, both eyeing the notifications that keep appearing on the phone.
Jimin: IS HE THERE? I swear I just saw someone that looks like him run like his ass is on fire
Hoseok: OPEN THE DOOR CAMERA
Seokjin: tell him to stand up straight and do not waste my skincare advice, and also he owes me new products.
Namjoon: Please respect boundaries.
Jungkook: show wall status
They both ignore their dumb friends, it’s not the moment for them and their chaos.
“If you’re mad,” he says, voice smaller than usual, “I understand.”
Yoongi silences the phone and closes the door behind him.
“I am mad.”
Taehyung nods miserably.
“You wrote an entire song.”
“Yes.”
“You let the whole world hear it.”
“Yes.”
“You made me find out through trending hashtags.”
“I said I was sorry.”
Yoongi steps closer until there is barely space between them.
“You absolute idiot.”
Then he grabs Taehyung by the hoodie strings and kisses him.
It is clumsy at first because Taehyung gasps in shock and Yoongi is angrier than graceful.
Then Taehyung kisses back like he has been starving.
Hands at Yoongi’s waist. Fingers gripping tightly through his shirt. A broken little sound in his throat. Relief pouring out of him so openly that Yoongi nearly laughs into his mouth.
When they part, both breathing hard, Taehyung looks dazed.
“You kissed me.”
“You’re observant.”
“You kissed me.”
“Yes, Taehyung.”
Taehyung blinks rapidly. “I need to sit down.”
“You are sitting down.”
Taehyung glances behind him.
He has somehow backed into the couch.
“Oh.”
They sit in stunned silence for ten full seconds.
Then Taehyung says, “So… you like me too?”
Yoongi stares at him.
“No, I kiss all my friends after yelling at them.”
Taehyung’s grin breaks wide and bright enough to light the room.
“You’re in love with me.”
“Don’t ruin this.”
“You’re deeply in love with me.”
“I can still throw you out.”
Taehyung launches himself sideways, dropping dramatically into Yoongi’s lap.
Yoongi nearly loses balance.
“You’re heavy.”
“You’re happy.”
Unfortunately, both statements are true.
Yoongi wraps an arm around him anyway, settling him closer.
Taehyung goes quiet then, pressing his face into Yoongi’s shoulder like he needs to make sure this is real.
His voice, when it comes, is small and warm against Yoongi’s shirt.
“I thought I waited too long.”
Yoongi’s chest tightens.
He threads fingers slowly through Taehyung’s hair.
“I think,” he says, “I took too long noticing.”
Taehyung lifts his head immediately. “That’s still romantic.”
“It wasn’t meant to be.”
“I’m counting it.”
Yoongi’s phone buzzes again.
Jimin: DID HE GO OVER THERE
Hoseok: ANSWER US
Seokjin: if they’re kissing, somebody thumbs up this and remind him his angles matter
Namjoon: I assume silence is positive.
Jungkook: if they’re kissing rn i called it first
Yoongi turns the phone face down again.
That night, Taehyung’s company releases the official song.
Within minutes, fans lose their minds again when the last lyric has changed.
From:
You call me friend like it’s enough.
To:
You called me friend. Now you call me yours.
Yoongi reads it once.
Then turns slowly toward Taehyung, who is pretending not to look at him from across the couch while failing miserably.
“Did you change the lyric today?”
“No.”
“You’re lying.”
“A little.”
Yoongi lunges.
Taehyung shrieks and bolts down the hallway laughing, socks sliding on the floor, with Yoongi chasing close behind.
The group chat receives one final message that night.
Yoongi: if any of you mention this, you’re dead
Jimin: omg confirmed
Hoseok: LOVE WINS
Seokjin: knew it. also both of you moisturize
Namjoon: Congratulations.
Jungkook: can i come see the art wall now?
For the first time in years, neither of them is pining anymore.