Archive of Our Own ^beta

Jungkook trudged back to his dorm room, gym bag slung over his shoulder, still feeling the pleasant ache of his most recent workout. All he wanted to do was fling himself on his bed and take a power nap before cramming for his economics mid-term.

But his dreams for a quiet evening were dashed as soon as he opened the door to his dorm room and walked in on his roommate, Yoongi, making out furiously with his new boyfriend, Jimin.

“For fuck’s sake, guys,” he said, stepping back out into the hallway and pulling the door closed. “At least put a tie on the door or something.”

“Sorry, Jungkook,” Jimin called, giggling. “You can come in now, we’re decent.”

Jungkook reentered the room, dropping his bag at the foot of his bed. “Decent is the last word I would use to describe you guys,” he said, sitting down in his desk chair and looking over at them.

They were both sitting up on Yoongi’s bed, Jimin’s pink hair looking like fly-away cotton candy. He patted it demurely back into place while Yoongi grinned at Jungkook and gave him an apologetic shrug.

“It was my fault,” Jimin said, squeezing Yoongi’s knee. “He just went in for a quick peck and then I got sort of…carried away.” They looked at each other, identical dopey smiles on their faces and Jungkook rolled his eyes. He was happy for Yoongi, really. He had never seen his best friend happier than when he was with Jimin but did they have to be so sickeningly sweet all of the time? Jungkook felt like he would get a toothache just by being in the same room as them.

“Don’t mind me, guys,” Jungkook said, swiveling his desk chair so his back was to them, facing his computer. “Just pretend I’m not here.”

“Oh, quit sulking, JK, I gotta get going anyway,” Jimin said. “I’m supposed to meet up with Tae at the library. Ooh, that reminds me!”

Jungkook swiveled back to face them. “Reminds you of what?” he asked Jimin.

Jimin grinned at him and nudged Yoongi. “Go ahead, tell him.”

Jungkook raised an eyebrow at his friend and Yoongi sighed. “Jimin wants-”

“No, never mind, I wanna tell him!” Jimin interrupted, bouncing slightly up and down on the bed, clapping his hands excitedly.

Jungkook could feel his patience starting to wear thin. “Tell me what?” he said, exasperated.

“I wanna set you up with someone!” Jimin blurted out.

“Umm…okay…” Jungkook said slowly. “Who, exactly?”

“My friend, Kim Taehyung. Come on, I’m sure I told you about him, he’s my roommate.”

Jungkook frowned, trying to place the name to a face but he couldn’t think of anyone so he just shook his head at Jimin and shrugged.

Jimin rolled his eyes. “Whatever. I’m sure I mentioned him to you before. Anyway, what do you think?” Jimin was bouncing on the bed again, causing Yoongi’s shoulder to keep bumping into him.

Jungkook scratched the back of his neck, looking away. “I dunno…it’s been a while since I’ve been with a guy.” This was a bit of an understatement. Despite being bisexual, Jungkook had only hooked up with a couple of guys in his freshman year, and then he had met Ali and they had dated for almost an entire year before everything went to shit three months ago. He hadn’t dated anyone since, guy or girl. And hooking up with guys was one thing--but dating them? He wasn’t sure if it would work.

Jimin obviously caught the indecision in his face. “Oh come on, JK, give him a chance. It doesn’t have to be an official date or anything. We could meet for coffee, all four of us, and then it would just be, like, friends getting coffee together.” He clasped his hands together, putting on an exaggerated pout. “Please? He’s really sweet and funny and cool and I think you two would really hit it off and--”

Jungkook held up a hand to stop Jimin’s babbling. “Okay, I’ll think about it. No promises, though.”

Jimin clapped his hands again. “Yay! Oh, I hope you say yes, I’ve been dying to get you two together for, like, a month now.”

Jungkook allowed himself to smile at Jimin’s obvious excitement. Although Jimin and Yoongi had only been going out for six weeks, he had actually managed to establish a pretty solid friendship with his friend’s bubbly boyfriend pretty quickly. It was hard not to like Jimin--he was all smiles and sweetness, the complete opposite of Yoongi, really--but he supposed that’s why they worked so well together.

Jimin’s phone buzzed and he took it out and looked at it. “Oops, I’m gonna be late meeting Tae.” He looked up and winked at Jungkook. “I’ll talk you up to him if you want.”

Jungkook smiled and shook his head. “Just let me think about it first, okay?”

Jimin rolled his eyes. “Fine, but don’t wait too long.” He bounced up from the bed and Yoongi stood up with him, walking him towards the door. Jungkook turned back to his computer and tried to ignore the quiet sucking sound of the two of them kissing goodbye, their whispered murmurs.

“Bye, Jungkook,” Jimin called. “And say yes!”

“Bye, Jimin,” Jungkook called back, pointedly ignoring his attempt at persuasion.

Yoongi shut the door and Jungkook turned back around to look at him. “So have the two of you been conspiring to set me up or was it all Jimin’s idea?”

Yoongi flopped onto his bed, stretching out and putting his hands behind his head. “Mostly Jimin’s idea. He first mentioned it a few weeks ago and now he won’t shut up about it.” He looked over at Jungkook. “Can you at least go on the stupid date so my boyfriend will focus on me again?”

Jungkook laughed. “I dunno, he seemed pretty focused on you when I walked in here a few minutes ago.”

Yoongi grinned. “Sorry, man,” he said, not looking sorry at all. “I promise we only fuck in here when I know for sure that you won’t be home for a while.”

Jungkook wrinkled his nose. “Gross.”

Yoongi laughed and then his face turned serious again. “So…what do you think?”

“About what?”

“About going on the date, dumbass.”

Jungkook shrugged, looking away. “I don’t know…not sure if I’m ready for that yet, you know?”

Yoongi sighed. “You know it’s been over three months since--”

“I know how long it’s been,” Jungkook snapped. He looked back at Yoongi, caught the dangerous look on his face, and promptly apologized.

“Sorry," he muttered. “What happened with Ali…I just feel like it really fucked me up.” There was a black, roiling sensation in his chest, threatening to pull him under to the darkest part of his mind. Every time he thought about Ali, rage, red-hot and boiling, surged through him, making his jaw tighten, his fists clench.

He slowly blew out a breath, forcing himself to relax and ran a hand through his hair. “You really think I’m ready?” he asked Yoongi.

Yoongi sat up and looked at him and there was a rare softness in his face. “Only you can know for sure if you’re ready, man. But…it couldn’t hurt, you know? Meeting someone new, I mean. It’s not like you have to marry the guy. It’s just coffee.”

Jungkook chewed on his lower lip, considering it. “Have you met him?” he asked.

“Yeah, a few times. Him and Jimin are pretty close friends.”

“Well, what’s he like?”

“He’s pretty cool. Art major, so kind of more…flamboyant, I guess?” He shrugged. “I don’t know if that’s the right word. He’s the outgoing type, anyway.”

Jungkook leaned back in his chair, puffing out his cheeks. “Is he, you know…hot?”

Yoongi raised an eyebrow at him. “Shallow, much?”

Jungkook scoffed. “Oh, whatever. Like the first thing you didn’t notice about Jimin was his ass.”

“Actually, I noticed his lips first,” Yoongi said casually. “But anyway, I’m not gonna tell you what he looks like. Go on the goddamned date and find out for yourself.”

Jungkook grinned. “Could just look him up on Insta if I wanted to.”

“You sure could,” Yoongi said, lying back down and closing his eyes. “It really doesn’t matter to me either way.”

Jungkook tapped his fingers against the top of his desk chair, thinking…It was only coffee. And Yoongi and Jimin would be there too, so there wouldn’t be the pressure of an actual one-on-one date. It’s not like you have to marry the guy, Yoongi had said.

Jungkook sighed. “Fine. You can tell Jimin to set something up. But only coffee. No fancy dinners or any of that bullshit.”

Yoongi smirked and pulled out his phone, presumably to text Jimin. “Consider it done,” he said.

***

Three days later, Jungkook was due to meet Yoongi, Jimin, and Taehyung for their coffee date in just under an hour and he was doing his best to keep from going into full-on panic mode. He must have considered bailing on the date at least fifty times in the last few days. Even now, he still wasn’t sure if he should go or not. He texted Yoongi:

>sooo…how mad do you think your BF would be if I didn’t come?<

>dude, he would straight-up murder you if you didn’t show up. murder you with his tiny, bare hands<

>lmao, I’d like to see that - it’d be like getting mauled by a hamster<

His phone pinged again and this time it was from Jimin.

> JEON JUNGKOOK IF YOU DON’T SHOW UP I WILL END YOU I WILL REMOVE ALL TRACES OF YOUR EXISTENCE FROM THIS EARTH I WILL THROW YOU INTO THE FUCKING SUN<

Jungkook sighed. The thought of an angry Jimin was laughable but he knew if he didn’t show up, Yoongi would be pretty pissed at him--and Yoongi was terrifying when he was angry.

He texted Jimin back.

>keep your fucking panties on, I’ll be there<

So he made himself go, taking a deep breath as he walked into the coffee shop, trying to ignore the nervous, tense feeling in the pit of his stomach.

He spotted Yoongi and Jimin towards the back of the shop, sitting across from each other. Yoongi saw him and waved him over. He approached, noticing that there didn’t seem to be any sign of a third person at their table.

“Hey,” he greeted them, shoving his hands into the pocket of his hoodie. “Where’s-”

“Oh, yeah, sorry, Tae’s running a bit late,” Jimin said, tapping at his phone, frowning slightly. “He should be here soon…” He trailed off as he finally looked up at Jungkook. His eyes went wide with horror as he stared at him. “Um…what the hell are you wearing?”

Jungkook looked down at his outfit: oversized black hoodie with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, jeans, and black combat boots AKA his normal outfit when he wasn’t wearing sweats. He looked back up at Jimin. “What’s wrong with what I’m wearing?”

Jimin was looking at him as if he had sprouted an extra head. “Your jeans have holes in them!” he practically shouted, causing most of the heads in the coffee shop to swivel in their direction.

“So what?” Jungkook said, starting to feel defensive. “They’re supposed to have holes in them, that’s how they came--”

Jimin gaped at him. “Are you deliberately trying to sabotage this? Is that what this is? Because I--”

Yoongi finally spoke up. “Jimin,” he said, a note of gentle warning in his voice, “he looks fine.”

Jimin looked at Yoongi, opened his mouth to say something else, then closed it again, a slight pout forming on his doll-like lips.

Jungkook dropped into the seat beside Yoongi. “If you wanted me to show up wearing a tux, you should have asked,” he grumbled.

Jimin looked apologetically at Jungkook and sighed. “Sorry,” he said, running a hand through his hair, “I just really, really, really, want this to go well.”

“So, no pressure,” Yoongi said dryly, nudging Jungkook with his elbow and Jungkook laughed. He felt better knowing that at least Yoongi had his back. And if this Taehyung was a snob who looked down on him for the way he dressed, well, he didn’t want to be with someone like that anyway. He sipped at the coffee Yoongi had bought for him, glancing at the door, his knee bouncing up and down. He thought it would be the height of irony if Taehyung decided to be a no-show.

Yoongi and Jimin were talking about something but Jungkook tuned them out, growing more and more nervous as the seconds ticked past. This is a mistake, he told himself. I’m not ready, it’s not going to work, it’s too soon--

He turned to Yoongi and opened his mouth to say he was done third-wheeling and was going to take off when Yoongi nodded towards the door. “Tae’s here.”

Both Jimin and Jungkook turned to look as the door to the coffee shop swung open--and the most beautiful boy Jungkook had ever laid eyes on stepped through the door.

Jimin waved at him. “TaeTae, over here!”

Taehyung waved back and headed over to them, Jungkook hungrily taking in every detail as he got closer. Vivid turquoise hair; a trim, well-proportioned figure clad in a denim jacket, white T-shirt, and skinny black jeans. Jungkook’s gaze snagged on the boy’s long legs--they looked slim but still slightly curvy, legs that he bet would feel amazing wrapped around his waist while he--

“Chimchim!” Taehyung cried, his bright smile lighting up his whole face. Jimin stood up and they hugged, Taehyung actually lifting Jimin off his feet, causing him to squeal with laughter. He set Jimin back on the floor, their arms still wrapped around each other’s shoulders. “Hey, Yoongi,” he said and then he finally turned to Jungkook, flicking his bangs out of his eyes with a little toss of his head. “Hi,’ he said shyly. ‘I’m Tae.”

Jungkook stared up at him, feeling like someone had walloped him over the head with a frying pan. Christ, he was even more stunning up close--soft, chestnut-brown eyes, honey-toned skin, lips that were plush, pink, and kissable--even his goddamn eyebrows were sexy, for fuck’s sake. He wondered vaguely what the fuck Taehyung was doing in college when he could be making millions as a fashion model.

Then he realized that it had been a full five seconds since Taehyung had said hi to him and he still hadn’t replied. “H-hey,” he managed to choke out. Then he cleared his throat. “I’m Jungkook.”

“Nice to meet you,” Taehyung purred and Jungkook knew then that he would pay good money to hear Taehyung say all kinds of filthy things to him in that low, smoky voice of his. Never mind a model, he should be one of those sex-line operators.

And, holy fuck, there he was sitting in the middle of a coffee shop, suddenly horny as hell. An intense wanting blazed through him as he looked at Taehyung, something he hadn’t felt in months, and all he wanted to do was bend Taehyung over the table and fuck him senseless.

Taehyung glanced down, looking back up at Jungkook through his lashes, his perfect lips curving up into a sultry smile.

Jungkook let his gaze rove over Taehyung’s body, giving him the classic head-to-toe examination, before looking back at his face and giving him his best ‘come-hither’ smile. Or, more like his best ‘come-take-a-ride-on-my-dick’ smile.

An adorable pink blush spread over Taehyung’s cheeks and he dropped his gaze but not before Jungkook caught the flustered grin spreading over his face.

Behind Taehyung’s back, Jimin was giving him the thumbs-up. Yoongi cleared his throat, and Jungkook finally tore his gaze away from Taehyung.

“Come on,” he heard Jimin say to Taehyung, “I’ll buy you a coffee. It’s my turn to treat you, anyway.”

“Okay,” Taehyung said, then he caught Jungkook’s eye again and smiled. “Be right back.” Then Jimin hooked his arm through Taehyung’s and dragged him away to stand in line. Which Jungkook was very grateful for because it gave him the perfect opportunity to check out Taehyung’s ass.

He was just on the verge of imagining all the things he would like to do to that ass when Yoongi nudged him again. Jungkook looked over at him and Yoongi raised his eyebrows.

“So…” he said slowly, “based on the intense eye-fucking session you two just had, I’d say it’s going…pretty well?”

“Holy fuck, dude,” Jungkook whispered. “Why didn’t you tell me the guy was a fucking smoke-show?”

Yoongi frowned at him. “I thought you already knew--didn’t you stalk him on Instagram already?”

Jungkook shook his head. “Never got around to it,” he said, looking over at Taehyung again. He was certainly going to now, he thought. And if Taehyung looked half as good in his selfies as he did in person, he’d probably end up jacking off to them, too. Although, he’d much prefer getting off with Tae, than alone to his pics.

A part of him knew that he was being a total perv right now but, dear god, he felt as if someone had filled a needle with pure, undiluted lust and stuck him with it.

He watched as Taehyung and Jimin stood in line, whispering to each other. He was pretty sure they were talking about him, especially when Tae snuck a peek at him, caught Jungkook watching him, and quickly looked away again, smiling and fiddling with one of the rings on his hand.

“So do you think you and Jimin could find somewhere to be? Like, in the next five minutes?” he asked Yoongi, continuing to stare at Tae.

Yoongi snorted. “Sure. Besides, from the looks of things, you and Tae are gonna start fucking right here in the coffee shop and that’s something I’d rather not be a witness to.”

Jungkook licked his lips. “Well, maybe not right here…” But there was that image again of Taehyung bent over on the table while Jungkook pounded into him from behind. Fuck the other customers, he thought. If they didn’t want to watch, they were welcome to leave.

He watched impatiently as Jimin and Taehyung finally arrived at the counter to place Tae’s order, wondering just how long it would take to get into Tae’s pants, when he saw him give the male barista a flirtatious smile and said something to make him laugh. A sliver of uneasiness entered his mind but he tried to ignore it. Yoongi said he’s outgoing, remember? he told himself. He’s just being friendly, that’s all.

And then Jimin and Tae were heading back towards their table again, Tae clutching an iced coffee in one hand. He granted Jungkook another one of his shy smiles and the uneasiness he had felt before lifted a little bit.

Taehyung sat across from him, accidentally bumping his knee against Jungkook’s. Or maybe it hadn’t been quite so accidental, based on the way Tae subtly licked his lips while making direct eye contact with him.

Jungkook let his gaze linger on Tae’s lips, thinking of all the naughty things he wanted that mouth to do. He had all but forgotten that Jimin and Yoongi were there, too, until Yoongi said, “Hey, babe, I just remembered, don’t we have that thing?”

Jungkook glanced over at Jimin who was looking at Yoongi with a puzzled expression. “What thing? What are you--” Then understanding dawned on his face as he looked quickly between Jungkook and Taehyung. “Ohhh, right, that thing. Yeah, we’d better go so we don’t, um, miss it.”

They both stood up, Jimin leaning down to peck Tae on the cheek and then straightened up, winking at Jungkook. “Bye, guys,” he said, as Yoongi took his hand and started to lead him away.

“Bye,” Tae called after them. “Have fun doing that thing!”

He turned back to Jungkook. “Real subtle, aren’t they?” he said, giggling, his eyes crinkling up until they seemed to disappear completely.

Jungkook grinned back at him. Not only was this guy smoking hot but he could also be hella cute. He wondered if that duality carried over into other areas…like the bedroom, for instance?

“Yeah,” he said, still grinning “real subtle.”

“They’re so cute, though, aren’t they?” Tae sighed, propping his chin on his hand. “Like, disgustingly so.”

Jungkook rolled his eyes. “God, I know, right? I walked in on them making out in our dorm room the other day.”

“Ha, you’re lucky. I walked in on them having sex one time.”

Jungkook wrinkled his nose, snickering. “Ugh, really?”

“Yep,” Tae replied. “Just after they started going out. I thought I had accidentally walked onto a porno set. I saw everything.”

Jungkook threw his head back and laughed. ‘Oh my god, I can just imagine.’

Taehyung shook his head. “Trust me, dude, you don’t want to.” He smiled, sipping at his straw, chewing on the end of it a little with even, white teeth and Jungkook couldn’t help but zero in on the movement.

Taehyung noticed where he was looking and stopped, licking his lips again. He shot Jungkook an appreciative glance through half-lidded eyes and just like that, the heat, the desire, was flooding through him again. And he was certain, absolutely certain, that Taehyung felt it, too.

“Sooo,” Taehyung said, “shall we get the boring stuff out of the way first?”

Jungkook shrugged. “What do you wanna know?”

“Well, we’re both students and we haven’t asked each other what our majors are yet, which I’m pretty sure constitutes a federal crime or something.”

“At the very least, it’ll get you a slap on the wrist,” Jungkook quipped but he wished he hadn’t because now he was thinking about Tae in handcuffs. He tried to steer his mind back to more PG thoughts. “Uh, I think Yoongi mentioned you were an art major?”

“Yep. I’m determined to get a useless degree so I can disappoint my parents even more than I already have.” He said it lightly but there was a trace of bitterness in his voice and Jungkook wondered just how much truth there was in his statement. “What about you?” Taehyung asked.

“Business major.” He sipped at his coffee. “Um…got any hobbies?”

Taehyung rolled his eyes towards the ceiling, thinking. “Um..well, I like to do artsy stuff, obviously, painting, drawing, that kind of thing. I’ve done some acting, a few local plays, stuff like that.’’ He looked back at Jungkook. “What about you?”

“Um…I don’t know, watching anime? And sports? I go to the gym a lot, does that count as a hobby?” He shrugged. “I like to keep in shape.”

“Uh, yeah, I can see that,” Tae said, deliberately gazing at Jungkook’s exposed forearms. Tae looked back up at him and bit his lower lip and Jungkook fought the urge to reach over and drag Tae across the table and into his lap. And he couldn’t help preening a little under Tae’s flattering scrutiny.

“So you’re a sports guy, huh?” Tae asked and Jungkook nodded. “I confess, I know next to nothing about sports. Except bowling.”

Jungkook raised an eyebrow at him. “Bowling?”

“Mm hmm.” He leaned forward, gaze dropping down to Jungkook’s lips before looking into his eyes again. “Bet I could bowl you under the table, boy,” he said huskily.

I’d like to fuck you under the table, Jungkook almost blurted out but he caught himself just in time. But the way Tae was looking at him, with his bedroom eyes and his pouty lips, he was sure he was thinking along the same lines. He shifted in his chair. Now or never, man, just fucking ask him.

“Maybe we should--” he started to say.

“Hey, Taehyung!”

And then there was this boy suddenly standing at their table, grinning down at Taehyung.

Taehyung smiled up at him. “Hey, Minho, what’s up?”

“Just been missing you for the last few days, that’s all,” Minho said, reaching down and ruffling Tae’s hair.

“Yeah, mid-terms have been crazy. But we definitely need to hang out soon.”

Jungkook felt his jaw clench. Was he imagining things or was Tae giving Minho the same flirtatious smile he had been giving Jungkook a minute ago? The same smile he had given to the barista…

Taehyung looked back over at Jungkook. “Hey, Minho, this is Jung--”

“Yeah, hi,” Minho said, barely glancing at Jungkook. “So, maybe sometime this weekend?”

“Yeah, maybe,” Taehyung answered, still smiling. “Just text me.”

“I will,’ Minho said and there it was--the subtle glance, the one that said ‘I-want-you-to-notice-that-I’m-totally-checking-you-out-right-now.’ Jungkook should know--it was the exact same way he had looked at Taehyung not fifteen minutes ago.

Minho waved goodbye and finally left, leaving Taehyung and Jungkook alone again. Taehyung turned back to him, a sheepish grin on his face, that rosy flush on his cheeks again. “Sorry,” he said, rolling his eyes, “Minho’s a bit flaky when it comes to meeting new people.”

Jungkook glared at him. The desire he had felt a few seconds ago had been all but annihilated, replaced by swift, righteous anger. It burned through him, sending his blood pumping thickly through his veins, turning his face hot.

“So,” he said slowly, trying to keep his voice even. “You’re one of those.”

Taehyung’s grin faltered and his eyebrows drew together in puzzlement. “What do you mean ‘one of those’?”

Jungkook propped his chin on his fist, glancing up at the ceiling, pretending to think. “Let me see…what would be the polite way to put it?” He looked back at Taehyung, baring his teeth in a cruel smile. “You, uh, get around.”

Taehyung drew back from him, looking shocked, as if Jungkook had slapped him. “Excuse me?”

A small, rational part in his brain was screaming at him to just shut up, stop talking but he plunged recklessly on. “Tell me, is it a new guy every week? Or do you have them on some sort of rotation system? Do I have to take a number or how does that work, exactly?”

Taehyung narrowed his eyes, his lips set in a thin line. “It’s called being friendly, asshole,” he ground out. “Something you don’t seem to know anything about.”

Jungkook snorted. “Friendly? So is that the new euphemism that they’re using for slutty these days?”

Beneath his blinding, irrational rage, Jungkook knew, he knew, he was being completely ridiculous, that he was overreacting, he hardly knew anything about Tae for Christ’s sake, but the thought that dominated his mind was that he was just like her. She had been the friendly and outgoing type, she had always had lots of guy friends, she had always told him that it was just who she was, that he worried too much, that he was being paranoid and then she had--

“You know,” Taehyung said, his voice shaking slightly, “if Jimin hadn’t bought this coffee for me, I’d throw it in your fucking face.”

Jungkook sneered at him. “Fuck you.”

“Oh, but I bet you would looooove that,” Taehyung drawled. “Especially with a slut like me.” He stood up, glaring down at Jungkook. “Too bad for you that’s never going to happen.” Then he spun on his heel and stormed out of the coffee shop, leaving Jungkook alone, feeling pissed off and miserable.

***

That evening, Taehyung was lying on his bed, scrolling irritably on his phone when Jimin finally came home from his date with Yoongi.

“Heyyy,” he said brightly, “how was the rest of your--”

Taehyung didn’t give him a chance to finish. “You sure know how to fucking pick them, Jiminie,” he said harshly.

Jimin’s face fell and he rushed over and sat beside Tae. “What? Why, what happened?” he asked, taking Tae’s hand in his small, chubby one.

So Taehyung told him what had happened after he and Yoongi had left, everything that asshole Jungkook had said to him.

“I mean, you’d think I had a lineup of guys out the door waiting for blowjobs from me, the way he was acting!” he finished, rolling his eyes.

Jimin looked crestfallen. “Oh, I’m so sorry, TaeTae,” he said, stroking Tae’s hair out of his face. “I thought…” he frowned, shaking his head. “I just don’t know why Jungkook would say something like that. I’ve never known him to act like that before. He always seemed like a decent guy.”

Tae rolled over onto his side, curling into a ball, bringing his knees up to his chest. “I don’t know what happened,” he mumbled. “It was like a fucking switch flipped or something. Before that, it was…fine.”

More than fine, he thought to himself. Taehyung couldn’t believe his luck when he had first seen Jungkook, looking dom as fuck in his black hoodie and big boots. Exactly the type of guy he always lusted after. Never mind a snack--Jungkook was an entire walking buffet. And fuck, he had been ready, no, eager, to have his fill of the delicious Jungkook right then and there. It had been a while since he had had such instantaneous chemistry with someone. He had actually allowed himself to get his hopes up this time--until that total fucking douchebag had ruined it.

And the worst part was that Jungkook had hit on one of his worst insecurities.

“Jimin,” he asked softly, “do you think I’m too slutty?”

“No, I think you’re just the right amount of slutty,” Jimin joked but he softened when he saw the look on Tae’s face. “Oh, sweetie, of course not,” he said gently, rubbing Tae’s back. “I mean, you like to have your fun, obviously. But that’s literally everyone who goes to college.”

Taehyung sighed. It was true, he did like hooking up. And maybe not always with people he should be hooking up with. (Him and his friend, Minho, had once shared a drunken make-out session but that was one time.)

But it wasn’t just his guy friends. Taehyung secretly wondered if he was a sort of magnet for scumbags. He had been ghosted more times than he cared to admit by guys he had hooked up with, always tumbling into bed with them too soon, and when they ultimately brushed him off or just stopped replying to his texts altogether, he felt used and humiliated, ashamed of himself.

And he was just so fucking tired of it. He was sick of meaningless, one-night stands. He wanted more, a real connection, the sort of relationship that Jimin had with Yoongi.

Tears pricked at the corners of his eyes and he tried to swallow them back. “I’m just tired of being lonely,” he whispered to Jimin.

“I know,” Jimin murmured, stroking his hair again. “You’ll find someone, I know you will. Any guy would be lucky to be with you. You’re amazing.”

Taehyung sniffled. He had thought that spark might have been there with Jungkook when they had just been talking and it had felt easy and natural and just really fucking good. But then he had seen who Jungkook really was and all his meager hopes had come crashing down around him.

“Why are all the hot guys such assholes?” he asked Jimin.

“I don’t know…” Jimin’s forehead puckered and his eyes narrowed. “I’m going to say something to Yoongi about this, I still can’t believe Jungkook talked to you like that. He had no right--”

Taehyung waved a hand at him. “Nah, don’t worry about it. You said Jungkook and Yoongi are best friends and I don’t want things to become weird between you guys.”

Jimin shook his head. “We’ll see.”

Taehyung smiled despite himself. Jimin was about as intimidating as a teddy bear but it was nice knowing he was all riled up on his behalf.

“Seriously,” he said, “don’t worry about it.” He sighed again, swiping the unshed tears away from his eyes. “It doesn’t matter.”

But, deep down, he felt like it did matter. Somehow, he felt like it mattered a lot.

***

The next day, Jungkook was in the library, still in a bad mood from his disastrous date with Taehyung. He hadn’t said anything to Yoongi about it yet, hoping he could put off the subject as long as possible. When Yoongi had gotten in last night, he had pretended to be asleep and he had purposely woken up early this morning before his roommate to head to the gym. He hadn’t seen or spoken to him all day but he knew he was just delaying the inevitable.

There was no doubt in his mind that Taehyung would tell Jimin what had happened and then Jimin would tattle to Yoongi and then Yoongi would probably kick his ass for making his boyfriend mad. That was the main reason he was hiding out in the library instead of studying in his dorm room. If Yoongi tracked him down here, he liked to think his best friend wouldn’t throw down with him in front of a bunch of potential eyewitnesses.

Or, at least, he hoped Yoongi wouldn’t do that.

The truth was that Jungkook felt like he probably deserved to get his ass beat. He felt terrible about the way he had gone off on Taehyung like that, accusing him of sleeping around when all he had done was talk to his friend. He knew it had been shitty and immature and totally unwarranted. And even if Taehyung did sleep around, what business was it of his? It’s not like they were a couple, it had been their first date for fuck’s sake.

Jungkook sighed, staring blankly down at his textbook. Well, Taehyung certainly wasn’t going to want to date him now, he thought, let alone sleep with him. Which was something he really regretted.

Just this morning, after his workout at the gym, he had jerked off in the shower to yesterday’s fantasy of fucking Tae in the coffee shop. It didn’t matter that it was totally unrealistic, something out of a porn video--the thought of fucking Taehyung in a public place, while everyone watched, got him to his climax in record time.

The library seemed to fade into the background as he once again let himself imagine Taehyung underneath him, not bent over but lying on his back, legs spread, looking up at him with those beautiful eyes, heavy-lidded, soft, and inviting. And then Jungkook imagined himself slamming into Tae, wrecking him, punishing him for daring to look at another man because in his fantasy, Taehyung was his, and his alone. And Taehyung would flail and beg and scream out his name…

Jungkook dug his nails into his palm, coming back to reality. Just fucking great. He now had a semi hard-on in yet another public place thanks to that walking wet-dream. He slammed his book shut, thinking of heading back to his dorm to jerk off again when Kim Fucking Taehyung walked into the library.

Jungkook ducked his head and propped up his textbook in front of him so he could hide behind it. Cautiously, he peered around the edge of it, his gaze trained on Tae.

Tae was right across the room from him, standing at one of the tables, unpacking his bag and chatting with someone seated right next to him. Upon closer inspection, Jungkook saw that it was a guy, not the same one that had accosted Taehyung in the coffee shop yesterday, but a different one.

Seriously? he wondered. ANOTHER guy?

And, suddenly, he didn’t feel so bad about calling Tae slutty. It seemed like he had been right--or at least, mostly right. It looked like Tae had a different guy every fucking day, not just every week.

Jungkook closed his book again, laying it back down on the table, continuing to watch Taehyung. He seemed happy, relaxed, sitting beside the guy, laughing at something he had said. And then, as if he could feel Jungkook watching him, he looked up at him--and the smile immediately dropped from his face, replaced by a mask of stony indifference.

Jungkook felt his face burn but he didn’t look away. Yeah, that’s right, I see you, you little tease. He shifted his gaze deliberately to the guy sitting next to him and then back to Tae and raised his eyebrows. New guy already?

Taehyung’s lip curled and he raised his hand, extending one long middle finger, flipping him off.

Jungkook smirked and flipped him off right back, unaware of the weird looks he was getting from a group of girls sitting at the table beside him.

When Taehyung escalated to two middle fingers, Jungkook brought his fist up to his mouth and poked his tongue into his cheek in the international symbol for a blowjob. Blow me, bitch.

Which only served to backfire on him because now he was picturing receiving a blowjob from Tae, his perfect pink lips wrapped tightly around his dick--

“What the fuck are you doing?” came a voice from right beside him.

Jungkook immediately stopped what he was doing, flushing in embarrassment as he turned to see Yoongi standing beside him.

“Nothing,” he muttered but Yoongi had already glanced over to where Jungkook had been looking and spotted Tae.

“Oh,” he said, and looked back at Jungkook. “Yeah, I heard what happened.”

Jungkook scowled over at Taehyung, who was now laughing with the guy beside him, the two of them glancing over at him, and Tae was leaning over to whisper something in the guy’s ear…

“So…Jimin’s pretty pissed at you,” Yoongi said.

“Well, I guess that’s too fucking bad for Jimin, then,” Jungkook said loudly and one of the girls at the other table shushed him. He turned to glare at her but she just gave him a disgusted look and flipped her hair.

“Calm down, man,” Yoongi said quietly, sitting down in the chair beside Jungkook. “I just wanted to talk to you and hear your side of it.”

Jungkook heaved a sigh. “It was a fucking disaster, dude.”

“Hmm,” Yoongi said. He glanced over at Taehyung again. “Jimin said you called Tae a slut?”

“I didn’t call him a slut,” Jungkook said defensively, “I just called him out on his slutty behaviour.”

Yoongi frowned at him. “That is…not that much better.”

Jungkook ran a hand through his hair, frustrated. “You weren’t there, man, you didn’t see him. He was just so fucking…flirty! With everyone!”

Yoongi still looked skeptical so Jungkook told him about Taehyung’s ‘friend’ interrupting them, the words coming out in a rush. And, the more he talked, the lamer the story sounded.

“Soo,” Yoongi said, once Jungkook had finished, “he talked to one of his friends for, like, ten seconds, and you said he was being slutty?’’

Jungkook groaned and slumped over, thumping his forehead on the table. “What the fuck is the matter with me?”

“Lots of things,” Yoongi said evenly. “But you’ve had to deal with some bad shit lately, too.”

Jungkook turned his head to look up at him. “No excuse, though,” he mumbled.

“No, it’s not, but maybe me and Jimin shouldn’t have pushed you to go on the date. Maybe you’re just not ready for that shit yet.”

Jungkook shrugged. The worst thing about it was that he had felt the first stirrings of a connection when he had been talking to Tae, a spark of something that wasn’t just sexual attraction. (Although, holy fuck, that had definitely been there, too.)

He wondered if Yoongi was right about him not being ready to date again yet--he had clearly sabotaged things with Tae at the first opportunity. Had he done it because he was scared of being hurt again? Or was it because he knew, deep down, that someone like Taehyung deserved better?

He inhaled sharply and then blew out his breath in a whoosh. “I think I’d like to jump off a cliff right now.”

Yoongi grinned at him. “I know the feeling.” Then his face sobered a little. “Jimin told me to tell you that he would like you to apologize to Tae.”

Jungkook cocked an eyebrow at him and Yoongi relented. “Okay, he pretty much demanded that you apologize to Tae. In person. Preferably with flowers and chocolate.”

Jungkook sat up and looked over at Taehyung again. He was getting to his feet now, putting his books back in his bag, glancing over in Jungkook’s direction. He saw Yoongi, gave him a friendly smile and a wave and then, catching Jungkook’s eye and, still smiling, flipped him off again. Then he turned and sauntered out of the library, followed by the guy he had been sitting with.

Jungkook’s shoulders slumped. “I don’t know,” he said. “I think it might be too late for apologies.”

***

It was finally Friday, thank fucking god. Jungkook headed back to his dorm after a long day of classes, prepared to spend the evening binging anime on Netflix. All he wanted to do was zone out in front of his laptop so he didn’t have to think about what a messed-up week he had had.

So it was just fucking typical when he walked into his room and saw Jimin sitting on Yoongi’s bed. He had been typing on his phone but looked up when Jungkook entered. He gave Jungkook a frosty glare then went back to staring at his phone.

“Uh, hey,” Jungkook said awkwardly. “Where’s Yoongi?”

“Washroom,” Jimin muttered, still not looking up at him.

“Oh.” He set his bag down and gingerly sat down in his desk chair, feeling as if there was an angry snake in his room. As much as he had joked about how cute an angry Jimin would be, the reality was a lot more intimidating than he had imagined. Then again, he thought, Jimin was dating Yoongi. Maybe his best friend had given Jimin some tips on how to scare the crap out of people just by looking at them.

Jimin continued to ignore him and the tension in the room thickened. Jungkook cast around for something to say and it was then that he noticed Jimin’s outfit--blue velvet jacket, satin choker, low-cut shirt, and skinny black pants.

“You look fancy,” he said, trying to inject some brightness into his voice, “where are you guys going?”

“Out,” Jimin said stiffly, tapping away at his phone.

Jungkook sighed, running a hand through his hair and he steeled himself. “Look,” he said, “I’m sorry about what happened with Tae.”

Jimin finally looked up at him, his round face twisted into an expression that was downright murderous. Jungkook actually gulped--he had definitely picked that up from Yoongi.

“Oh, I’m sure you are,” Jimin said hotly, “but I’m not the one you need to apologize to.”

“I know, I know,” Jungkook said. “I’m working on it.”

“Oh, don’t bullshit me, Jungkook,” Jimin said, his voice rising. “I know for a fact you haven’t even tried talking to Tae. The last I heard, you were flipping him off in the library!”

“Well, he started it!” Jungkook said, knowing how childish it sounded even as he said it.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Jimin shouted. “You called him a slut! He had every right to flip you off!”

Jungkook opened his mouth to say, once again, that he had implied that Tae was slutty, not actually called him a slut, but he quickly realized this argument would probably go over even less well with Jimin than it had with Yoongi so he wisely closed his mouth again. He looked away, self-consciously scratching the back of his neck.

Jimin heaved a dramatic sigh. “Whatever. It’s your fucking loss, anyway,” he said, turning back to his phone.

You think I don’t fucking know that! he wanted to shout at Jimin but instead, he clenched his jaw and said nothing.

Thankfully, Yoongi came in a minute later, looking unusually dapper in a black suit, red dress shirt, and shiny black shoes--a far cry from his normal streetwear. He looked between Jimin and Jungkook, both of them sitting stiff and tense, still not looking at each other. He raised an eyebrow at Jungkook but Jungkook just rolled his eyes and shook his head. Then he nodded at Yoongi, indicating his outfit. “So, where are you two going, exactly?”

“Delirium,” Yoongi answered and Jungkook nodded. It was a trendy gay nightclub that a lot of college students hit up on the weekend. He had been there himself a couple of times.

“Cool,” Jungkook said. “Sounds like fun.”

“Oh, it will be,” Jimin said, getting up from Yoongi’s bed, crossing over to the door and linking his arm through Yoongi’s. “Come on, babe, let’s go.”

But Yoongi was still looking at Jungkook, a strange expression on his face. Was it sympathy? Or could it even be pity?

“Hey, man, you wanna come with us?” Yoongi asked.

Jimin looked at him, opening his mouth in protest but Yoongi looked calmly back at him and a sort of wordless communication seemed to pass between the couple. Then Jimin looked down at his shoes and muttered, “I don’t mind.”

And because Jungkook had had a really shitty week, because a part of him wanted to do it just to spite Jimin a little, and because he could really use a drink or two right about now--he said yes.

So the three of them shared a car to the club in what must have been the World’s Most Uncomfortable Uber Ride, Jimin refusing to even look at Jungkook, let alone talk to him. Jungkook wasn’t sure if Jimin was more infuriated by the fact that he was tagging along or that he had refused to change out of his long-sleeved black T-shirt and baggy cargo pants. Not exactly nightclub attire but, hey, he wasn’t looking to get laid or anything--he just wanted to spend a couple of hours in a place that wasn’t a lecture hall, his dorm room, or a fucking coffee shop.

There was already a long lineup to get into the club when they arrived but, as it turned out, Jimin knew someone who knew someone who knew the bouncer at the door so they were all waved through right away--even though he eyed Jungkook’s outfit like he was wearing rags or something.

Whatever, meathead, Jungkook thought to himself as he strolled through the door. Not that he would have said it to the guy’s face or anything. He was still capable of exercising some self-control.

Delirium was packed, the thrumming beat of the music pounding over the dance floor. People were crushed together, writhing and grinding, and Jungkook could smell the headiness of too many colognes mixed together and, underneath that, sweat and spilled alcohol. Colorful strobe lights swung around over the dance floor, picking out people in vivid blues, purples, and reds.

The energy in the place was contagious and Jungkook found himself shifting his shoulders and bobbing his head to the beat as he followed Yoongi and Jimin upstairs to where the bar was. He hadn’t planned on dancing but, once he had a few drinks in him, who knew what could happen? It might be fun to let loose for tonight.

They snagged a table near the balcony which allowed them to gaze over the sea of people on the dance floor below. It was mostly men, obviously, but Jungkook saw a few women dotted throughout the crowd below--usually girls that came with their gay friends or ones that just wanted to dance without having to worry about constantly being groped by creeps.

“So…drinks?” Yoongi said, raising his voice so they could hear him over the music.

“Abso-fucking-lutely!” Jimin shouted, smiling and bouncing in his seat a little. He seemed to be in a much better mood now that they were in the club.

Jungkook stood up. “First round’s on me. What do you guys want?”

Yoongi just requested a beer but Jimin looked at him skeptically, as if he wasn’t sure if Jungkook was trying to bribe him or not. Jungkook just raised his eyebrows at him and waited.

“Um…vodka tonic,” Jimin said finally. “Please.”

Jungkook nodded and headed over to join the crush of people crowding the bar. He noticed a few guys giving him some appreciative looks but Jungkook ignored them--trying to flirt and chat someone up just seemed like too much work at the moment.

It only took a few minutes for him to grab their drinks and then he headed back to the table, rolling his eyes when he saw that his friends had decided to pass the time by making out, Jimin practically sitting in Yoongi’s lap, their lips fused together.

He plonked their drinks on the table with more force than was necessary but at least it caused Yoongi and Jimin to spring apart.

“Can’t leave you two alone for five seconds, can I?” he said, sitting down across from them and sipping his beer.

“What are we supposed to do while we’re waiting, play Monopoly?” Yoongi said and Jimin laughed.

Jungkook just grinned and shook his head.

Jimin raised his glass. “Cheers, you guys,” and they all clinked glasses. “Oh, and thanks for the drinks, by the way,” he added, giving Jungkook a small smile.

Jungkook shrugged. “No problem,” he said, returning Jimin’s smile. He felt relieved that, for now at least, a sort of truce had been made between them and they could enjoy the night. He made a mental note to just buy Jimin a bottle of vodka the next time he did something to piss him off.

He looked out over the dance floor again, sipping his drink, only half-listening to the conversation Yoongi and Jimin were having. He didn’t really mind third-wheeling but a thought flashed through his mind that if things had gone differently on his date with Taehyung, then they all might have come here together and he could have had someone to shamelessly make out with.

Jungkook mentally berated himself. Jesus Christ, man, let it go already.

Just as he was thinking this, he heard someone calling Jimin’s name over the sound of the music, turned to look--and almost choked on his beer.

Kim Taehyung was striding over to their table, wearing a sort of sheer, floaty, blue button-down top--and skintight black leather trousers.

Jungkook gaped at him, saliva actually flooding his mouth as he stared at Tae’s leather-clad legs, vaguely wondering how on earth he had managed to get into them. But Taehyung, who was beaming at Jimin as he made his way over, hadn’t noticed him.

“TaeTae!” Jimin cried happily, leaping up from his seat and hugging Taehyung. “What are you doing here? I thought you and Minho were going to see a movie tonight.”

“Change of plans!” Tae shouted over the music. “I felt like going dancing so we decided to come here instead!”

Taehyung turned toward their table. “Hey, Yoon-” he started to say but stopped mid-sentence when he spotted Jungkook.

They stared at each other for a few seconds, an unreadable expression on Taehyung’s face. Jungkook could actually feel his eyeballs straining to keep his gaze from lowering to Tae’s legs. Finally, he jerked his head in a sort of nod but Tae just raised an eyebrow and turned back to Jimin.

Whatever. It was an improvement from being flipped off.

“Come dance with me!” Tae was saying to Jimin, grabbing his hands and starting to pull him towards the stairs. “You have to come dance with me!”

“Yeah!” Jimin said. He turned to Yoongi and Jungkook. “You guys coming?”

“We’ll join you in a few minutes,” Yoongi said. “Let us finish our drinks first.”

“Okay,” Jimin said, detaching himself from Tae long enough to reach down, grasp Yoongi’s face in his small hands and give him a kiss. He started to pull away again but Yoongi grabbed him by the lapel, keeping him there, prolonging the kiss.

When a full ten seconds had passed and they were still kissing, Jungkook chanced a glance at Taehyung and raised his eyebrows. Tae rolled his eyes and pulled one of his sleeves back from his wrist, miming checking an invisible watch. Then he looked back at him and smiled and Jungkook had to bite down on his lip to keep from laughing.

Taehyung’s smile faded a little but it didn’t disappear completely. He opened his mouth, looking as if he were about to say something and Jungkook leaned forward--but then Jimin chose that moment to disengage from Yoongi, grab Tae, and pull him away towards the stairs. “Come on!” he said to Tae.

Taehyung glanced back at Jungkook once but then turned and followed Jimin down onto the dance floor.

Jungkook wondered briefly what Tae might have been about to say to him but, as he watched Taehyung walk away, the only thought that dominated his mind was: ass ass ass ass ass ASS!!

A low groan slipped out of his mouth. The tight leather emphasized Tae’s pert, round backside, the type of ass that just begged to be squeezed and played with.

He lost sight of Tae briefly as he headed downstairs with Jimin and craned his neck over the balcony until he spotted two brightly-coloured heads, one pink, one blue, weaving through the crowded dance floor. He let out a low sound of frustration. It should be illegal, he decided, for someone that hot to wear leather pants in public.

He felt a sharp impact on his shin--Yoongi had kicked him under the table. He turned to glare at his friend. “What the fuck was that for?”

Yoongi just gave him a knowing grin. “I just can’t believe how fucking thirsty you are for that guy,” he said. “You should have a glass of water before you become severely dehydrated.”

“Shut up,” Jungkook grumbled. But even as he said it, his gaze was drawn irresistibly back to watching Tae down on the dance floor with Jimin.

“It might not be too late, you know,” Yoongi said to him, leaning forward. “Maybe you could still, I don’t know, redeem yourself?”

Jungkook decided to change the subject. “Doesn’t it bother you,” he said over the music, “how touchy Jimin and Tae are?”

Yoongi frowned at him. “No,” he said slowly. “They’re just friends. What am I gonna do, tell Jimin he’s not allowed to dance with someone else just ‘cause we’re dating? Besides,” he continued, shrugging, “I trust him.”

Jungkook turned to look back at Jimin and Taehyung down on the dance floor. He had to admit that their dancing seemed innocent enough. They weren’t grinding or anything, just holding each other’s hands, swaying to the music, occasionally twirling each other and laughing.

A pang of envy went through him. God, he wanted to be the one dancing with Tae. He wondered if what Yoongi had said could possibly be true--that it wasn’t too late. Tae had smiled at him after all, they had shared that private little joke between them, like maybe two friends would do? Or was he just so desperate to get with Taehyung that he was grasping at straws?

He glanced over at his friend. Yoongi was now looking down over the dance floor, watching Jimin with a soft smile on his face. And while Jungkook was still happy for him, he couldn’t help envying him, too. He was envious of Yoongi being able to trust Jimin, completely and wholeheartedly, even while watching his boyfriend dance with someone else. And he was envious of the relationship they had with each other, one that was based on love and mutual respect, not one full of poisonous suspicion and mind games.

Would he ever be able to have that with someone? he wondered. He wasn’t so sure. Not since his ex-girlfriend had ripped his heart out of his chest and stomped on it.

He looked back out over the dance floor, his eyes immediately latching onto Taehyung, who was still dancing with Jimin.

Maybe with him, his mind whispered. Maybe with him.

But Jungkook dismissed the thought. He hadn’t even been on one whole date with Taehyung before he had blown it. It would be better just to cut his losses and move on.

But even telling himself this, he couldn’t make himself look away from Taehyung.

He noticed that Jimin was waving up at them now, gesturing for him and Yoongi to come join them. He tensed--although Tae wasn’t waving, he was definitely looking up at them, too. He quickly looked away and faced Yoongi.

Yoongi smiled down at Jimin and got up from the table, looking over at Jungkook. “Coming?”

Jungkook shook his head. “Nah, I’ll probably just finish my beer and head home.”

Yoongi frowned at him as he adjusted the collar of his jacket. “You sure, man?”

“Yeah,” he replied, forcing a smile. “Just wanted something to take the edge off. Besides, the music’s giving me a headache.” This was a blatant lie but Yoongi didn’t need to know that.

Yoongi shrugged nonchalantly, although there was something that looked almost like disappointment in his eyes. “Suit yourself.” Then he turned and headed downstairs.

Jungkook watched him go and then turned his attention back to the dance floor, sipping his beer, his gaze automatically going to the dancing figure of Kim Taehyung…

***

Tae tried to swallow his disappointment back when he saw Jungkook stay up on the balcony as Yoongi waded through the crowd to join them. He had half-hoped that Jungkook would come down and dance with them, too.

Exactly why he hoped Jungkook would come down and join them, he couldn’t say. God, he had even been about to ask Jungkook if he liked to dance before Jimin had dragged him away. It was probably a good thing, though. Jungkook would have probably just made some smartass remark about Tae being some kind of dance-floor whore or something.

But his face flamed as he imagined being Jungkook’s own personal dance-floor whore, grinding against his hard body, feeling those muscular arms wrapped around his waist. He was an asshole, sure. But he also happened to be a hot asshole and Taehyung just wanted him so fucking badly. He almost felt like crying at the unfairness of it all.

But bursting into tears and having to explain to Yoongi and Jimin that he was crying because he wanted to sleep with Jungkook but just couldn’t because Jungkook was a complete asshole - well, it didn’t seem like a great way to spend the rest of the night.

So instead he focused on dancing, stepping back a little from Jimin, making room for Yoongi, who caught Jimin around the waist and pulled him closer. Jimin beamed at his boyfriend, wrapping his arms around his neck, swaying against him.

Tae took another step back and looked away, not wanting to crowd them when they were clearly having a moment--and he also didn’t want to reveal the envy that was probably written all over his face.

He loved Yoongi almost as much as he loved Jimin, even though he had only known him for a short amount of time. He loved that they were so happy, so in love, but whenever he saw them together, looking at each other like they were the only two people who existed, he couldn’t help but want what they had for himself. If someone looked at him the way Yoongi looked at Jimin, he’d probably melt into a big puddle of euphoric goo.

He looked up at the balcony again where Jungkook was still sitting. It was hard to tell in the darkness of the club, but it almost looked as if he was looking in Tae’s direction. Or maybe not. He was probably just keeping an eye on his friend.

Tae sighed and turned away. He wasn’t going to get the kind of relationship he wanted if he kept lusting after someone like Jungkook. He wanted more than what that emotionally-stunted asshole could give him. He didn’t need to be with someone who had an enormous chip on his shoulder, who lashed out at the slightest provocation.

But why did the thought of never being with Jungkook, never knowing what it was like to kiss him, hurt so much?

Luckily, Minho chose that moment to finally return from chatting up a blonde-haired twink, breaking Tae out of his painful thoughts. He was so grateful to see his friend, his grin almost cracked his face wide open and he wrapped an arm loosely around Minho’s neck.

“Hey!” he called over the music. “How’d it go?”

“Great!” Minho shouted back, snaking his arm around Tae’s waist. “Got his number!”

“That’s awesome!” Tae replied, smiling at him. Minho then proceeded to brag about what a score it was, how hot the guy was but Tae tuned him out, swaying to the music.

It wasn’t like he was jealous. He just found that, ever since he and Minho had gotten drunk and made out, his friend seemed to go out of his way to try to get a reaction from Tae--being overly touchy, flirting with other men right in front of him, wanting to hang out all the time, just the two of them, when before they had usually hung out with a big group of people.

Tae thought Minho was handsome and sweet and just a really nice guy. But, even when they had been kissing, he didn’t feel any kind of spark between them. Kissing Minho had been about as exciting for him as licking an envelope.

And, of course, it was fucking typical that someone as kind-hearted as Minho didn’t interest him in a romantic way, while bad boys like Jungkook got him hot in all the right places.

He swiveled his head to look up at Jungkook again. Still there, still staring in his direction. Tae quickly looked away and tried to focus on dancing with Minho but he felt all out of rhythm now, unable to lose himself in the music. He kept glancing up at Jungkook so often that Minho noticed and asked what he was looking at.

Tae shook his head. “Nothing,” he muttered, looking down at his feet. He wondered if he should just go home. He opened his mouth to tell Minho he was thinking about bailing when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

He turned to see Yoongi standing beside him. He gestured for Tae to lean closer and whispered in his ear. “Maybe you should just go talk to him.”

Tae leaned back, studying Yoongi’s face--but his expression was impassive, almost bored, as if he didn’t care one bit about what Tae decided to do.

He looked up at Jungkook again, biting his lip, considering Yoongi’s words. He knew that of the two of them, Jungkook should be the one approaching him but maybe if he went up there and just cleared the air, whatever this weird tension that was between them would dissolve and he’d be free to move on to someone new.

Or maybe he was also hoping that if he went up there and talked to him, Jungkook would magically reveal himself to be a good guy, the person he had glimpsed in the coffee shop before Jungkook had got all weirdly hostile. Who knows? Maybe that had been some kind of weird fluke.

He knew that his hopes were pathetic and desperate, but, one way or the other, he wanted a fucking explanation.

He stepped back from Minho. “I’ll be right back,” he said. Minho opened his mouth, looking as if he were going to ask him where he was going but Tae didn’t give him a chance, turning and starting to push his way through the crowd of dancing people, making his way to the stairs.

He had almost reached the stairs when he felt a hand close around his upper arm and he felt himself being pulled backward. He whirled around, thinking that it might be Minho but instead he found himself facing a tall, bearded man.

The man leered at him, baring his teeth in the semblance of a friendly smile. “Hey, hot stuff,” he crooned. “How ‘bout a dance?”

The guy looked to be twice his age, in his mid-forties at least, barrel-chested and huge, his tight black tank top barely containing the forest of chest hair sprouting over the edges.

Tae tried not to grimace, smiling nervously up at the guy. “Um, n-no thank you,” he stammered, “I was just going to grab a drink.”

The guy pulled him closer, the hand around Tae’s arm gripping him with bruising force. “Dance with me,” he growled. Not a request, but a demand.

Tae pushed at the guy’s chest, trying to pull away, shaking his head. “I said no, asshole, let go--”

But it was like trying to push against a brick wall. Tae was starting to panic now. No one had seemed to notice his predicament, the people in the crowd too busy dancing, and his friends were on the other side of the club.

Futilely, Tae tried to stomp on the guy’s foot, but the man grabbed his other arm and shoved him against the wall of the club, caging him in.

“Now don’t be like that, you little whore,” the man breathed in his face, causing Tae to cough. His breath reeked of whiskey. “Daddy just wants a little piece.”

His hands were all over Tae, squeezing his waist, his hips, groping his ass.

Tae pushed weakly against the guy’s chest but it was no use. “Stop!” he cried. “Stop…”

***

Jungkook had been telling himself to just go home for the last half hour but he couldn’t make himself move. He just sat there, staring down at Taehyung, unable to look away, even when Tae’s stupid friend Minho started to dance with him.

Still, he derived a strange sense of satisfaction from the fact that Tae wasn’t dancing too closely with his friend and, at one point, when it looked like Minho tried to pull him closer, Tae stepped back from him a little. And was it just his imagination or did Taehyung keep looking up at him?

He heard a voice beside him but it took a few seconds to register that someone was speaking to him. He reluctantly tore his gaze away from Tae and looked around. A mousy-looking boy was standing close to him, fidgeting with the hem of his rainbow-striped T-shirt. Jungkook raised his eyebrows at him and the boy, after a lot of stammering and fidgeting and blushing, asked him if he wanted to dance.

Jungkook gave him a warm smile but shook his head. “Sorry, man,” he said, “I’m, uh, just waiting for my boyfriend.”

“Oh.” The boy walked away, looking crestfallen but Jungkook couldn’t feel too concerned. There were plenty of other people for the guy to dance with and there was only one person in this club that Jungkook would say yes to.

Not that Taehyung was going to ask him to dance anytime soon. He sighed, looking back out over the dance floor, thinking it might be time to just call it quits and go home--but he frowned when he saw that Tae was no longer dancing with Minho. In fact, he wasn’t anywhere near Yoongi or Jimin, either.

He swept his gaze around the club until he saw the now-familiar blue head weaving through the crowd, looking like he was heading for the stairway.

Shit. Is he coming up here?

Jungkook half-rose out of his seat, caught between wanting to run away and wanting to intercept Taehyung and talk to him. Maybe if he bought Tae a drink and apologized profusely for what he had said at the coffee shop, Tae might give him another chance. It was a slim hope but he thought he might as well try.

But Taehyung never made it to the stairs.

Jungkook watched uneasily as a guy twice the size of Taehyung accosted him, grabbing his arm and trying to pull him back towards the dance floor. With rising panic, he saw Tae clearly shake his head no, pushing at the guy’s chest but he wasn’t letting go of him. And then the guy had shoved Tae against the wall and all Jungkook could see of him was his bright blue hair, shaking back and forth.

Jungkook saw red.

He sprinted towards the stairs, thundering down them, clearing the last five steps in a single jump. He pushed blindly past the crush of dancers, shoving them roughly out of his way, ignoring their squawks of indignation, one thought running through his brain: Get to Tae, get to Tae, get to Tae--

He closed in on the man who had Tae trapped against the wall and a wave of renewed rage swept over him when he clearly heard Tae’s panicked voice over the music: “Stop! Stop!”

He grabbed a fistful of the man’s tank top, wrenching him backwards, shoving him away, getting between him and Taehyung. “Dude, back the fuck off!”

The guy stumbled back, his eyes glazed and unfocused. He looked seriously wasted. “Sorry, man,” he slurred. “Didn’t know it was your bitch.”

Jungkook’s hands curled into fists. “Don’t fucking apologize to me, douchebag, apologize to him!”

But the man was already staggering away. Jungkook stepped forward, ready to drive his fist into the man’s skull, when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

He turned to see Taehyung, looking wide-eyed and scared. “Don’t,” he said, his voice shaking slightly. “Please, just…stay here.”

Some of the tension in Jungkook’s coiled muscles relaxed. “Shit. You okay?”

Taehyung nodded jerkily, hugging himself, rubbing his hands up and down his arms. He inhaled a shaky breath. “Yeah, I’m…I’m fine.” But he still looked slightly unnerved and he was trembling, almost imperceptibly.

Jungkook wanted nothing more than to step forward and take Taehyung into his arms, run a soothing hand down his back and murmur words of comfort but he didn’t think Tae would be very receptive to anyone touching him right now.

Instead, he awkwardly shoved his hands in his pockets to keep himself from reaching for Tae. “Hey, it wasn’t your fault,” he said. “That creep was way out of line.”

“I fucking know that,” Tae snapped at him and Jungkook took a step back, looking away.

“Sorry,” Tae said and Jungkook turned back to him. “I guess I’m just a little…freaked out.”

Jungkook didn’t know what to say to that so he just nodded.

“Thanks, by the way,” Tae said, smiling slightly, “for going all knight-in-shining-armor for me.” A nervous giggle slipped out of his mouth. “God, it was like something out of those cliched teen movies.”

Jungkook shrugged. “No problem.” Then he grinned uncertainly. “Good thing you held me back or I would have gone all kung fu fighting on that guy’s ass.” He karate-chopped the air between them. “Hi-ya!”

Taehyung laughed and the sound of it ignited a glowing warmth in Jungkook’s chest. They stood there looking at each other for a few seconds and then Jungkook jerked his thumb towards the dance floor. “Um…you wanna dance?”

And then he mentally kicked himself because of course Tae didn’t want to dance right now, he was almost sexually assaulted, like, two minutes ago, for Christ’s sake--

But to his surprise, Tae nodded. “Yeah,” he said. “Yeah, okay.”

Jungkook let Taehyung lead the way and they moved forward into the crowd of dancers until they found an open spot big enough for the two of them. Then they faced each other, neither of them moving, just staring at each other.

Well, this is awkward.

Jungkook didn’t dare try to touch Tae, seeing as he still looked a little nervous and unsure, his arms still wrapped around himself. The silence between them stretched on, and Jungkook was starting to wonder if Tae was regretting his decision to come dance with him.

So Jungkook did the only thing he could think of. He started to do the robot.

Tae stared at him for a few seconds as if Jungkook was an escaped mental patient. And then he burst out laughing.

“Oh my god,” he said, shoving Jungkook playfully on the shoulder. “You did not just start doing that!”

Jungkook continued jerking his arms and legs around in stiff movements, swiveling his head around. “Does. Not. Compute.”

“Whatever,” Tae said, smiling. “Watch this, you loser.”

And then he started doing the running man and it was Jungkook’s turn to laugh. And then they were just goofing around, doing every lame dance move they could think of--the sprinkler, the lawn mower, the swim. Pretty soon they were whipping and flossing and dabbing all over the place and Jungkook was laughing so hard his stomach hurt.

Tae escalated to a kind of showgirl shimmy and when Jungkook squatted down and started twerking, Tae actually doubled over and covered his mouth, trying to muffle the adorable snorting sounds he was making.

Jungkook straightened up, grinning at him. Tae’s face was bright pink from laughing and he was smiling so widely, his eyes seemed to disappear completely.

That glowing warmth that was in Jungkook’s chest seemed to spread throughout his entire body. Being the one responsible for making Tae smile felt good. No, scratch that.

It felt fucking amazing.

Jungkook was just about to suggest that they go grab a drink and catch their breath, when someone bumped into Tae from behind and sent him careening forward--right into Jungkook’s arms.

Without thinking, Jungkook caught Tae around the waist to keep him from falling and Tae had wrapped his arms around Jungkook’s neck to keep himself upright. Their faces were mere inches apart.

Jungkook gulped. “Whoa. You all right?”

“Y-yeah,” Tae said, blinking up at him. Jungkook couldn’t help staring at Tae’s handsome face, so close to his. He noticed a tiny brown freckle on the tip of Tae’s nose and instantly decided that it was the single cutest thing he had ever seen in his entire life.

Tae wasn’t making any attempt to let go of him, so Jungkook tightened his grip on Tae’s waist and pulled him closer, swaying slightly to the music.

“Is this okay?” he whispered.

Tae nodded and Jungkook was glad that he did because he wasn’t sure he would have been able to make himself let go of him if he had said no. He was finally touching Tae, finally had him in his arms and if this wasn’t really happening, if this was some type of exquisite dream, he would murder the person who woke him up from it.

They lost themselves to the music, the two of them unaware of anyone or anything else around them. The throbbing rhythm of the music hummed through Jungkook’s body, beating in time to the stirring pulse of his arousal. He felt Tae’s lips against his ear, whispering the words, “You’re so fucking hot,” and he groaned in response, grasping Tae’s hips, thrusting against him, pressing Tae’s body flush against his own.

They weren’t dancing anymore; no, now they were full-on grinding against each other, their writhing bodies creating a delicious friction between them. Jungkook could feel Tae’s own arousal, the tight leather pants not leaving anything to the imagination.

Their breath mingled together as they moved, their lips so close together that all Jungkook would have to do was tilt his head slightly forward to close the gap between them. Just as he was about to, though, Tae turned around, pressing his back against Jungkook’s chest, grinding his ass obscenely against Jungkook’s crotch.

The feeling of Tae’s luscious ass rubbing against his stiffening cock nearly made Jungkook’s eyes roll into the back of his head. He wrapped his arms tightly around Tae’s waist, moving his hips in circular motions, wanting Tae to feel him, wanting him to know how hard he was. Tae’s head fell back against his shoulder and he moaned, low enough to not be heard over the music, but loud enough so Jungkook could hear…

Jungkook wasn’t exactly sure how it happened after that. One minute they were grinding together on the dance floor--the next minute, they were barreling into the bathroom, crashing into the nearest stall and Jungkook took a split second to lock the door before lunging for Tae and crushing their lips together.

There was nothing sweet or gentle about their first kiss. There was too much tension that had been building between them for it to be anything other than a clash of tongues and teeth, Jungkook licking desperately into Tae’s mouth.

He pressed Tae against the wall of the stall, nudging his legs apart with his knee, grinding against him again but this time it was dirtier, filthier, Tae rubbing himself insistently against Jungkook’s leg, practically riding his thigh.

“Fuck yeah, baby, rub that dick against me,” he growled against Tae’s lips before taking his mouth again in another hot, hard kiss. Tae moaned into the kiss, moving his hips faster and Jungkook knew that if they both kept it up, they’d be coming in a matter of seconds. Which on one hand definitely appealed to him but, on the other hand, he didn’t want this to end that quickly. He didn’t want this to end at all.

He pulled away briefly from the kiss and grasped Tae’s thighs, lifting him up and slamming him against the wall of the stall, reveling in the startled yelp it elicited from him. But Tae recovered quickly, the yelp turning into a moan as he wrapped his legs around Jungkook’s waist and found his lips again.

The feeling of Tae wrapped around him, his mouth pressed hot and needy against his own, almost made Jungkook forget his own name. All his fantasies were coming true and he wondered if he should press his luck and add another fantasy to that seemingly endless list--fucking Tae against a wall.

Their kisses were getting increasingly sloppy, both of them needing to come up for air, but neither of them wanting to. Tae’s hands were tangled in his hair and Jungkook was gripping Tae’s ass hard enough to bruise, his palms becoming slick with sweat against the leather.

He wrenched his mouth away from Tae’s, mouthing along his jaw, nipping at his neck, sucking a mark onto his honey-gold skin. He traveled lower, licking at his collarbone, Tae’s chest heaving under his tongue.

But then Tae’s shirt was in his way, covering far too much, keeping him from tasting more. He shifted slightly so that he was supporting Tae with one arm while he brought his hand up to fumble with the top button of Tae’s shirt.

But then Tae was kissing him again and while it was a welcome distraction, he couldn’t seem to get the slippery little button through the hole. Finally, with a snarl of frustration, he tugged savagely at the neck of Tae’s shirt, tearing at the flimsy fabric, ripping it halfway open, sending buttons pinging onto the floor.

Tae reared back from him. “You--you fucker,” he spluttered. “This is one of my favorite shirts!”

“‘I’ll buy you a new one,” Jungkook rasped, silencing his protests when he took one of Tae’s nipples into his mouth, flicking his tongue against the hardened bud.

“Oh, fuck…” Tae groaned, arching against him, squeezing Jungkook’s waist with his thighs.

The sounds Tae was making was almost enough to send Jungkook over the edge. The more he sucked and licked and bit at Tae’s chest, the more he wanted, like he couldn’t ever get enough of him. He could feel his cock, achingly hard, straining against the fabric of his underwear and, even though he wanted this to go on forever, he felt that he would lose his goddamn mind if he didn’t get some form of release soon.

He sucked another mark onto Tae’s perfect skin, almost oblivious to the feeling of Tae tapping insistently on his shoulder and didn’t look up at him until he heard him speak.

“Wait,” Tae said, his voice ragged and breathless, “wait, put me down.”

Jungkook stared up at him for a moment and then reluctantly set Tae gently on his feet and stepped back from him. Tae must have changed his mind, must have finally realized that of all the people he could be making out with, Jungkook was the last person he would want to hook up with. Part of him couldn’t blame Tae, considering how he had treated him when they first met but another, much bigger part of him was in complete denial, screaming that it couldn’t be over so quickly, they had barely gotten started--

So it was his turn to make a startled noise when Tae pushed him up against the opposite side of the stall and started kissing him again, sucking on his bottom lip. He was so relieved, he smiled into the kiss, wrapping his arms around Tae, pulling him closer.

Then, before Jungkook could process exactly what was happening, Tae had dropped to his knees in front of him and was fumbling with the fly of Jungkook’s pants, yanking the zipper down.

“You mind?” he breathed, looking up at Jungkook.

“N-no,” Jungkook managed to choke out as Tae at last freed his cock and grasped him firmly in his hand.

He sucked in a breath through his teeth as he felt the first touch of Tae’s tongue against him, moving from the root of his shaft right to the tip in a slow, teasing lick. Tae looked up at him, his gaze hooded, as he flicked his tongue against the head, and then took it into his mouth, sucking slowly, his lips wrapped tightly around him.

“Fuck, Tae,” Jungkook moaned, his head falling back against the wall, bringing his hands up to tangle in Tae’s hair. He resisted the urge to thrust into Tae’s mouth, wanting to feel every snakelike movement of his tongue.

Tae took him deeper, sucking him harder and Jungkook gasped when he felt the head of his cock touch the back of Tae’s throat. He looked down at him again, the sight of his cock gliding in and out of Tae’s mouth right out of one of his dirtiest fantasies.

“Fuck, baby, you’re so fucking sexy,” he growled. “Sucking me like that, so good, so perfect…”

Tae moaned around his cock, the feel of the vibration making him grip Tae’s hair even harder. His breath hitched and he felt like he was about to pass out from the pleasure of being engulfed by the warm wetness of Tae’s mouth.

Tae bobbed his head faster, stroking him with his hand at the same time, flicking his tongue expertly against the sensitive spot on the underside of Jungkook’s shaft.

‘F-fuck, I’m close,’ he panted. “Fuck, Tae, I’m gonna--” And then he was coming, spilling into Tae’s mouth, his knees actually buckling as Tae continued to suck him through his orgasm, milking him of every last drop.

Jungkook let his head loll back against the stall, inhaling deeply, coming down from the high of the best head he’d ever been given. He glanced down at Tae, who gave him a small smile and gently zipped him up again. Jungkook reached down and seized Tae by the arm, yanking him to his feet, kissing him hungrily.

He could taste himself on Tae’s tongue, something he didn’t usually go for but with him, it felt dirty in the best way possible. “Your turn,” he growled against Tae’s lips, shoving him back against the opposite wall, pressing against him, covering his mouth with his own again. Tae moaned, wrapping his arms around his neck, moving against Jungkook with small thrusts of his hips.

Jungkook moved to nip at Tae’s earlobe, catching it between his teeth and tugging slightly, causing him to moan louder. “Turn around,” he whispered.

Tae stilled and Jungkook pulled back to look at him, wondering if maybe he was pushing things too far. Tae studied his face for a moment, and Jungkook caught the bobbing movement of his throat as he swallowed nervously.

Jungkook put a hand on Tae’s cheek, rubbing his thumb gently across his smooth skin. “Trust me,” he said quietly. “I’ll make you feel good, I promise.”

Tae stared at him for a few more seconds but then he finally nodded and turned around to face the stall wall.

Jungkook gripped Tae’s wrists, bringing his arms up over his head, placing his hands at the top of the stall. “Keep your arms up,” he murmured. “Don’t move them unless I tell you to, okay?”

“O-okay,” Tae said, his fingers curling so he was holding onto the top of the stall.

Jungkook felt his cock twitch at Tae’s complete submissiveness. He always liked to be the dominant one, no matter if he was with a guy or a girl, and having Tae surrender to him so quickly, so willingly, was a huge turn-on. But this wasn’t about him, this was about Tae and his pleasure. But he thought he still might be able to check a couple more fantasies off his list once he was done touching him.

He slid his hands slowly down Tae’s arms, down his back, until he got to the waistband of Tae’s leather pants.

“Do you know the effect you have on people when you wear these?” he rasped in Tae’s ear as he reached around to undo the button, sliding the zipper down carefully. “The effect you had on me?”

Tae shook his head. “I--um--n-no…”

Jungkook licked at Tae’s neck. “Got me so fucking hard when I first saw you in them, baby, looked like a little fuck-fantasy come to life.”

Tae whimpered as Jungkook peeled his pants down, just enough to expose his ass. Jungkook made an appreciative noise. “No underwear, huh?” he said. “Naughty boy…”

Tae let out a shaky laugh, peeking over his shoulder at him. “I’d like to see you try and wear anything under pants that are this tight.”

“Hmmm…” Jungkook grasped the fleshy cheeks of Tae’s ass, kneading them in his hands, squeezing them roughly. God, he had the most perfect ass, it was driving him insane. Jungkook almost didn’t know where to start. But then a wicked grin spread over his face as an idea struck him.

“Still,” he said thoughtfully, “maybe you need to be punished for being such a bad boy…”

He glanced up at Tae’s face, gauging his reaction. Tae bit his lip, still looking at him over his shoulder, his gaze turning sultry, slightly mischievous. “Maybe…a little bit?” he said.

Jungkook smirked. “A little bit?” he echoed, bringing his hand up and landing a smack squarely on one of Tae’s asscheeks, the sound reverberating through the bathroom.

Tae’s entire body jerked with the impact, a small cry escaping him. Jungkook spanked him again, harder this time. “You like that, baby? You like it when I spank you?”

“Oh, f-fuck yes,” Tae whined. “Oh, god, Jungkook…”

Hearing Tae say his name like that got him instantly hard again. Every animalistic instinct inside of him was shouting for him to just fuck Tae already, take him right then and there. But he held himself back, wanting to draw this out as long as he possibly could.

“You have the perfect ass for spanking,” he said huskily, landing a series of quick, sharp slaps on Tae’s ass. “Can’t wait to bend you over and do it properly.”

Tae made a sound low in his throat, deep and guttural. “Fuck, Jungkook, please…please touch me,” he begged. His entire body was quivering with need.

Jungkook went back to kneading Tae’s ass, now splotched with red marks and hot under his hand. He brought the other one up, tracing Tae’s lips with his fingers. “Open up, baby,” he said, “get those nice and wet for me.”

Tae obeyed immediately, moaning softly as he sucked two of Jungkook’s fingers into his mouth, laving them with his tongue. Once he judged his fingers to be sufficiently coated with Tae’s saliva, he pulled them out, spreading Tae’s cheeks, exposing the little pink ring of muscle.

“Such a pretty little hole,” Jungkook murmured, prodding at it, teasing it with the tips of his fingers.

Tae shivered, leaning his forehead against the wall of the stall, pressing his ass back against him.

Jungkook slowly inserted one finger, Tae’s shuddering gasp making the hairs on his arms stand on end. It had been a while since he had done this and he knew that spit wasn’t exactly the best lube, so he took his time, moving his finger gently back and forth, groaning as Tae’s walls clenched tightly around his finger.

He made a curling motion inside Tae’s hole and knew he had found the right spot when Tae arched his back, a lewd moan falling from his lips.

“Feel good, baby?” Jungkook whispered.

“Y-yes,” Tae said breathlessly, “pl-please, more..”

So Jungkook inserted a second finger, giving Tae a few seconds to adjust before moving them faster, fucking Tae’s hole with his fingers.

Pretty soon, Tae was reduced to a quivering, incoherent mess in front of him--and Jungkook loved it. “Ah, fuck--that feels so--fuck, Jungkook, yes!”

Jungkook wrapped a hand around Tae’s leaking cock, jerking him off as he fingered him from behind. Tae was practically sobbing now, his entire body writhing against Jungkook’s own, chanting I’m close, I’m close, fuck, I’m so fucking close--

Jungkook moved his hands faster, putting his lips to Tae’s ear, whispering every filthy thing he wanted to do to him. “Fuck, Tae, can’t wait to get my cock inside you…can’t wait to have you ride me, see you bouncing that beautiful ass up and down on my dick…”

“Fuck, Jungkook-”

“Love hearing you say my name, baby…gonna make you scream it when I fuck you, gonna fuck you so hard, fuck you until you’re covered in my cum and you’re gonna love it…” Jungkook squeezed Tae’s cock, assaulting Tae’s prostate relentlessly with his fingers. “Fuck, Tae, tell me you love it.”

“N-no, fuck you,” Tae spit out suddenly.

Jungkook was so shocked by Tae’s words that he stopped moving his hands. “Excuse me?”

Tae looked back over his shoulder at him, a glint of defiance shining in his eyes. Then Jungkook noticed the corner of his lip turn up in a coy smile.

Oh, it’s like that, is it?

“Say it,” Jungkook growled, “or I won’t let you come.”

Tae whined and thrust his hips backward, desperately trying to fuck himself on Jungkook’s fingers but he shifted forward, essentially trapping Tae between his body and the wall of the stall so he couldn’t move.

“I’m waiting…”

Tae smacked his palm in frustration against the wall, throwing his head back, bellowing up at the ceiling. “Fuck, fuck, fuck, I fucking love it, fucking love the way you touch me, want your cock so fucking bad…”

Jungkook began to move his hands again, thrusting his fingers into Tae even rougher than before. “Don’t worry, baby, you’ll get it next time, I promise…”

Because, even though his cock was throbbing with insatiable need, Jungkook had this strange notion that he wanted his first time fucking Tae to be on a bed. His bed, Taehyung’s bed, hell, anyone’s bed, but just--a bed. He wanted Tae spread out underneath him, wanted to fuck him into the mattress, wanted to see Tae’s hands gripping the sheets as he pounded into him. Fucking him for the first time in a bathroom stall just seemed kind of…wrong, now.

Huh, go figure. And they say romance is dead.

He rammed his fingers against Tae’s prostate, pressing his thumb into Tae’s wet slit at the same time and Tae was crying out, coming into his hand, painting the wall of the stall with streaks of white.

He flopped back against Jungkook, his entire body going limp, heaving in great gulps of air. Jungkook wrapped his arms around Tae’s waist, holding him close, and pressed a wet kiss to the side of his neck.

Tae’s arm looped around Jungkook’s neck, curling his fingers into the hair at his nape. “Holy fuck,” he panted, staring up at the ceiling.

Yeah, Jungkook agreed silently. Holy fuck.

***

Jungkook woke up the next morning in his dorm room--unfortunately alone. He rolled over onto his back and sighed, staring dully up at the ceiling. He certainly hadn’t wanted to come home alone last night.

After their steamy little interlude in the bathroom, him and Taehyung had both stumbled out of the stall, exchanging sheepish grins as they paused to wash their hands at the sink. Once Jungkook was done drying his hands, he turned to Tae and wrapped his arms around him, pulling him close for a kiss. “Come home with me?” he murmured against Tae’s lips.

Tae smiled and slipped his arms around Jungkook’s shoulders, his fingertips brushing against his neck. “Only if you promise to fuck me all night long,” he purred.

Jungkook gave him a feral grin. “Deal,” he said, sneaking another kiss onto Tae’s lips.

“Okay, let’s go.”

Taehyung pulled him toward the open door that led out into the club and Jungkook followed him willingly. But just as Tae stepped outside the door onto the edge of the dance floor, he ran right into his friend, Minho.

Jungkook retreated back into the bathroom, pressing himself against the wall near the door. He wasn’t exactly sure why he was hiding but he wondered if Tae might have told Minho about their disastrous first date and whether Minho would recognize him now.

“Oh my God, where have you been?” he heard Minho say. “I’ve been looking all over for you.” Then there was a significant pause. “Um…what happened to you?”

“I, um…I…” Tae stammered. “I…fell down,” he finished lamely.

Minho snorted. “Onto what, a tiger? Jesus, Tae, look at your shirt, it looks like you were fucking mauled.”

Jungkook couldn’t help puffing out his chest a little bit. Mauled by yours truly, you fucker.

Minho sighed heavily. “I knew this was going to happen. You always do this.”

Jungkook’s self-satisfied smile slipped from his face and he clenched his fists at the blatant judgment in Minho’s voice. Okay, sure, Minho had pretty much confirmed what he himself had accused Tae of being like when they first met but hearing Minho talk to Tae like that made him want to roundhouse kick the guy in his stupid face.

“I just--” Tae started to say but Minho interrupted him.

“You weren’t planning on leaving with someone, were you? Because you promised we’d go back to my dorm after this so we could binge that new anime I was telling you about. That’s the only reason I didn’t go home with that guy I was talking to. And I totally could have but I didn’t because I had already made plans with you. You can’t just bail on me now.”

Jungkook rolled his eyes at Minho’s petulant tone. God, how was Tae resisting the urge to kick Minho in the face himself?

“Well, I know we kind of talked about it, Minho, but I don’t remember promising to--”

Minho cut Tae off again. “Whoever it is you want to go home with is probably just going to end up ghosting you again, you know. Why waste your time? I thought you said you were sick of that shit.”

There was an uncomfortable silence and Jungkook thought Tae might have muttered something but he couldn’t make it out.

“Come on,” he heard Minho say. “Let’s go.”

Jungkook heard them walk away and he stepped out of the bathroom to see Minho leading him away, his hand on Tae’s lower back. Tae looked back at him over his shoulder and shot him an apologetic look. Sorry, he mouthed.

And Jungkook had just watched him go. Because what could he have done? Marched up to Minho and been like, ‘Sorry, dickweed, but your anime binge session is going to have to wait because I need to take Taehyung back to my place right now for an epic fuck-fest’?

So he had glumly returned home by himself and resorted to relieving himself, jerking off as he replayed what had happened with Tae in his mind. He didn’t feel very satisfied afterwards though, longing to have Tae in his bed with him. He had eventually drifted off to sleep, feeling frustrated and very, very alone.

Now his mind wandered back to last night, to what had happened between him and Taehyung in that bathroom stall, and just thinking about it was enough to get him hard. He recalled in vivid detail how Tae had looked down on his knees in front of him, the sexy little noise he had made when Jungkook had made him come...

He palmed himself through his sweatpants, rubbing at his growing erection. “Tae,” he whispered, his eyes fluttering closed as he imagined Tae riding him. God, he would have fucked Tae all night long, there were so many things he wanted to do with him. But even if they had gone at it until the sun came up, one night wouldn’t have been enough. Not nearly enough…

He slipped his hand inside the waistband of his pants, letting out a low groan as he squeezed his cock. He began to move his fist up and down, still picturing Tae on top of him, straddling his hips. “Oh yeah, baby,” he murmured, “ride me, just like that…”

Jungkook was so engrossed in his fantasy, he almost didn’t hear the sound of a key turning in the lock of the door. He quickly snatched his hand away from his crotch, pulling his sheets up to cover himself as the door swung open and Yoongi came in, looking tired, slightly disheveled, but happy. “Morning,” he said.

When he saw Jungkook glaring at him, still holding his covers to his chest, Yoongi chuckled. “Sorry, did I interrupt?”

Jungkook chose to ignore that--just like he was choosing to ignore his still-throbbing boner. He heaved a sigh and flopped back on his bed. “How was the rest of your night?” he asked grouchily.

“It was good,” Yoongi said, shrugging out of his jacket and dropping it on his bed. “We stayed at the club a lot longer than I thought we would but Jimin didn’t want to stop dancing and I didn’t want to drag him home too early since he was having so much fun.”

“That’s because you’re so fucking whipped for him,” Jungkook said, grinning and waggling his eyebrows at Yoongi.

“Mm hmm,” Yoongi said absently, beginning to hunt around for his toiletries bag.

Jungkook propped himself on his elbow. “So…I guess you and Jimin had his dorm room to yourselves?”

“Yeah, Tae stayed at a friend’s.” He cast Jungkook a sidelong glance. “I, uh, ran into him this morning.”

Jungkook did his best to school his features into a neutral expression. “Oh?”

“Yeah,” Yoongi said, picking up a T-shirt and giving it an experimental sniff. He looked up at Jungkook. “I, uh, don’t know how to break this to you but apparently he hooked up with some guy at the club last night. I overheard him telling Jimin about it this morning.”

Jungkook made a show of examining his nails, feigning disinterest. “Huh, that’s interesting. Did he say anything else?”

Yoongi was watching him carefully. “Well, I only caught the gist of it but I did distinctly hear him say the phrases ‘magic hands’ and ‘he rocked my fucking world.’”

Jungkook had always had a terrible poker face. “Oh, that’s, uh, that’s too bad,” he said, unable to keep the huge grin from spreading over his face.

Yoongi rolled his eyes. “God, I knew he was talking about you.”

“How’d you know that?”

“Because when Jimin asked him for more details, he got all weird and shy about it. Plus, I thought I saw the two of you dancing together last night at one point.”

Jungkook laid back and stretched, putting his hands behind his head, still grinning. He sighed happily and looked over at Yoongi. “He really said the words ‘magic hands’, huh?”

“Yup,” Yoongi said, at last locating his bag underneath his bed. “So…is it just gonna be a one-time thing between you two?”

“Fuck no,” Jungkook said. Then he grimaced. “He was going to come back here with me last night but his stupid friend basically blackmailed Tae into leaving with him.”

Yoongi yawned, scratching at his ear. “Yeah, Tae said something similar. Something about Minho forcing him to leave and watch anime with him while he was trying to get laid.”

Jungkook smirked. It was nice to know Taehyung hadn’t been thrilled at having to leave with Minho, either.

“So, you guys are going to see each other again?” Yoongi asked.

“Yeah,” Jungkook said. Then he frowned. “I mean, I hope so, I guess I should text him…” Then he sat up suddenly. “Shit.” Yoongi raised an eyebrow at him. “Shit,” he said again.

“What?”

“I, uh, never got his number.”

Yoongi gave him an exasperated look. “You mean you hooked up with him at the club and you didn’t even ask for his phone number?”

“Well, I was planning on bringing him back here, wasn’t I? I would have gotten it then…”

Yoongi stared at him for a few seconds, then shrugged. “Well. Sucks to be you, I guess.” Then he turned and headed for the door.

“Wait,” Jungkook said suddenly and Yoongi turned back to him. “You have his number, right?”

“Yeah, I do…” Yoongi said and Jungkook heaved a sigh of relief.

“Well, that’s good, could you just send it to me before you go shower--”

“I’m not going to give it to you,” Yoongi said.

Jungkook stared at him. He didn’t like the way Yoongi was looking at him right now, his expression icy. “Um…why not?”

“Because getting his number from me and actually getting it from Tae are two different things.”

“How the fuck are they different?”

Yoongi’s expression became even more glacial. “I really don’t have the patience to explain it to you, dude.”

“Well, fine, fucking be like that,” Jungkook snapped. He grabbed his phone from his bedside table, swiping it open. “You said he’s on Insta, right? I’ll just DM him.”

“Oh, yeah,” Yoongi said sarcastically, “be that sleazeball that slides into his DMs.”

Jungkook looked up, glaring at his friend. “What the fuck is your problem?”

“My problem,” Yoongi said sharply, “is that you’re already acting entitled to Tae, like he belongs to you, just because you hooked up with him once.”

“I don’t think I’m entitled to him, I just want to fucking see him again, why do you care so much about how I do that?”

Yoongi’s expression softened a bit. “Look,” he said, “you’re my friend. But so is Tae. And Jimin’s told me way too many stories about how guys have used him, the type of treatment he’s used to. He’s a really sweet fucking kid and he doesn’t deserve that fuckboy shit. And I’ll be damned if I let my best friend treat him like that.”

Jungkook felt his face heat at Yoongi’s words and opened his mouth to argue when he remembered something Minho had said to Tae last night.

“Whoever it is you want to go home with is probably just going to end up ghosting you again, you know. Why waste your time? I thought you said you were sick of that shit.”

“Besides,” Yoongi added. “You’re better than that, man.”

He tossed his phone back on the table. “All right, fine,” he said. “What do you suggest, then?”

“Fucking work for it. Let him know you’re willing to put in the effort.”

“Okay, but how?”

Yoongi leaned back against the door, his expression turning thoughtful. “Well, step one would actually be asking him for his phone number. In person. So I guess you would kind of have to accidentally-on-purpose run into him somewhere on campus.”

Jungkook raised an eyebrow at him. “So you’re suggesting I stalk him?”

“Not stalk him, you idiot. Just…” Yoongi waved his hand around vaguely, “make yourself available in a way that’s convenient for him. And then he can decide what he wants to do.”

“Right…” Jungkook gnawed at his lower lip, thinking.

Yoongi opened the door. “Anyway, I need to go take a shower.”

“Hold up,” Jungkook called after him and Yoongi paused. “Exactly why am I taking dating advice from you again?”

“Um…because I have a boyfriend and you don’t?”

Jungkook threw his pillow at him but Yoongi had already left, closing the door behind him.

***

Yoongi laughed softly to himself as he heard the muffled thump of Jungkook’s pillow hitting the door and then made his way to the showers. He was confident that if he could steer his friend in the right direction, everything would work out for the best.

For Yoongi had seen the bright smile on Tae’s face this morning and he had just known that Jungkook was the one responsible for it. And he loved the way Jimin had beamed at Tae, obviously so happy for his best friend. And if Jimin was happy, he was happy.

Taehyung clearly liked Jungkook a lot. It had been obvious in the way he had talked about his ‘hero’ who had apparently saved him from some scumbag who had gotten too handsy with him at the club last night. He felt a strange sense of pride knowing Jungkook had done that for Tae.

And he had seen how Taehyung and Jungkook had looked on the dance floor together, laughing and goofing around, as if they had been best friends for years. He hadn’t seen Jungkook smile like that in a long time.

But he also knew that Jungkook was only too capable of being reckless with people’s hearts, especially since his own had been shattered so callously only a few months ago. He just knew Taehyung and Jungkook would be perfect for each other, if they figured things out together.

He just hoped Jungkook got his head out of his ass in time.

He knew Jungkook would probably never forgive him if he knew what he had said to Tae this morning.

While Jimin had been making the bed, humming happily to himself, Yoongi had pulled Tae aside and given him an inquiring look and Tae had just smiled shyly back at him and nodded.

He had leaned close to Tae and whispered, “Make him work for it, okay? Don’t make things too easy for him.”

Yeah, Jungkook would probably throw a hissy fit if he knew Yoongi had said that to Tae. But Yoongi wasn’t about to tell him anytime soon.

***

Jungkook didn’t really have a choice but to follow Yoongi’s advice. He half-resented his best friend for withholding Tae’s number from him, almost giving into the temptation of DMing Tae on Instagram.

But when he looked up Tae’s profile, his thumb hovering over the message button, all he could see were the words, ‘SLEAZEBALL, SLEAZEBALL’ flashing through his mind in bright neon letters, and he stopped himself.

He did allow himself to look through Tae’s feed, though, admiring his cute selfies. He repeatedly kept going back to one in particular that showed Tae lounging in bed, his hair slightly messy, a sleepy smile on his face. God, was that what he had missed out on? He felt like he could wake up to a smile like that every day.

But it wasn’t just selfies on Tae’s profile. He also had posted a bunch of pictures of his various art projects--psychedelic abstract paintings bursting with colour; realistic-looking pencil sketches of buildings, flowers, people--even one of Jimin. He was a seriously talented artist and an odd feeling sprouted in Jungkook’s stomach as he looked at Tae’s work. He felt like he wanted to find Tae and tell him how incredible his art was, how much he admired it. He wanted to know what inspired him, wanted to know what the expression on his face looked like as he worked on something, wanted to see those beautiful hands of his covered in paint and help him wash it off…

He made himself stop looking after that, the intensity of his thoughts starting to scare him a little. He felt like he was still untangling his feelings about Tae. That he was lusting after him was a given; that he had started to develop a major crush on him was obvious, too. But he still didn’t know what kind of relationship he wanted with Tae, if he was even ready for anything serious. And he didn’t know exactly how Tae felt about him, either, or what he might want.

Still, that wasn’t going to stop him from scoring Tae’s phone number.

Because he found that Yoongi had been right in a strange way--aside from the fact that he was borderline desperate to see Taehyung again, the challenge of how to do that was oddly thrilling. He spent the weekend coming up with different strategies, thinking of places he might run into Tae and what he would say once he did.

On Monday, he put his plans into action, feeling a bit like a hunter on the prowl for his (very sexy) prey. He went ten minutes out of his way to walk around the Fine Arts building, keeping his eyes peeled for any sign of the tell-tale blue hair. Once he thought he saw him, his heart leaping into his throat but, upon closer inspection, it only turned out to be a girl wearing a blue hat. He silently cursed her as he walked by, feeling disappointed.

He could only spend so much time looking for Tae, though, seeing as he had his own classes to attend, as well as a workout routine that he wanted to maintain--especially now, considering his ultimate goal in life seemed to be getting naked with Taehyung.

He continued his search through Tuesday, checking out other places he thought Tae might be--the coffee shop, the cafeteria, the library. But no luck. It was as if Taehyung had dropped off the face of the earth.

Jungkook even went so far as to ask Yoongi to please, please, please leave a sweater or something at Jimin’s dorm and then send Jungkook to go get it.

To his surprise, Yoongi actually agreed to this plan but it backfired miserably.

(“Sorry, man,” Yoongi told him later. “I tried leaving my textbook behind but Jimin noticed and ran after me to give it back. I couldn’t exactly refuse to take it, could I? It would only look suspicious.”)

By the time Wednesday rolled around, Jungkook felt like his search for Tae was becoming more frantic. But the more he looked for him, the more elusive he seemed to become. He seriously considered putting up fliers around campus: LOST CRUSH. HAS BLUE HAIR, A HOT ASS, AND ANSWERS TO THE NAME KIM TAEHYUNG. IF FOUND PLEASE RETURN TO JEON JUNGKOOK, DORM C, ROOM #134.

So, of course, he finally found Taehyung that afternoon.

He had just been crossing the quad on his way back from one of his classes, automatically scanning the area for any sign of Tae. He was so used to not seeing him, though, that when he finally did spot him, it almost didn’t register with him and he was forced to do a double-take, almost crashing into one of the benches that were dotted around the lawn.

He somehow managed to keep himself upright and then just stood there, feeling slightly stunned, staring fixedly at Tae as if he were some kind of rare Pokemon Jungkook had been trying to catch.

Tae was sitting by himself under one of the leafy oak trees, a sketchpad propped on his knees. He was frowning slightly, his handsome face scrunched up in concentration as he kept looking up at something and then back down at his sketchpad, pencil in hand, his pink tongue poking out.

All Jungkook’s plans for what he would do once he finally found Tae went right out of his head. He just stood there, watching him, not wanting to break Tae out of whatever creative bubble he was in. He felt content just to look at him, drinking in the sight of him, as if it had been years and not days since he had last seen him.

He realized he probably looked like a total creeper, though.

Tae was staring down at his sketchpad now, tapping the end of his pencil against his lips. Okay, now that was so fucking cute it made Jungkook want to go up to him, lay him down on the grass and kiss him silly. He took a step forward, mentally rehearsing what to say.

Long time, no see?

Ugh, lame.

Come here often?

Slightly better but still a bit forced.

Are you a parking ticket? ‘Cuz you have FINE written all over you.

Dear god, no.

He decided to just settle for a simple ‘Hey’, when Tae looked up and spotted him. Jungkook actually froze in mid-stride, like a deer caught in the headlights. Then he raised his hand in a tentative wave.

To his relief, Tae smiled and waved back but when Jungkook began to head towards him again, Tae held up his index finger, indicating Jungkook should wait.

He stopped, frowning as he watched Tae scribble something down on his sketchpad and then tear off a little scrap of paper. He folded it carefully, grabbed his things and stood up, catching Jungkook’s eye. Then he flicked up the little piece of paper, holding it between two fingers and gave Jungkook a significant look. He turned and sauntered away, looking back over his shoulder at Jungkook and then headed for the Fine Arts building.

Well, Jungkook wasn’t going to pass up an invitation like that. His heart pounding, he followed Tae, hurrying across the quad, keeping his eyes fixed on Tae’s bright blue hair, like it was a beacon leading him home.

Tae led him into the Fine Arts building, across the entranceway and down a hall. Jungkook lost sight of him briefly as he turned a corner, bumping into people in his rush to keep up with him.

When he rounded the corner, he saw Tae at the end of the hallway, leaning against a door. He looked over at Jungkook, raised his eyebrows, and then disappeared inside.

Jungkook hurried down that hallway so fast, he could have set an Olympic record. He got to the door Tae had gone through, pushed it open, and stepped inside.

They were in a lecture hall, dark and empty, the only light coming from the windows set high up on the wall.

Tae was standing by the desk at the front of the room, his bag at his feet. He held his hand up, waving the piece of paper teasingly at Jungkook.

Jungkook let his bag fall from his shoulder onto the floor, the dull thud echoing around the room. He strode towards Tae, licking his lips, ready to jump through whatever hoops necessary to get that little piece of paper. Because it had to be Tae’s phone number. What else would it be?

But just as Jungkook was about to reach him, Tae side-stepped, keeping the desk between them. Jungkook frowned at him and moved towards him again but Tae only took another step away, a devilish smile on his face, the desk still blocking him.

Jungkook lunged for him but Tae dashed around the desk and now he was literally chasing Tae around the room, trying to catch him but Tae somehow managed to remain just out of his reach.

He halted and Tae stopped too, both of them ending up on opposite sides of the desk. They were both panting, their hands splayed on the desktop, facing each other.

Jungkook growled at him but Tae only grinned back, a challenging gleam sparkling in his eyes. You can do better than that, his expression seemed to say.

So Jungkook feinted to the right and when Tae moved in the opposite direction, Jungkook vaulted himself over the desk, catching Tae around the waist in a crushing grip, victory singing through him as he kissed him hungrily.

Tae moaned, pressing against him, his arms coming up around Jungkook’s neck, his soft lips parting to let Jungkook slip his tongue inside his mouth.

Jungkook groped blindly for the desk chair, pulling it out and collapsing into it, pulling Tae down with him so he was straddling his lap as they continued to kiss.

He took his time exploring Tae’s mouth, letting his lips slide slowly over Tae’s in soft kisses that were worlds away from the feverish ones they had shared at the club.

A small whimper of pleasure escaped Tae and Jungkook held him tighter, deepening the kiss. I missed you, he wanted to say but couldn’t because he was too busy kissing him. He felt like he could have stayed in that lecture hall for hours, doing nothing but kiss Tae until both of them were breathless and dizzy.

But then Tae was suddenly gone, the warmth of his body replaced by a cold emptiness as he got up, grabbed his bag, and headed for the door. Jungkook gazed longingly after him, wanting to tell him not to go, to stay with him but Tae only winked at him and blew him a kiss, before turning the door handle and disappearing out into the hallway.

Jungkook sighed and turned to look at the desk--only then noticing the little folded piece of paper Tae had dropped on it.

Jackpot.

He snatched it up, grinning triumphantly, already composing his first text message to Tae in his head as he unfolded it.

But the smile fell from his face as he read what Tae had written on the paper.

You still owe me a new shirt :p

***

Far from discouraging him, Taehyung’s note only served to spur Jungkook on to try even harder to win Tae’s phone number.

Come on, keep trying, the note seemed to say. Don’t you think I’m worth it?

Jungkook had no doubt that Taehyung was worth the effort. The thing was, he had never had to try so hard to win someone over before. He had always gotten a lot of attention from both men and women and, before he had started dating his ex-girlfriend, hookups weren’t exactly hard for him to come by. Even Ali hadn’t been able to keep her hands off him those first few months, boosting his ego to new heights whenever she made it clear how much she wanted him. But then That Night had happened, sending his confidence spiraling down into a fucking free fall.

Taehyung was the first person he had hooked up with since he had been with Ali and while they certainly could have left it as a casual, one-time thing, Jungkook just…didn’t want to. And not just because he was dying to fuck Tae.

Whenever he thought of Taehyung, which was quite often, he imagined them together in ways that weren’t just sexual. He wondered what Tae would look like in one of his oversized hoodies, found himself thinking about different dates he could take him on, wanted to know what it would be like to just sleep next to him, spooning him from behind.

These thoughts terrified him slightly and he wondered if he was heading into Yoongi-type levels of whipped boyfriend territory--which would be a bit of a problem, seeing as he wasn’t even Tae’s boyfriend.

Well…not yet, anyway.

And, if possible, that thought scared him even more. Even if it thrilled him at the same time.

***

It was Friday again, one whole week since Jungkook had hooked up with Taehyung at Delirium. Not that he was keeping track or anything.

He hadn’t run into Taehyung since their all-too brief makeout session on Wednesday and still didn’t have his phone number. He wasn’t planning on giving up but he also felt like he was on some sort of deadline, thinking that if he didn’t get Tae’s number soon and ask him out on a proper date, someone else would snatch Taehyung out from underneath him. (Metaphorically speaking, of course.) Like his stupid friend, Minho.

He vowed to himself that if he hadn’t found Tae by the end of this weekend and somehow persuaded him to give him his phone number, first thing on Monday, he was going to go plant himself in front of Jimin and Tae’s dorm room and refuse to leave until Tae came along.

Jeez. So much for not stalking him.

But this evening he was taking a break from his Quest to Obtain the Holy Phone Number, catching up on some of his sorely-neglected homework instead. It didn’t take as long to get through it as he thought it would and decided to watch a few episodes of Death Note--but then he got distracted by Tae’s Instagram feed again, lying on his bed, scrolling through Tae’s pictures for what must have been the millionth time.

God, he had it bad for this boy, he thought, smiling to himself as he looked at Tae’s selfies.

He was just examining a new one Taehyung had posted that morning of him and Jimin in their dorm room when Yoongi came in. He caught Jungkook’s smile and rolled his eyes. “God, are you looking at Tae’s profile again?”

“No,” Jungkook said quickly, closing down the app, letting his phone fall onto his chest.

“Sure. But if I hear you start singing that Police song, I’m calling the actual police.”

Jungkook raised an eyebrow at him. “You were the one who suggested the whole stalking thing instead of just giving me his phone number. You know, like a regular person?”

“Yeah, but that wouldn’t have been nearly as much fun as watching you run around after him like a lost puppy.”

Jungkook flipped him off but Yoongi only laughed as he changed out of his plain white T-shirt for a plain black T-shirt.

“I thought you were seeing Jimin tonight?” Jungkook asked him.

“I am,” Yoongi replied, going over to rummage in his bedside table. “I just needed to change and grab the essentials.”

“Lube and condoms?”

The corners of Yoongi’s mouth quirked up. “Obviously.”

Jungkook tried not to feel envious of that--but it was hard not to.

“So what are you guys doing? Besides banging each other’s brains out?”

“Hoseok’s having a house party,” Yoongi said, pulling a hoodie over his head. “Jimin helped him get set up so he’s already there.”

Jungkook picked up his phone again, resigned to a Friday night where everyone else would probably be getting laid at Hoseok’s house party while he stayed home, jacking off to one of Taehyung’s selfies. “Well, have fun,” he said.

“You wanna come?”

He wrinkled his nose. “You know I fucking hate house parties.”

“Tae’s gonna be there.”

Jungkook scrambled up from his bed, nearly tripping over his feet in his rush to the closet. “Well, I guess I can swing by for one drink.”

“I thought you might say that,” Yoongi said, smirking at him. “You mind driving? I don’t feel like taking an Uber.”

Jungkook rifled quickly through his collection of T-shirts, hunting for the white one that fit a bit snug, emphasizing his chest. “Nah, I don’t mind.” Then he grinned. “Might not be able to give you a ride back, though.”

“I’d make a joke about how that’s probably because you’ll be giving Tae a ride later on tonight but that conjures up images I’d rather not think about.”

Jungkook, on the other hand, indulged himself in thinking about those very images as he drove to the party with Yoongi. Maybe a bit too much because Yoongi seemed to notice he was distracted and yelled at him to pay attention to the road and not your boner, for Christ’s sake.

They managed to get to Hoseok’s house in one piece, though, the party already in full swing as they walked up to the door, the sound of the bass booming through the walls.

They stepped inside, Jungkook looking around the living room for any sign of Taehyung but he couldn’t see him. Only a bunch of drunk people flailing around in an attempt to move to the music thumping everywhere. Oh, god, please don’t let him be making out with someone else already, Jungkook thought, please, please, please--

Still, it was a fairly big house. Maybe he was just out on the back porch?

Before he could start looking for him though, Jimin was skipping towards them, already looking extremely drunk.

“Babe!” he cried, throwing himself into Yoongi’s arms and greeting him with a sloppy, wet kiss. “Oh my god, you’re finally fucking here, I’m soooo horny, I need your dick, like, ASAP.” He turned to Jungkook, his eyes slightly unfocused. “Oh heyy, JK, didn’t know you were coming.” And then he started giggling uncontrollably because apparently this was hilarious.

“Yeah, well, I’m just gonna go-”

“Wait, just wait,” Jimin slurred, grabbing for his arm. “My TaeTae’s here and you, Mr. Slutty Slut Slut-Shamer,” he said, waving a tiny finger in Jungkook’s face, “are going to stay the fuck away from him. You dig?”

“Uh…right, no problem,” Jungkook said, going slightly cross-eyed watching Jimin’s finger waving right in front of his nose.

“Come on,” Yoongi said, pulling Jimin gently away from Jungkook. “I’m going to have to start drinking right away if I’m going to catch up with you, baby.”

“Keg’s on the back porch, honey,” Jimin said, all his focus back on Yoongi now, seeming to completely forget about Jungkook standing two feet away. “Fuck, I’m sooo glad you don’t get whiskey dick.”

Jungkook burst out laughing and Yoongi actually blushed crimson, seizing Jimin’s hand and pulling him towards the back of the house, Jimin hollering ‘My boyfriend doesn’t get whiskey dick!’ at the top of his lungs the entire way.

Still chuckling, Jungkook made his way down the hallway, heading towards the kitchen, thinking he’d start looking for Taehyung there, maybe ask around a bit. It occurred to him that Taehyung might be just as drunk as Jimin and he silently prayed that he wasn’t--if Tae wasn’t sober, there was no way Jungkook was going to take advantage of him. But he really, really, really wanted tonight to be the night that they took things further--and not just physically.

As he neared the kitchen he saw a girl in the hallway and his stomach dropped when he saw it was one of her friends. He turned his face away trying to pass by unnoticed but she had already spotted him.

“Oh…hey, Jungkook,” she said uncertainly.

“Hey,” he said shortly, not stopping to talk to her.

She called after him. “She’s not here,” he heard her say and he turned back to look at her. “I just thought you should know.”

Jungkook knew she was just trying to be nice but she had this sad, pitying look on her face that made him want to scream at her.

“Thanks,” he muttered, turning his back on her, continuing down the hallway. Anxiety snaked through him, making his stomach knot, his shoulders tighten. Of all the nights to be reminded of her…

He hadn’t been to a house party since That Night--and she was the reason he hadn’t wanted to go to one until now.

Dark, unwelcome thoughts rose up inside his mind but then he was on the threshold of the kitchen and Taehyung was there and as soon as Jungkook saw him, the dark thoughts disappeared, like shadows retreating from the sun.

Taehyung was perched on top of the kitchen counter, chatting with a girl standing beside him, one of his hands waving in the air as he talked, sketching out a wide arc in front of him. The two of them seemed to be deep in conversation so Jungkook just leaned against the doorway and watched him, waiting.

He was dressed in jeans and a white button-down shirt with cartoonish red hearts printed all over it, kicking his feet back and forth as he talked, just like a little kid would do. He was so fucking adorable that Jungkook couldn’t help the slow smile spreading over his face as he looked at him.

Thankfully, a guy, presumably the girl’s boyfriend, came to drag her away after a couple of minutes and Tae was left by himself. He continued to kick his feet, looking a bit lonely now, the smile fading from his face--but then he looked around and caught Jungkook staring at him. He blinked once and then started smiling again, his eyes crinkling up at the corners.

Jungkook made his way over to him. “Hey,” he said, trying to appear as casual as he could, even though his heart felt like it was attempting to do backflips in his chest.

“Hey,” Tae said shyly as Jungkook stopped and stood next to him, leaning against the counter, “I was, uh, hoping you’d be here.”

“Yeah?” Jungkook said, looking up at him, his heart now going through an entire gymnastics routine.

“Yeah,” Tae said. Then he looked away and cleared his throat, seeming to compose himself. Then he glanced back at Jungkook, a cheeky grin spreading over his face. “I was hoping you’d be here so I could give you my measurements.” His grin widened at Jungkook’s confused expression. “You know…’cuz you still owe me a shirt?”

Jungkook huffed a laugh. “Right. That’s the only reason you were hoping I’d be here?”

Tae looked down, fiddling with the tab of the can he was holding. “Well, maybe not the only one…”

“You know,” Jungkook said, lowering his voice to a husky rasp, leaning closer to Tae, “I don’t remember you being that bothered by the fact that I ripped your shirt.”

Two pink spots appeared high on Tae’s cheeks and he bit his lip, trying to hide his smile. “That’s because I distinctly remember you saying you’d buy me a new one,” he said primly, arching his brows and taking a sip of his drink. Which Jungkook only now realized was just a can of Coke.

He nodded at the can. “Not drinking tonight?”

Tae shook his head, tapping his fingers against the can. “Nah, don’t really feel like it. Besides, Jimin’s probably drinking enough for the two of us anyway. Did you see him?”

Jungkook grinned. “I’m surprised there’s any alcohol left in the house, the way he’s been going at it.”

“I think he’s at the point where he’s stealing other people’s drinks now. That’s why I’m sticking with Coke,” Taehyung said, waving the can, “there’s no danger of Jimin trying to take it from me.”

“In his quest to consume the entire world’s supply of alcohol,” Jungkook intoned in a dramatic voice, “only the abstainers were safe from the drunken tyranny of Park Jimin.”

Tae had been sipping at his Coke when Jungkook said this and almost choked, spluttering and laughing so hard that Jungkook had to pound him on the back.

Once he got his hiccups under control, he handed Jungkook the can. “Here, maybe you should hold onto this for a while.”

Jungkook took a swig from the can, as if he and Tae had been in the habit of sharing drinks for years.

“You not drinking either?” Tae asked him as Jungkook handed the can back to Tae.

“No, I drove Yoongi here. But,” he said, eyeing Tae, “I told him he had to, uh, find his own way home, though.”

“Oh,” Tae said quietly, looking down and turning shy again. They were both quiet for a few seconds, the silence between them not awkward but heavy with something, a crackling of anticipation.

“So--” Jungkook started to say but Tae began speaking again.

“To be honest, I’ve been trying to drink less,” he confessed.

“Yeah? How come?”

Tae rubbed at the back of his neck, his expression turning thoughtful. “Because when I do, I tend to end up in…compromising positions.” He flicked his gaze down to Jungkook’s lips, where it lingered for a couple of seconds, then looked back into his eyes.

“Huh,” Jungkook said, a rush of heat licking up his spine. He moved so that he was standing in front of Tae now, in between his legs. “Well, speaking of compromising positions…”

Tae snorted. “Gee, nice segue.” But his arms came up to wrap around Jungkook’s shoulders, pulling him closer.

“...do you want to come upstairs with me?” Jungkook finished, running his hands slowly along Tae’s thighs.

“Oh, god, yes,” Tae breathed, leaning down to kiss him.

But just as their lips were about to brush, a voice sounded behind them.

“Hey!”

They both turned to see Namjoon, one of Hoseok’s housemates. “Sorry, boys, but the kitchen is a no-fuck zone,” he said, but not unkindly. “Take it elsewhere.”

Jungkook turned back to Tae and smiled. “Come on,” he whispered, stepping back from him, allowing him room to jump down from the counter. Then, taking his hand, he led him out of the kitchen and to the stairs leading up to the second floor.

Tae’s hand felt solid and warm in his and Jungkook gripped it tightly as if he was afraid Tae might somehow be ripped away from him. But Tae only squeezed his hand back in a reassuring way as they climbed the stairs, Jungkook leading the way.

They reached the upstairs hallway, Jungkook’s heart twanging in his chest as he reached for the knob of the first door he came to and pushed it open--only to pull it shut quickly again when he was met by a pair of outraged yells.

He looked back over his shoulder at Tae. “I, uh, guess that one’s occupied.”

Tae gave a nervous giggle as they continued down the hallway to another door. This one was ajar and when Jungkook cautiously pushed it open and peered inside, he saw it was empty, the only light coming from the lamp on the bedside table.

He breathed a sigh of relief as he ushered Tae inside and closed the door. Then he frowned. “This door doesn’t have a lock on it.”

Tae gave him a funny look. “Does it need one?”

“I don’t want to be interrupted, do you?” Jungkook looked around the room, his gaze snagging on a little wooden chair tucked up against the desk by the window. “Perfect,” he muttered, grabbing the chair and wedging it underneath the doorknob. He tested it and, once he felt sure it would hold, he turned to Tae.

Taehyung was standing by the foot of the bed, fiddling with one of the rings on his hands, his teeth tugging at his lower lip. “So,” he said quietly, as Jungkook slowly walked towards him, “I guess this isn’t going to be a quickie?”

“Not on your fucking life,” Jungkook growled, reaching down, seizing Tae by the back of his knees and yanking upwards, sending Tae sprawling back onto the bed with a little yelp of surprise.

“God, you animal,” Tae said teasingly as Jungkook crawled on top of him, covering Tae’s body with his own.

Jungkook let out a throaty little ‘grr’ before leaning down to finally kiss him, Tae laughing against his lips.

His laughter quickly turned into soft moans as Jungkook swiped his tongue along the seam of his lips, parting them, slipping his tongue inside Tae’s mouth. He settled his body more heavily over Taehyung’s, pressing him down into the mattress, rolling his hips against him. Tae arched up into him, responding eagerly as his arms circled around Jungkook’s waist, pulling him closer.

The feeling of having Taehyung underneath him was almost overwhelming, heat prickling along his skin as their kisses became rougher, deeper, wetter, Tae’s hands coming up to tangle in his hair. Pretty soon they were both hard but, seeing as they were both wearing denim jeans, the friction between them was cursory at best.

He broke away from Tae’s mouth to kiss down his neck, scraping his teeth gently across Tae’s soft skin. When he reached the open neckline of Tae’s shirt, he smiled and pressed a kiss against the little dip in Tae’s collarbone. “God, Tae, this shirt,” he said, peeking up at him, allowing himself a smirk, “I just want to rip it right off you…”

“Don’t you fucking dare,” Tae hissed, and then he caught the amused grin on Jungkook’s face and rolled his eyes. “I have a feeling if I keep hooking up with you, I’m going to run out of clothes soon.”

“I guess you’d just have to be naked all the time, then,” Jungkook said, cocking an eyebrow at him. “Wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world…”

Tae snorted. “Says you.”

“Don’t worry, baby,” Jungkook whispered against his skin as he carefully undid the first button, “I’m not going to ruin your clothes tonight,” delighting in the way Tae’s breath hitched at the carefully emphasized word.

Tae let out a contented sigh as Jungkook slowly unbuttoned his shirt, pressing a soft kiss to each patch of newly-exposed skin.

“I have a confession to make,” Tae said in a hushed voice as Jungkook reached the last button and began to leave a trail of feather-light kisses over his abdomen.

“Mmm? What’s that?” he said, feeling Tae’s stomach tremble under his lips.

“When you ripped my shirt…” Tae said. “God, it was one of the hottest fucking things I’ve ever experienced.” He gazed down at Jungkook, his soft brown eyes dark with arousal. “No one’s ever done anything like that to me before.” He swallowed thickly. “I’ve…I’ve been thinking about it all week.”

“Yeah?” Jungkook began to make his way back up Taehyung’s torso, peppering his skin with more soft, lingering kisses, flicking his tongue over one hardened nipple. “Tell me what else you’ve been thinking about, baby.”

“You,” Tae whispered, his hands weaving into Jungkook’s hair again. “That day in the lecture hall…fuck, I was so close to asking you to fuck me right there on the desk…that’s why I made myself leave right away…”

Jungkook leaned his forehead against Taehyung’s, letting out a shaky breath. “God, Tae, you’re driving me crazy…you have no idea what you do to me…”

Tae’s lips curved into a soft smile as he gazed up at him. “I think I have some idea,” he said, reaching down and palming Jungkook through his jeans.

Jungkook groaned, capturing Tae’s mouth in another heated kiss, thrusting against his hand. Tae increased the pressure, rubbing him harder through the denim, giving him a firm squeeze.

“I think we’re both wearing too many fucking clothes,” Jungkook gasped against Tae’s lips.

Tae nodded. “Me too.”

They both shifted, Jungkook sitting back on his heels to tug his T-shirt off, while Tae shrugged out of his shirt. Once Jungkook was shirtless, Tae froze, gaping up at him.

“What?”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Tae said, his eyes roving over Jungkook. “I mean, I knew you had muscles, but, fuck, it’s like you’re carved out of marble.”

Jungkook tried not to look too pleased with himself. He shrugged, unable to hide his grin. “I think that’s a bit of an exaggeration…”

Tae shook his head vaguely, his gaze riveted on Jungkook’s taut stomach. “You’d be a dream to sketch,” he murmured, reaching up and trailing a hand across Jungkook’s abdomen, tracing the lines of his muscles with his fingertips.

Jungkook cocked an eyebrow at him. “Gonna draw me like one of your French girls?”

Tae looked up at him, a rosy blush stealing over his cheeks. “I, uh, well, maybe not completely naked…Not that I wouldn’t want to, but I, um, get flustered when I try to draw nude models.”

Jungkook smiled at the thought of his gorgeous Taehyung, who could be a model himself, getting all shy while trying to draw someone naked.

It barely registered with him that he had just thought of Taehyung as his.

“Just name the time and the place,” he said, beginning to unbuckle Tae’s belt, “and I’m all yours.”

“Are we still talking about me drawing you?”

Jungkook smirked as he started to undo Tae’s fly. “I’ll even wear as much or as little as you want me to.”

“Okay, I still don’t know if we’re talking about drawing or fucking, but I’m definitely gonna take you up on that offer.”

“Good,” Jungkook murmured, hooking his fingers in the waistband of Tae’s jeans and starting to pull them down.

But then Tae was grabbing at his arm, stopping him, a mildly panicked look on his face. “Shit, I just realized I don’t have anything--”

“It’s okay,” Jungkook said, sliding Tae’s jeans down over his hips, taking his underwear off at the same time, “I brought stuff.”

“Oh, you came prepared, did you?” Tae asked and Jungkook nodded absently, his gaze riveted on Tae’s now-exposed cock, the head already slick with precum.

Tae chuckled softly, bumping his knee gently against Jungkook’s hip. “Wow,” he said, “who’s the slutty one now?”

Jungkook jerked his head up to look at Tae, heat rising in his face. His stomach twisted guiltily as he thought of that day in the coffee shop when he had thrown that horrible accusation in Tae’s face over nothing.

He paused in sliding Tae’s pants down his thighs. “Tae,” he whispered, “I’m really sorry about--”

“Hey, hey, I was kidding,” Tae said, his eyes widening slightly at Jungkook’s expression, “it’s okay, it’s no big deal--”

“It is a big deal,” Jungkook insisted. “I should never have said that to you that day, it had nothing to do with you, it was because--”

“Hey,” Tae said again, his voice taking on a soothing tone as he sat up and put his fingers to Jungkook’s lips, stopping his words. “Sex first, apologies later, okay?”

“Are you-”

“Yes, I’m sure,” Tae said, kissing him, “just take my pants off already, okay? And get rid of yours while you’re at it.”

How could he say no to that?

Jungkook divested Tae of his jeans, shoes, and socks and then made quick work getting rid of the rest of his own clothes, feeling a bit self-conscious when he stood up to pull his jeans down but getting an ego boost nonetheless when Tae’s gaze went straight to his rigid cock and lingered there for a good ten seconds.

And then he was on top of Taehyung again and this time they were both completely, gloriously naked. He was kissing Tae, touching him everywhere, running his hands over his soft golden skin, groaning as their cocks slid against each other. Jungkook felt like he’d go out of his mind at the sheer bliss of it but it wasn’t enough, he wanted, needed more.

He pulled back from Tae a little, gazing down at him, his heart pounding in his chest. “Tell me what you want.”

“I want you,” Tae whispered, reaching up and brushing a stray lock of hair out of Jungkook’s face. “I want you to fuck me.”

Jungkook swallowed thickly. “Yeah?”

“Yeah,” Tae said, licking his lips. “Please fuck me, I need you inside me so bad--”

“Fuck, Tae.” It almost undid him, to hear Tae begging for it, begging for him. “Okay,” he said, leaning down to give Tae a quick kiss, “okay, baby, hold on.”

Jungkook half-dove off the bed to retrieve his jeans, rifling in the front pocket for the condom and small bottle of lube he had slipped in there. When he turned back to Taehyung, he nearly dropped them, his breath catching in his throat.

Taehyung was lying back with his legs spread, looking up at Jungkook through hooded eyes, a soft smile on his lips. He spread his legs wider. “Get me ready?” he asked, his voice hushed.

Like it was even a fucking question.

Jungkook hoped Taehyung didn’t notice that his hands were trembling slightly as he opened the bottle of lube and poured some out onto his hand, rubbing it between his fingers to warm it up. He kept his eyes on Tae’s face as he reached down and pressed against his tight entrance, wanting to see every single reaction Tae had as Jungkook fingered him open.

Taehyung’s eyes fluttered shut as Jungkook inserted one finger, exhaling a shaky breath, his teeth tugging at his bottom lip. When Jungkook inserted another finger and brushed against his swollen prostate, Taehyung gasped, his mouth falling open, his hands coming up to grip the pillow that was underneath his head. “More…” he begged, his voice taking on a desperate edge.

Jungkook, his gaze still riveted on Tae’s face, inserted a third finger, feeling his cock throb at the broken-sounding moan that slipped out of Tae’s mouth. He worked his fingers back and forth slowly, using his other hand to touch Taehyung wherever he could reach -- drawing small circles around a nipple, trailing his fingers across his stomach, tracing invisible patterns along the inside of his thigh.

“Gonna fuck you so good, baby,” he murmured, feeling Tae’s hole clench around his fingers. “Fuck, you have no idea how badly I wanna be inside you…”

Tae let out a breathy moan at Jungkook’s words, moving against his fingers now, his hips undulating. “I’m r-ready,” he gasped.

Jungkook carefully removed his fingers and fumbled for the condom, tearing the package open with his teeth. As he was sliding it over his length, Tae rose up on his elbows, gazing up at him. “How do you want me?”

Jungkook’s hand slipped and he had to take a second to compose himself. It was one of the hottest fucking things anyone had ever said to him, made even hotter by the fact that Tae had said it with complete innocence, without any sort of calculated seductiveness.

How do you want me?

In every fucking way possible.

But he supposed he had to start somewhere.

He smirked down at Tae, who was still staring up at him, waiting for his answer. “On your hands and knees, baby,” he said, “I want to take you from behind.”

Tae dropped his gaze, looking shy again, but he complied, rolling over and getting into position. Jungkook sucked in a breath, his gaze roving over the smooth skin of Tae’s back down to his perfect ass, bare, exposed, his for the taking.

Tae peeked over his shoulder at him. “Um…everything okay back there?”

“Uh huh,” Jungkook managed to say, his eyes still on Tae’s ass. Then he looked up at him and winked. “Just admiring the view,” he said, giving Tae’s ass a light slap.

Tae shuddered, letting out a noise that sounded like something between a laugh and a moan. “Do you think you can admire and fuck at the same time?”

“Jeez, so needy.”

Tae opened his mouth to reply but it turned into an incoherent moan as Jungkook grasped his hips and started to push inside of him. “This more like it, baby?” he rasped, sliding in slowly, inch by inch, “this what you want?”

“Y-yes,” Tae groaned, arching his back. “F-fuck, Jungkook…”

They both moaned as Jungkook bottomed out, fully sheathing himself inside Taehyung. He paused, giving Tae a moment to adjust--and giving himself a second to collect his composure. Finally being inside of Tae was doing things to him, making him feel unsteady, intoxicated. And he hadn’t even started moving yet.

Just as he was about to, though, Tae reached around and grasped his wrist. “Hold on,” he said, “I want to try something.”

And then Tae was moving, pushing back against him, fucking himself slowly on Jungkook’s cock.

“Fuck yeah, baby,” Jungkook growled, giving Tae’s ass another slap, “back that ass up.”

Tae moaned, rolling his hips, and Jungkook felt like someone could break a bottle over his head and he still wouldn’t take his eyes off the sight of Taehyung’s gorgeous ass gyrating against his dick.

Jungkook’s hips twitched, ready to start thrusting, but Tae reached back and stopped him. “Hold still,” he huffed. “I’m not done.”

Jungkook grumbled but obeyed, remaining motionless as Tae continued to thrust his ass backward, his movements tortuously slow.

“Come on, Tae,” Jungkook pleaded. “Let me fuck you.”

Taehyung looked back at him, a smirk on his plush lips. He allowed Jungkook’s cock to slide out just enough so that the tip was still inside him. And then he clenched, his hole squeezing the head of Jungkook’s cock.

Jungkook’s eyes rolled back, feeling like fireworks were exploding in his stomach. “Holy fuck.”

“Mm, thought you’d enjoy that,” Tae said, allowing Jungkook’s cock to slide out completely.

“Not as much as you enjoy being a fucking tease,” Jungkook retorted.

“Oh, you love it.” Tae’s eyes were sparkling with mischief as he wiggled his butt at Jungkook. “Okay, big boy,” he purred. “Show me what you got.”

Oh, he was fucking asking for it now.

Jungkook gripped Tae’s hips, lining himself up again. “Tell me if it’s too much,” he breathed and then slammed into him, burying his entire length inside Tae in one swift thrust.

Tae cried out, collapsing onto his elbows as Jungkook fucked into him mercilessly, his hips snapping against Tae’s ass, the sound of their skin slapping together echoing around the room.

But that sound was nothing compared to the obscene noises coming out of Tae’s mouth. His low moans quickly rose to a high, keening wail, his hands gripping the bedsheets so tightly that his knuckles were turning white. Seeing Tae’s fists clutching the sheets like that, exactly as he had pictured it in his mind, spurred Jungkook to fuck him even harder, his hips pistoning, his hands digging into Tae’s soft flesh.

“You take my cock so well, baby,” he panted, driving into Tae. “Take it like such a good boy.”

“Fuck, Jungkook…want to be good for you,” Tae sobbed as his entire body jolted with every hard thrust, his eyes squeezed shut. “Wanna be so f-fucking good...”

“Fuck, baby, you are, so good, so fucking tight….”

Jungkook lost track of time, unaware of anything around him except Tae’s exquisite warmth surrounding him, gripping him. He felt like he was drowning in the feel of Taehyung, unable and unwilling to come up for air. He pounded into him, switching up the angle a little so he was hammering directly against Tae’s prostate, causing Tae to bury his face in the pillow to muffle his screams of pleasure.

Jungkook gritted his teeth, feeling his muscles tensing as his orgasm started to build. He made himself slow down a bit, but still thrusting into Tae hard and deep, not wanting to come yet, wanting this to last…

Tae let out a strangled noise, his head popping up off the pillow, one hand reaching back for Jungkook. “W-wait, hold up for a second,” he said breathlessly, his fingers splaying over Jungkook’s stomach.

Jungkook immediately stilled inside Tae, concern spiking through him. “Shit, did I hurt you?”

“N-no, it’s not that,” Tae said, his voice hoarse. “Just need to…rest for a few seconds….” He turned his head, slanting his gaze towards Jungkook. “Fuck, it’s like you have the stamina of a fucking bull or something.” He blew out a breath, pushing his damp hair off his forehead. “Most guys would have come by now.”

Jungkook couldn’t help the smug grin that spread over his face. “Good thing I’m not most guys, huh?” he said, stroking a hand down Tae’s sweat-slicked spine.

Something flickered across Tae’s expression. “Yeah,” he murmured, giving Jungkook a soft smile, “good thing.”

They stared at each other for a few seconds, Jungkook still sheathed inside of Taehyung, but neither of them moving. Jungkook felt a stuttering in his chest as he looked down at Tae, the same glowing warmth he had felt when he had been dancing with him at Delirium.

And, suddenly, fucking Tae from behind while Tae faced away from him didn’t seem…intimate enough. Jungkook pulled slowly out of Tae, causing him to whine at the loss.

“No,” he protested, “don’t stop-”

“I’m not, baby,” Jungkook said, patting Tae on his hip. “Turn around.”

Tae shifted, moving a bit gingerly, as he rolled over onto his back and spread his legs. Jungkook felt his breath catch in his throat. Taehyung looked so small and vulnerable in that moment that all he wanted to do was protect him, worship him, keep him safe from everything and everyone that might hurt him.

He leaned down, capturing Tae’s mouth in a slow, deep kiss, his tongue sliding over Tae’s in an erotic dance. Tae sighed into his mouth, his fingertips trailing lazily down Jungkook’s back.

“Mmm…” Tae murmured, “I feel like I could stay like this with you all night.”

“Me too,” Jungkook whispered back. He reached down, adjusting himself so his cock was nudging against Tae’s entrance again. “You ready?”

Tae bit his lip and nodded, pulling him closer so that they were pressed together. “Keep going.”

Jungkook was just about to thrust inside Taehyung again when they heard the doorknob rattle.

“What the fuck?” came a voice from outside the door. “Why the fuck is my door locked?”

They both exchanged panicked looks before turning to look at the door, the chair still braced against it. “Do you think it’ll hold?” Taehyung whispered.

“I think so…”

The doorknob rattled again, more violently this time, and then a pounding noise as whoever was outside hammered on the door. “Jesus fucking Christ,” the voice yelled. “I swear to god, if people are fucking in my room again, I’m going to be so fucking pissed!”

A wicked grin spread over Taehyung’s face. He threw his head back, letting out an exaggerated groan. “Ohhhh yeah, baby, fuck me!” he cried, sounding like a porn star. “Fuck me so deep!”

Jungkook gave him a horrified look but Taehyung only raised his eyebrows at him. “Play along,” he mouthed.

“Oh, right, um…yeah, baby, take that fucking cock! Take it in your tight little hole!”

“Noooooo!” the voice outside yelled.

“Yes, yes, YES!” Taehyung shouted, dramatically thrashing his head back and forth on the pillow.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake.” The hammering on the door stopped and they heard the sound of angry footsteps stomping away.

Taehyung looked up at Jungkook, his lips twitching. “Maybe he went to go get a battering ram,” he choked out before dissolving into hysterical giggles.

Jungkook grinned at the sight of Taehyung laughing up at him, and in that moment, he felt something in his chest unlock. He brushed a thumb across Tae’s cheekbone, his smile fading slightly as he took in every detail of Taehyung’s face, as if he was seeing him for the first time.

Something in the air seemed to shift between them and they both turned serious again, Taehyung reaching up to grasp Jungkook’s face in his hands, bringing him down for a kiss, groaning softly as Jungkook slid inside him again.

Jungkook went more slowly this time, thrusting into Tae’s tight heat with slow, languorous strokes. He propped himself up on his elbows, staring down at Tae so he could watch every contortion of pleasure flicker across Tae’s face.

Tae gazed up at him through half-lidded eyes, his sensual lips parted. “Mmm…you feel so good,” Tae whispered as Jungkook continued to move inside him.

“So do you, baby,” Jungkook whispered back. “So fucking good.”

Tae wrapped his legs around Jungkook’s waist, pulling him in deeper, his cock rubbing against Jungkook’s stomach. “Harder,” he pleaded, his warm breath fanning across Jungkook’s face, “fuck me harder.”

Jungkook groaned, obliging him, picking up the pace, feeling his self-control slip away as they moved together, Tae lifting his hips to meet Jungkook’s every thrust. He had never had sex with anyone who he was so in tune with, their intertwined bodies moving in perfect rhythm. They weren’t just hooking up anymore, Jungkook realized, this was something much deeper, something special, something he didn’t have words for.

He never wanted it to end.

But he could tell Tae was getting close, the way his fingernails were scrabbling against his back, the way his chest heaved, his breathing becoming faster and more erratic. And yet, Jungkook could feel his body tense underneath him, as if he were trying to hold himself back.

“You close?” he panted and Tae nodded jerkily, biting down on his lip.

“It’s okay, baby, let go…come for me.”

Tae moaned, his grip tightening on Jungkook’s shoulders. “Want…ah, fuck…want you…to come…w-with me.”

Jungkook leaned down and kissed Tae, continuing to move over him, inside him. “I will, baby,” he whispered against Tae’s lips. “I’ll get us there, don’t worry…”

He seized Tae’s wrists, pinning his hands over his head, lacing their fingers together as he thrust into Tae even harder and faster than before, giving Tae his pleasure, taking his own. With a final series of thrusts, he took them to the edge of ecstasy--and together they plunged over, Taehyung crying out Jungkook’s name as they felt their climaxes shatter through them.

Jungkook collapsed on top of Taehyung, burying his face in the crook of Tae’s neck, his entire body going limp. Taehyung stroked a hand through Jungkook’s hair, holding him close as they both gasped for sorely-needed oxygen.

Jungkook’s head was spinning. Never, in his entire life, had he achieved a simultaneous orgasm with a partner before, let alone someone he had just had sex with for the first time. Not for lack of trying but he had never quite managed it with any of his previous partners and he had begun to believe that coming at the same time was one of those fabled sex things that people talked about but weren’t actually possible. Like having sex underwater or getting a blowjob under the table at a restaurant.

But with Taehyung…fuck, it had been easy. The most natural thing in the world to reach that high together.

He raised himself up on his elbows again, looking down at Taehyung. Tae gazed softly back at him, his hair mussed, his face flushed pink, the corners of his swollen lips tilted up in a small smile.

As he looked at him, Jungkook felt like his heart would burst out of his chest and he knew, right then, that he was a fucking goner for Kim Taehyung.

“You’re so fucking beautiful,” he whispered, brushing Tae’s bangs off his forehead.

Tae blinked up at him, looking slightly puzzled. “You…think I’m beautiful?”

Jungkook felt his face heat. “Sorry,” he said, “is that weird?”

Tae shook his head slowly. “No, it’s not weird.” He glanced down, looking shy again. “It’s just…no one’s ever called me beautiful before.”

Tae looked back at him, reaching up and tracing his fingers lightly along Jungkook’s cheekbone. Jungkook turned his head, pressing his lips against Tae’s palm. “Mmm…beautiful,” he murmured against Tae’s hand.

Tae giggled. “Stop, you’re embarrassing me.”

Jungkook smiled, leaning down to kiss Tae. “Beautiful,” he whispered against his lips, his heart fluttering at the sound of Tae’s little hum of pleasure. He dropped gentle kisses all over Tae’s face, on his cheeks, his forehead, even his nose, punctuating each kiss with a murmur of ‘beautiful.’

“Jungkook…” Taehyung breathed, his arms wrapping around Jungkook’s shoulders, pulling him closer.

Jungkook moved to kiss Tae’s neck, his tongue darting out to taste the salty tang of Tae’s sweat. “God, baby, so fucking beautiful…”

And just like that, he was raring to go again. He lifted his head, about to ask Taehyung if he was ready for round two when someone started pounding on the door again.

“All right, you fuckers, wrap it up. Don’t make me break down the fucking door.”

Jungkook sighed. “Goddamn it.” He looked down at Taehyung and they exchanged slightly guilty smiles. “You wanna get out of here?”

“Yeah,” Taehyung said, “we probably should before we get banned from future parties or something.”

“If we did…” Jungkook said, raising an eyebrow at him, “I think it would have been worth it, don’t you?”

“Oh, so worth it,” Tae replied, beaming up at him.

Jungkook leaned down to kiss Tae one more time but the guy outside started pounding on the door again.

“All right,” Jungkook yelled. “we’re coming, just give us a second!”

“We just did,” Tae whispered, nudging him and they both tried to stifle their laughter as they set about collecting their scattered clothes. Once they were dressed (and cleaned up as best they could with some tissues), Jungkook caught Tae around the waist, pulling him close for a last, lingering kiss before taking the chair out from underneath the doorknob, taking a deep breath, and pulling the door open.

“Hey, man, what the fuck!”

A short, nerdy-looking guy stood out in the hallway, glaring at them both. Jungkook didn’t recognize him and figured he must be a fairly new housemate.

Jungkook glared right back at him and the guy quailed, looking a bit uncertain when it seemed to dawn on him that the top of his head only came up to Jungkook’s chin.

“Here’s a tip,” Jungkook ground out, “if you don’t want people fucking in your room during a fucking house party, don’t leave your room unattended. Better yet, invest in a lock.”

“Oh, I, um…” the guy stammered, trailing off.

Jungkook rolled his eyes and then took Tae’s hand, tugging him right past the guy, down the hallway.

“Um,” Tae said over his shoulder, “send us your dry-cleaning bill.”

They both burst out laughing as they headed down the stairs. “I can’t believe you had the nerve to blame him for not locking his door,” Tae managed to say between giggles, “I thought we were gonna get our asses beat but he was so small…”

Still grinning, Jungkook pulled Taehyung along behind him, weaving through the crowd of shitfaced college kids as they headed towards the front door.

Then they were outside in the refreshingly cool night air, and, still holding Tae’s hand, he led him down the sidewalk to his car, the raucous sounds of the party fading away behind them.

Tae made a little humming noise, laying his head against Jungkook’s shoulder as they walked, giving his arm a squeeze. “I’m glad we got out of there.”

“Me too,” Jungkook replied, pressing a soft kiss to the top of Tae’s head. It was just the two of them now, no crowds, no angry roommates, no stupid friends to interrupt them. Jungkook had the entire night to spend with Taehyung and he planned to make the most of it.

They reached his car and got inside, Tae hissing a little as he squirmed around on the passenger seat, trying to find a comfortable position.

Jungkook raised an eyebrow at him, smirking slightly. “Uh…you okay over there?”

“Oh shut up,” Tae said, shifting his butt, “it’s your fault I won’t be able to sit down properly for the next week.”

“Yeah, but just think--every time you do try to sit down, you’ll be reminded of me.”

“Oh my god, you’re the worst,” Tae said, even as he leaned over and kissed Jungkook.

He was sure Tae only meant for it to be a quick peck but Jungkook trapped him in his arms, letting himself linger over Tae’s mouth. “By worst, don’t you mean best?” he murmured against Tae’s lips.

“Mmm…maybe.”

Things looked like they were going to start heating up again between them but then Tae pulled away, leaning back against the door. “Fuck,” he said, blowing out a breath, “all that fucking made me thirsty.”

“Yeah, me too,” Jungkook said, only now just realizing how parched he was. “You wanna go for a Slurpee?”

“A Slurpee?” Tae raised his eyebrows. “What are we, a couple of twelve-year-olds skipping class?”

“All right, fine,” Jungkook grumbled. “Where do you want to go?”

Tae bit down on his lower lip, looking thoughtful. Jungkook couldn’t help but stare at his mouth and was just about to lean over and start kissing him again when Tae spoke.

“Actually…a Slurpee sounds fucking fantastic right now.”

So Jungkook started his car and headed for the nearest 7-11.

As they drove, Taehyung took out his phone and tapped out a brief message. “Just telling Jimin I haven’t been kidnapped or anything,” he said in response to Jungkook’s querying look.

“Right.” Jungkook gnawed on his lower lip. “So I guess you haven’t, uh, told him? About us, I mean.”

Tae shook his head slowly. “No…” Then he sighed. “It’s not for the reason you’re thinking. Jimin’s just really…protective of me.”

Jungkook snorted. “Yeah, I’ve noticed.”

Tae gave him a rueful smile. “He means well. He just wants me to be happy. I’m not ashamed of you or anything,” he added, “or the fact that we’ve…done stuff.” He blushed, smiling slightly as Jungkook gave him a sidelong glance. “I just want to keep it between us for now. I feel like if I told him, he’d overreact and go into Mama Bear mode before I could tell him the full story.”

“And then he’d come after me with a baseball bat?”

Taehyung laughed. “A really tiny one.”

They both snickered at that and Jungkook reached across and took Taehyung’s hand in his, keeping one hand on the wheel as they drove in companionable silence, Taehyung rubbing soothing circles against Jungkook’s hand with his thumb.

Jungkook couldn’t blame Taehyung for not telling Jimin about them. Hell, he wasn’t exactly chomping at the bit to tell Jimin either so he could listen to the little pipsqueak rant about how ‘you’re not good enough for my best friend’ and ‘if you ever hurt him again I’ll get Yoongi to kneecap you and blah blah blah.’

And the fact that Taehyung hadn’t told Jimin about them yet implied that there was something between them to tell Jimin about…right?

Jungkook glanced over at Taehyung, who looked back at him and smiled, squeezing his hand.

Oh yeah, Jungkook thought to himself, definitely something.

Five minutes later, Jungkook pulled into the parking lot of the 7-11 and they went inside, the bell-like tinkling sound of the door a far friendlier greeting than the bored-looking clerk at the counter.

They made a beeline for the Slurpee machine, grabbing Jumbo-sized cups and Tae immediately started filling his with a bit of every flavour while Jungkook filled his to the brim with his favourite, Blue Raspberry.

Tae raised an eyebrow at him. “Um…I’m sorry, but what sort of freak only gets one flavour at the Slurpee machine?”

“This freak right here,” Jungkook replied smoothly, sucking at his straw and making an obscene slurping noise which made Tae giggle.

“Wow, I can’t believe I just had sex with a fucking psychopath,” Tae joked, throwing a napkin at him.

“That’s what they’ll call me when I go on my killing spree,” Jungkook said, taking Tae’s hand and leading him down the candy aisle, “the One-Flavour Freak.”

“Yeah, because you’ll off your victims by shutting them in refrigerators full of Blue Raspberry smoothie slush and they’ll freeze to death.”

Jungkook shook his head, grinning. “You’re weird.”

“You’re weird.”

While in the candy aisle, they proceeded to have a five-minute debate about which was better: gummy bears vs. gummy worms. Jungkook insisted that one wasn’t better than the other because, hello, they both tasted the same but Tae argued that they absolutely did not taste the same and that gummy bears were better because they tasted fruitier while gummy worms tasted gummier.

“That doesn’t even make sense,” Jungkook said, but the clerk was starting to give them weird looks so he just grabbed a package of each and headed for the counter.

Tae hung back a bit, as if he thought he might have to pay for his own Slurpee but Jungkook jerked his head towards the counter. “Don’t worry, I got it,” he said, taking out his wallet.

Tae smiled at him and put his cup on the counter. “Wow,” he said in an undertone so only Jungkook could hear, “sex and a Slurpee? You sure know how to treat a guy.”

Jungkook bit down on his lip, fighting a laugh. “We aim to please,” he murmured, handing his Visa card to the unsmiling clerk.

Junk food acquired, they left the store and decided to just head back to campus, parking outside of Tae’s dorm, drinking their Slurpees and stuffing themselves with candy while they talked. And talked. And talked.

They talked about anything, everything, it seemed. Taehyung told Jungkook about his art, how he tried to give his emotions specific colours so he was literally, as he put it, ‘painting his feelings.’ He even showed Jungkook a few pictures of his pieces on his phone and Jungkook tried his best to pretend that he hadn’t already seen them (because of the epic amount of stalking he had done) but it was nice to finally hear Tae explain the story behind his various projects.

This lead to Jungkook confessing to Taehyung that he was doing a business major because he didn’t really know what his passion was or what he wanted to do for the rest of his life. Tae reassured him that it was normal to not know and to still be figuring shit out.

“There’s a ton of pressure to have your entire life figured out by the time you’re, like, twenty-one,” he told him. “But that’s bullshit.”

And then Tae confessed to Jungkook that he was scared about not making it as an artist and having to work a regular, boring, nine-to-five job while his dreams collapsed into dust.

Jungkook had almost snapped when Tae told him this. “Are you fucking kidding me?” he practically shouted. “Tae, people are going to pay fucking millions for one of your paintings!”

Tae had blushed, looking shy but pleased. And then they had passed time by just kissing for a while, stopping briefly to check out what colour the other’s tongue was. “Blue,” Tae said, rolling his eyes when Jungkook showed him his. “Obviously.”

“Well, yours is definitely more red,” Jungkook said, tugging him close again. “That means we can make purple…”

“Mixing colours and making out?” Tae said, laughing. “I’m in heaven.”

And as they kissed, Jungkook thought that heaven was the perfect word for it.

They alternated between kissing and talking for the next couple hours. Jungkook almost died choking on a gummy worm when Tae told him a particularly funny story about his first nude drawing class where the male model had sprouted a boner and he had been forced to leave because he couldn’t contain his giggles.

It was only when they both started yawning at each other during a conversation about what kind of animal they’d like to be that they checked the time.

“Holy shit, is it really 2 am?” Tae exclaimed, looking at his phone.

“Fuck, is it really?” Jungkook said, his words muffled by another yawn. “I can’t believe we’ve been talking for almost three hours.”

Tae gave him a tired smile. “Parked car conversations are the best conversations,” he said, rubbing his eyes.

“Yeah…”

They looked at each other for a few seconds, their gazes soft. And then Tae looked away, biting his lip. “I should probably head to bed…”

“Okay,” Jungkook said quietly.

Tae looked back at him. “I’d really like to invite you to stay the night with me...but I feel like if I do…” he reached over, fiddling with Jungkook’s sleeve, tracing a finger down his arm, “sleeping is going to take a backseat to, um, other stuff.”

“Would that be such a bad thing?” Jungkook murmured.

“No, not usually…” Tae said. Then he sighed. “It’s just that I kind of promised myself that Friday would be my one night out this weekend. I’ve got this big art project due so I was planning on holing myself up in the studio for the next couple of days.”

Jungkook gave him an understanding smile, even as he felt a pang of disappointment. “Well, in that case you’d better get some sleep. Can’t let your masterpiece-in-waiting go unfinished.”

Taehyung gazed at him and Jungkook could have sworn that the disappointment that he felt was reflected in Tae’s eyes. “I had a lot of fun with you tonight, though,” Tae said softly. “Like, the best night I’ve had in a really long time.”

“Me too,” Jungkook whispered.

And then they were leaning toward each other, kissing again, soft and slow and intimate, Tae’s hand coming up to caress Jungkook’s cheek. Jungkook pulled him closer, wanting more, turning the kiss into something rougher, more demanding, until Tae put a hand on his chest, gently pushing him away, the two of them gasping for breath.

“How am I going to make myself get out of this car when you keep doing shit like that,” Tae protested weakly, hand still on Jungkook’s chest. “You’re such a bad influence.”

Jungkook cocked his head to the side, smirking, his hand covering Tae’s own. “I thought you liked being bad…”

Tae bit his lip, trying not to smile. “With you I do. But…” he looked out of the car windshield, towards the dorm. “I really gotta go…”

“I know…” Jungkook said, trailing his index finger along the back of Tae’s hand. “But I’d really like to…fuck you again sometime.”

Tae turned back to him, heat sparking in his eyes. “Well,” he said, leaning close to brush his lips against Jungkook’s, “I’m sure that can be arranged…”

And then they were making out for what must have been the ten millionth time that night, their lips crushed desperately together, Tae’s hands tugging at Jungkook’s hair.

Jungkook had meant what he said. He would like to fuck Tae again, this very second in fact. But a part of him wished he had said, ‘I’d like to see you again,’ instead, let Tae know that he didn’t want this to be just a sex thing between them.

But he wasn’t about to stop to tell him when Taehyung was kissing him like that.

Finally, Tae pulled away again. “Seriously, I have to go.” He turned away, putting his hand on the door handle, ready to get out of the car when Jungkook remembered something.

“Hey, Tae, wait a second.”

Tae looked over at him, his hand still on the door handle. He put up his other hand in front of him, as if he were trying to ward Jungkook off. “Don’t start kissing me again,” Tae warned. “If we start again, we’ll never stop.”

Jungkook rolled his eyes. “Again, you say that like it’s a bad thing.” Tae opened his mouth to protest but he cut him off. “I just remembered I have something for you,” Jungkook said, reaching into the backseat, retrieving the plastic shopping bag he had brought with him.

“You do?” Tae said, looking intrigued as Jungkook handed the bag to him. “What is it?”

Jungkook jerked his chin towards the bag now sitting on Tae’s lap. “Go ahead,” he said, giving Tae a sly smile, “open it.”

Tae gave him another curious look and then opened the bag, the plastic rustling as he pulled out--a shirt. An oversized blue T-shirt, to be exact.

Tae gaped at it, holding it out in front of him.

“See?” Jungkook said, grinning. “I told you I’d get you a new shirt.”

Tae burst out laughing. “Oh my god, you absolute troll,” he said, punching Jungkook lightly on the arm, “this looks nothing like the one you ruined.”

“You never said it had to,” Jungkook countered, his face starting to hurt from smiling so widely. “It’s blue and it’s a shirt so…” he shrugged, “I don’t see what the problem is.”

Tae shook his head, still laughing. “You are unbelievable, you know that?”

Then he glanced over at Jungkook and started slowly unbuttoning his shirt.

“What the hell are you doing?” Jungkook growled, arousal flaring through him again as his gaze became laser-focused on Tae’s nimble fingers undoing each button.

Tae raised an eyebrow at him, his lips curving up in a smirk. “I’m trying it on, aren’t I?” he said innocently. “I have to make sure it fits.”

Jungkook tried to suppress the groan of longing that threatened to slip out of his mouth as Tae’s shirt came off, revealing his beautiful golden skin, skin that Jungkook had tasted only mere hours ago and wanted to taste again…

But Tae just waved an admonishing finger at him. “Ah, ah, ah,” he said coyly, “no touching.”

He slipped the T-shirt over his head and looked down. It was at least three sizes too big for him, and it looked more like a poncho than a shirt. “Oh my god, it’s fucking huge,” Tae said, pulling at the excess fabric.

Jungkook smirked. “You know I’m super flattered but if you could stop talking about my dick for, like, two seconds--”

Tae snorted. “You’re ridiculous,” he said but he still leaned over to kiss Jungkook even as he said it.

“Looks good on you,” Jungkook said, holding him there for another kiss, running a hand down Tae’s back, squeezing his butt. “Would look even better off you…”

“Damn, that was smooth,” Tae said. “How long have you been waiting to drop that line?”

Jungkook shrugged. “Since I bought it a couple days ago.”

Tae shook his head, smiling. “You’re cute.”

“You’re cute.”

Tae kissed him again and then leaned back, holding out his hand. “Give me your phone.”

Jungkook unlocked his phone and then passed it to Tae, smirking. “Gonna take a picture of yourself for me?”

“You wish,” Tae muttered absently as he tapped at Jungkook’s screen. There was a buzz and then Tae tossed Jungkook’s phone back to him. “There,” he said, “now you have my number and I have yours.” He leaned over again, smacking a kiss onto Jungkook’s cheek. “Text me if you wanna hook up.”

And then before Jungkook could respond, he was out of the car, his button-down slung over his shoulder, heading for his dorm building.

Jungkook watched him go, laughing a little as Tae swung his hips in an exaggerated sashay, throwing him a coy glance over his shoulder. When he got to the door, he turned and gave him a final wave, Jungkook beeping his horn back in acknowledgement.

Tae disappeared inside his dorm and Jungkook leaned back against his seat, sighing contentedly. Best. Night. Ever.

His phone buzzed and he smiled as he thumbed open a message from Tae.

>sorry I had to bail :/ thanks again for the great night :)<

>and for the shirt <

>and the slurpee<

>and the sex ;)<

Jungkook texted back.

>you're very welcome ;) I had a lot of fun too<

>I know you said you’ll be busy painting all weekend but is it OK if I text you?<

 >yeah, of course<

>i'd like that :)<

 >good night, Jungkook<

>good night, Tae. sweet dreams<

Tae sent him a last kissy-face emoji and Jungkook started his car and headed for his own dorm building, grinning like an idiot the entire way.

***

Taehyung practically waltzed into his dorm room, humming to himself. Not only had Jungkook given him the best sex he’d ever had in his entire life tonight (which he was still a bit sore from), but he had even taken him on the best date he’d ever been on. He couldn’t remember the last time he had talked with a guy for hours like that. A guy that wasn’t his best friend, anyway.

He smiled as he got undressed, taking off everything except the T-shirt Jungkook had bought him, which was perfect for sleeping in as it came down to the middle of his thighs. He flopped onto his bed, still grinning, replaying everything that had happened tonight with Jungkook in his head.

The sex had been mind-blowing, there was no other word for it. But the really amazing thing was that it hadn’t been weird or awkward at all after they had put their clothes back on, like it had been with guys he had slept with before.

With some of his past hook-ups, before the cum stains had even had a chance to dry on the sheets, they had bolted, avoiding eye contact and making excuses and Tae never saw them again. Or if he ever did run into them, it was painfully awkward at best, humiliating at worst.

But Jungkook had wanted to hang out with him after, had treated him to a Slurpee and candy, had listened patiently while Tae had rambled on about his art, had even bought him a shirt. And he had called Taehyung beautiful. Something no one had ever done before.

Tonight with Jungkook had felt different than what he was used to. It felt…really fucking good.

Tae snuggled down into his bed, rolling over onto his side and pulling his blankets up to his chin. He wasn’t remotely tired now, his head full of thoughts of Jungkook, his mind spinning out into elaborate romantic fantasies that featured hand holding, cuddling, and lots and lots of kissing.

Maybe he was getting ahead of himself but being with Jungkook tonight had felt so natural, as if they had been dating for years. It was more than just a hook-up.

…Right?

A sliver of doubt wormed itself into Tae’s thoughts and the smile faded from his face.

I’d really like to fuck you again sometime.

That’s what Jungkook had said to him. Not that he’d like to see him again or take him out on a date but that he wanted to have sex with him again.

Not that Tae would say no to sex with Jungkook again but…wasn’t this more than that?

He took me out afterwards, Tae thought to himself. He bought me candy and we talked for hours in his car. He didn’t have to do that. He could have bailed after we were done having sex.

Wasn’t really a planned thing, though, the doubtful voice said. Hanging out after just kind of happened. He came prepared with lube and condoms because he just wanted to FUCK you, that’s all he wants to do, that’s all he wants from you--

“No,” Tae whispered out loud. Because even the sex had felt different. It had been intimate and romantic, there had been a feeling of something more between them, a warm, honeyed glow of emotion. It had been almost as if they were…making love.

Tae shook his head slightly, rolling his eyes at his own ridiculousness. But still…the way Jungkook had looked at him right after, in that moment when he had called him beautiful…

An explosion of vivid colour burst inside his mind and Tae sat up and turned his lamp back on, reaching for his sketchpad and coloured pencils. He wanted to capture that feeling that had stirred inside him when Jungkook had gazed softly down at him and whispered those words to him.

Beautiful.

Tae bent over his sketchpad, scribbling with different pencils, trying to get the palette just right, the one that reflected that intense spectrum of feeling that had thrummed inside his chest when Jungkook had looked into his eyes, when they had kissed and kissed and kissed…

His lips curved into a soft smile as he worked, even now thinking about how he would transfer this onto a canvas, how he would mix his colours, what kind of brushstrokes he would use to express the veritable rainbow inside him. He already knew what the title would be.

He would call it Euphoric Goo.

***

Jungkook coasted on the high of his night with Taehyung all weekend, barely able to concentrate on anything for longer than five minutes without thoughts of Tae bubbling to the surface of his mind, smiling whenever he thought of his crush. It got to the point where Yoongi actually got creeped out by the near-constant grin on his face and avoided him for most of the weekend, opting to hang out in Jimin’s dorm, saying he didn’t want to be around Jungkook’s ‘lovesick ass.’

Jungkook didn’t mind, though. He knew Yoongi didn’t really mean it. Besides, he was too busy texting with Tae.

Jungkook texted back and forth with Taehyung throughout the entire weekend, their flirting reaching new heights of shamelessness. They sent so many winky faces, kissy faces, and eggplant emojis to each other that it would have been embarrassing if anyone else had gotten a hold of their text messages. But Jungkook didn’t care. Having finally scored Tae’s phone number, he felt like he was making up for lost time.

He teased Tae relentlessy, calling him ‘Tae-ger’, a reference to their conversation when Tae had revealed that the animal he’d most want to be was a tiger.

Taehyung retaliated by dubbing Jungkook with the nickname ‘Jungoo’ and refused to call him anything else, even when Jungkook sent him a snarling message back, telling him to change it.

 >it’s either that or Bunny<  Tae texted back. 

>Bunny?<

 >because of your smile<

>you’ve got the cutest wittle bunny smile<

>shut up, no I don’t<

>yeah, you do. it’s the most adorable smile ever, Jungoo<

>you’re going to pay for that the next time I see you<

>oh yeah?<

>exactly how are you going to make me pay for it...<

This led to an epic half an hour of sexting, the text messages between them becoming so graphic, they could have co-written their own erotica novel. Jungkook nearly creamed his pants when Tae sent him a selfie of him sucking on his own fingers, his eyes half-lidded, gaze sultry.

>wish I was sucking on your cock instead, want you in my mouth, wanna taste your cum again--<

Jungkook responded to that by sending Tae a dick pic, their messages becoming increasingly dirty until Jungkook finally jerked off, Tae sending him a text (and some photographic evidence) that he was doing the same.

>fuck me, Tae texted him afterwards, that was hot<

 >i’d certainly like to fuck you. for real, this time<

>when are you free next?<

>umm…Monday, maybe? I’ve got classes all day, plus my art theory class in the evening<

 >wish I could travel back in time and stop my past self from doing something as stupid as taking an evening class :(<

>what time does your class end?<

>9. is that too late?<

 >nope<

 >i can pick you up after. sound good?<

 >sounds good<

 >more than good<

 >fuck, I can’t wait<

 >me neither ;)<

 >ok, stop distracting me, Jungoo, I gotta get back to painting<

>you love it :P<

 >truuuuuu<

Jungkook spent the rest of the weekend and all of Monday counting down the hours until he could go pick up Tae from his class.

Eight hours to go…Jungkook scowled as he ate his lunch, watching the minutes tick by…Five hours to go…He barely paid any attention to what his professor was saying in his last class of the day, too busy staring at the clock, wondering if it had stopped completely…Two hours to go…He was in the library, trying to distract himself with his statistics assignment but he couldn’t make himself focus on it. He felt jittery with anticipation, checking his phone every ten seconds, wondering if he could make nine o’clock come around any faster by sheer force of will.

An hour before he was due to pick up Tae, his phone buzzed.

>this is the longest class everrrrrr<

 >i can’t believe there’s still an hour left to go :(<

 >fuck, I know right? linear time is totally fucking us over<

 >agreed :P<

 >where are you right now?<

 >library. trying to work on an essay<

 >but I keep thinking about what I want to do to you tonight<

> …oh?<

>you want details?<

 >maybe…<

 >i'm going to make you straddle my dick and ride me, get a good grip on your hips while you bounce on my cock<

 >fuck yes, i want that, i've been dying to ride you…<

 >maybe tease you for a bit first, though? I wanna see how many times I can bring you to the edge before I fuck you, see how long it takes before you’re begging for my dick…<

 >fuck, Jungkook, it won’t take long for that to happen<

 >i want your cock now, i'm so fucking hard, you have no idea<

Jungkook licked his lips, his own erection straining against the fabric of his boxers. He pictured Taehyung in his class, squirming in his chair, trying to conceal how turned on he was and failing…

 >oh shit, I think the girl sitting beside me just got a glimpse of our texts. now she’s looking at me funny<

 >let her see, baby. let your whole fucking class know how hard you’re going to get fucked tonight<

>or maybe I should just come there right now, fuck you on your desk, let everyone see how fucking good I give it to you<

>holy fuck, Jungkook<

>that’s really fucking hot but I think my prof might have a problem with us having sex in the middle of his lecture<

 >say it was ‘distracting’ or whatever :P<

>jeez, what a prude :p<

 >fuck, ok, in 45 minutes I’ll be on your duck<

 >on my duck?<

 >i don’t have a duck<

 >OMG I MEANT BE ON YOUR DICK<

 >fucking autocorrect<

>see you soon, baby. i'll be sure to bring my…duck<

>goddamnit, I’m never gonna live that one down, am i?<

 >quack<

 >OMFG, fuck OFF, you brat<

 >:p<

At ten to nine, Jungkook left the library and drove to the other side of campus, parking right outside the Fine Arts building. He got out and stood leaning against the hood of his car, sending Tae a quick text that he was outside. Five minutes later a flood of people trickled out the front door, Tae among them. He waved goodbye to a couple people then practically sprinted down the stairs towards Jungkook, throwing himself into his arms.

Jungkook almost got the wind knocked out of him by Tae’s bone-crushing hug but he recovered quickly, wrapping his arms around Tae, returning his enthusiasm with a long, deep kiss.

“Mmm…” Tae murmured, “I’ve been thinking about you all day…”

Jungkook pulled back a little so he could look at Tae. “Thinking about me or thinking about…my duck?” he said, smirking.

Tae smacked him on the arm. “Oh my god, I knew you were going to bring that up!”

Jungkook squeezed Tae’s waist, tugging him closer. “Look, we can use it as a type of code. Anytime you want me to fuck you, just start quacking and I’ll--”

“We are not doing that,” Tae said, rolling his eyes, albeit smiling slightly. He raised an eyebrow. “You want this ass or not, Jungoo? Because if you’d rather stand out here and play comedian, we can call it a night.”

“Ouch, so touchy,” Jungkook said, moving to nip at Tae’s neck. “Sorry, baby, you’re just so much fun to tease…”

He felt, rather than heard, Tae’s breath hitch. “I believe you promised me a different kind of teasing…”

“That’s right, I did,” Jungkook said, reaching down to grope Tae’s ass. “Is it okay if we go to your dorm? Yoongi’s staked out in ours tonight.”

Tae pulled back from him, a slight frown creasing his forehead. “Shit. Jimin’s staying in tonight, too. He’s got a big project due on Wednesday that he’ll be working on all night.”

Jungkook leaned back and groaned. “Oh, for fuck’s sake, the one night when those two aren’t glued together.”

“I know…” Tae chewed at his bottom lip. “There must be somewhere we can go…” He looked past Jungkook, out towards the parking lot. Then he brightened and looked back at Jungkook. “Car sex?”

Jungkook grinned, patting Tae’s butt. “Car sex it is. But not here, though, let’s go somewhere a bit more secluded.”

Twenty minutes later, they were in the empty parking lot of a superstore, fucking in the backseat of Jungkook’s car. Tae was straddling his lap, bucking his hips as he rode Jungkook like his life depended on it. They were both in various states of undress, too impatient to get completely naked. Tae still had his shirt on, unbuttoned to give Jungkook access to his chest while Jungkook had removed his own shirt but only pulled his pants down enough to free his cock. They had both decided to take a rain check on the teasing and foreplay, the two of them so riled up by the time they had parked, that Jungkook had practically dragged Tae onto the backseat.

Tae had a deathgrip on his shoulders as he bounced up and down, his head thrown back, the beautiful column of his neck exposed. “F-fuck you feel so fucking good, Jungkook,” he panted. “Love how fucking good your cock feels--”

Jungkook squeezed Tae’s ass, gritting his teeth as he thrust upwards, bouncing Tae higher, fucking into him harder. “I know you love it, baby, know you love this dick…”

Tae cried out as Jungkook pounded into him, the movements of his hips becoming more erratic, fingernails digging into Jungkook’s skin. “Fuck, Jungkook, I’m gonna come…you’re gonna make me come!”

Jungkook fisted his hand around Tae’s cock, pumping it as he kept fucking Tae, chasing his own orgasm. “Fuck yes, Tae, come for me, ride me till you fucking come…”

He reached up and brought Tae’s face down to his, crushing their lips together as Tae shuddered, whimpering into Jungkook’s mouth as he came all over Jungkook’s chest, his hole spasming around Jungkook’s cock, setting off his own climax.

They leaned against each other, their breath mingling as they gasped for air. Jungkook kissed Tae again, softly this time, running his hands through his hair. He could feel Tae’s body trembling against his and pulled back to look at him. “You okay?”

“Yeah,” Tae breathed, his arms looped around Jungkook’s neck. “That was just…really intense.”

Jungkook hummed in agreement, placing a gentle kiss against the hollow of Tae’s throat. “Fuck, I know. I feel like we were building up to that all weekend.”

They sat in silence for a few minutes, Jungkook still cradling Tae in his arms, slipping his hands under Tae’s shirt, rubbing his back while Tae breathed against his neck, casually fiddling with his earlobe.

Eventually, though, pins and needles started to set in for both of them and Tae swung off his lap, collapsing beside him, laying his head against Jungkook’s shoulder.

“Look,” he said, reaching past Jungkook to tap at the window, “we fogged up the windows.” He drew a smiley face on the glass, and Jungkook huffed a laugh.

“Honestly, are you surprised?” he asked, tracing his own finger against the window, sketching out his own drawing beside Tae’s.

“No,” Tae answered. “We do have the hottest sex ever.” Then he hit Jungkook on the shoulder when he realized that he had drawn a dick on the window.

“Zero points for creativity,” Tae said, laughing, “although I’ll give you marks for technical execution.”

Jungkook heaved a theatrical sigh. “Well, I guess only one of us was cut out to be an artist.” He wiped away his crude sketch but left Tae’s smiley face.

Tae snuggled closer to him, tracing his fingertip lightly against Jungkook’s arm. “Can I ask you something?”

Jungkook tensed slightly but nodded, wondering where this was heading. “Yeah, of course.”

“How come you’re single?”

“Um…what do you mean?”

Tae sighed. “I just mean that…you’re really great and I like you a lot and… I’m just surprised that you’re not taken, that’s all.”

Jungkook shrugged, looking down at his feet. Uneasiness was rising inside him, he didn’t want to talk to Tae about this, he didn’t want to talk about it with anyone.

But still, he had to tell him something.

“My last relationship, uh, didn’t end very well.”

“Oh,” Tae said quietly. And Jungkook hoped that that would be explanation enough, that they could just drop it, but then Tae spoke again. “What happened?”

Jungkook tried to focus on taking deep, steadying breaths, suddenly feeling like there wasn’t enough room, enough air in the car. And Tae was too close--

“She cheated on me.”

Tae sucked in a breath and turned to look at him but Jungkook refused to meet his gaze, still staring down at his feet.

“Oh, I’m so sorry, Jungkook,” Tae whispered, slipping his hand into Jungkook’s, lacing their fingers together. “You didn’t deserve that.”

Jungkook barely heard him. He turned and stared unseeingly out of the window, his mind cast back to That Night when everything had fallen apart…

Him and Ali had gone to a house party, even though they had just gotten into a fight and were barely speaking to each other. They had been arguing a lot lately, about the stupidest shit but then the arguments turned into full-blown shouting matches, each of them hurling accusations at each other. Jungkook thought that SHE was too flirty with other guys, doing it to deliberately make him jealous while Ali accused HIM of not paying enough attention to her, of hanging out with Yoongi too much, who, by the fucking way, clearly hated her guts and was trying to break them up.

As soon as they had gotten to the party, they had separated, Ali going to gossip with her girlfriends, while Jungkook hung out with Yoongi and his other friends in the kitchen. After a couple of hours and more than a few drinks, Jungkook had decided that it was time to at least make an attempt to make up with his girlfriend. He had wandered around the house, looking for her everywhere, asking every single one of her friends where she was but they had all pointedly avoided his gaze and told him that, ‘I thought she was with you.’

Except for one. One girl had caught up to him when he stormed out of the living room. “She’s upstairs,” she had whispered. “But you didn’t hear that from me.”

So Jungkook had gone upstairs, dread churning in his gut, wandering down the hallway until he came to one of the closed bedroom doors and pressed his ear against it. He could hear moans of pleasure on the other side--very familiar moans of pleasure.

He had wrenched open the door and there was Ali, spread out on a bed with her miniskirt bunched around her hips while a guy knelt in front of her, his face buried in her crotch.

When Jungkook had opened the door, Ali had looked up, straight into his eyes, the moment branded forever in his mind because when she saw him, she didn’t look scared or ashamed or even guilty--she had looked triumphant, as if she had beaten him in a competition that only she had known about.

The fight they had gotten into afterwards had been nearly apocalyptic.

“I knew you were fucking around on me!” Jungkook had shouted at her. “God, I fucking knew it, I fucking called you on it so many times, Ali, but you always denied it, you’re such a fucking liar--”

“Oh, grow the fuck UP, Kookie,” she screamed. “So another guy eats me out, big FUCKING deal, you think it’s my fault so many guys want me! Maybe if you paid more ATTENTION to me, maybe if you took me OUT more often, I wouldn’t need to go out and get it from someone else!”

“Are you honestly saying this is my fault?!” Jungkook had roared back. “Well, maybe if YOU weren’t such a fucking WHORE--”

She had slapped him then, her palm cracking against his cheek. “We are fucking OVER,” she shrieked, storming out of the room. “You can go to fucking HELL, Kookie!”

It had been Yoongi who had gotten Jungkook home, ordering them an Uber, sitting on his bed and listening calmly once they were back in their dorm, while Jungkook had stormed and raged, calling Ali every foul name he could think of.

“I know, man,” Yoongi had said to him once Jungkook’s voice had gotten hoarse from all the shouting. “But, honestly? Good fucking riddance. You don’t deserve that shit. You deserve better.”

You didn’t deserve that.

Jungkook blinked, coming back to himself. Tae was still beside him, still holding his hand. And all Jungkook wanted to do was wrench his hand away.

Anger coursed through him, dark and roiling, as he considered what Tae had said to him.

You didn’t deserve that.

Well, how did Taehyung fucking know what Jungkook deserved? They barely knew each other, after all, and he suspected that that was the way Tae wanted to keep it.

Because this was just a sex thing between them, he realized. Taehyung only liked Jungkook because he liked the way he fucked him, he didn’t actually want to date him, didn’t want to be with him. Because no one in their right mind would want to be with him, not when he was so fucked up.

How many other guys did Tae have at his beck and call when he wanted some dick? Jungkook wondered. He must be only one of many that Tae was stringing along. He was just like Ali, flirty and sweet when it suited him but once he got tired of Jungkook, he’d have a replacement in no time.

Fucking whore, his mind whispered. Just another fucking whore who wants to fuck you over.

No, another part of him protested, Tae’s not like that, he’s different--

Didn’t take long to get into his pants though, the other voice retorted, Jesus Christ, what a fucking slut, giving it up so easily. If he’s a slut for you, he’s a slut for other guys…

Jungkook stiffened, still staring out the window. The smiley face that Taehyung had drawn seemed to mock him.

“Are you okay?” Tae asked quietly.

Jungkook found it hard to speak around the lump in his throat so he just nodded. He pulled his pants back up, reached for his T-shirt and dragged it over his head. “We should get going,” he muttered, still not looking at Tae.

“Um, okay…” Tae got dressed too, and they both climbed into the front, Jungkook barely waiting for Tae to buckle his seat belt before starting the car and peeling out of the parking lot, his tires screeching.

The rage swelling inside him caused him to press the gas pedal nearly to the floor, heedless of the speed limit.

“Hey,” Tae said, sounding uncertain. “Slow down a bit, okay? It’s only 60 here.”

Jungkook clenched his jaw but eased off the acceleration, the uneasiness in Tae’s voice making his chest feel tight. They didn’t say another word to each other all the way back to campus, Jungkook wheeling into the parking lot of Tae’s dorm, stomping on the brake and throwing his car into park. He sat there and glared out the windshield, feeling Tae’s eyes on him.

“Um…are you sure you’re okay?”

Jungkook just shrugged. He wanted to scream at Tae to just get out, to go fuck with someone else but instead he kept his mouth shut and said nothing.

“Okayy,” Tae said cautiously. “I don’t know if it was something I said to set you off or what but you obviously don’t want to talk about it right now and I’m not going to make you. But maybe if you want to grab coffee tomorrow, we can--”

“I don’t go for coffee with the people I’m hate-fucking,” Jungkook spit out.

“...Hate-fucking?”

Jungkook made the mistake of looking over at Tae, the confusion and hurt welling in his eyes making Jungkook feel like he had just been punched in the gut.

“Hate-fucking,” Tae said again, as if he were trying to process exactly what those words meant. “Is..is that what this is? Do you seriously hate me?”

There was only one person sitting in his car that Jungkook hated--and it wasn’t Taehyung. But his lips curved into a cruel smile as he said, “I don’t hate the way you suck my cock. But, then again, I bet a lot of guys could say that about you.”

Tae’s eyes narrowed into slits, his lips pressed into a thin line. “So we’re back to that are we?” he said, voice shaking with fury. “I don’t know what you’re fucking problem is, Jungkook, or what the fuck is going on in your head but you are seriously fucked up, dude. Like, you should seek professional help.”

"Who needs a shrink when I’ve got a cockslut like you to take it up the ass when I need it!”

The moment the words were out of his mouth, Jungkook would have given anything to take them back. If for no other reason than to spare him the look on Tae’s face, as if Jungkook’s words had been a physical blow.

Without another word, Tae slammed out of the car, marching towards his dorm without so much as a backwards glance.

Jungkook wanted to run after him, would have crawled after him to beg his forgiveness but a heaviness had stolen over his entire body, making him feel sluggish, immovable.

He had just lost Tae, he realized. Lost whatever potential they had for being together, lost Tae’s smile, his voice, lost his contagious laughter, his honey-sweet kisses. Had lost the feeling that had sparked in his chest whenever he had been around Taehyung.

“Fuck,” he muttered, smacking his hand against his steering wheel. But that didn’t hurt enough so he curled his hand into a fist and pummeled the steering wheel as hard as he could, punching it until his knuckles were split and bloody.

“Fuck, fuck, FUCK!” he screamed, grabbing the wheel and shaking it back and forth, his voice rising to an inarticulate howl, his vision blurred with tears.

He slumped forward, resting his forehead against the wheel, now smeared with blood, not bothering to wipe away the tears on his face, letting fresh ones come, not resisting as despair swallowed him whole.

***

Tae stumbled into his dorm room, the words Jungkook had said to him still echoing in his head.

Jimin looked up from his desk. “Hey, sweetie,” he greeted, smiling at him, “where have you--”

But he stopped mid-sentence as Tae slumped against the door, sliding down it until he was sitting on the floor, bursting into anguished sobs.

Jimin was at his side within seconds, putting his arms around him. “TaeTae, what happened?”

“J-jungkook,” Tae managed to get out, “he--” But he was crying too much to be able to get the words out. It took almost half an hour for him to be able to tell Jimin the whole story, sobbing the entire time, his face buried in his hands.

Jimin just held him, stroking his hair, doing his best to soothe Tae with quiet words and gentle hands. He eventually pulled Tae to his feet and put him to bed, getting a washcloth to wipe Tae’s face, which was sticky and wet with tears.

He brushed Tae’s hair back and kissed him on the forehead. “It’s going to be okay, sweetie,” he whispered. “Try to get some sleep.” Then he turned and headed for the door.

“Where are you going?” Tae croaked, not wanting Jimin to leave him, not wanting to be alone with his shattered heart.

“I’ll be right back,” Jimin said. “I just need to make a phone call.”

***

“And you can tell that asshole friend of yours that if he EVER comes near Tae again, I’ll have his fucking balls! You hear me, Yoongi? His fucking BALLS!”

Yoongi winced, holding the phone away from his ear. The other people in the coffee shop turned in his direction, wondering where all the shouting was coming from.

Yoongi had slipped out of his dorm room for a quick pick-me-up at the campus cafe so of course that was when Jimin had called him, raging through the speaker about Jungkook, a tiny tornado of fury.

Yoongi knew better than to cut Jimin off during one of his rants so he just let him yell, his heart sinking lower and lower in his chest as Jimin related what had happened between Taehyung and Jungkook.

Way to fucking go, JK, he thought dispiritedly. But Yoongi already had his suspicions about why Jungkook had gone off on Tae like that.

Jimin paused to draw breath and Yoongi decided to risk speaking.

“Jimin,” he said calmly, “I understand why you’re upset, baby, I really do. Jungkook should never had said that to Tae but he’s not a bad person--”

“He’s doing a really fucking good impression of one,” Jimin snapped.

Yoongi sighed. “Look, I’ll talk to him, okay? And I think you’re right, he should stay away from Taehyung.” For now, he added silently.

“You should have seen the look on his face, Yoongi,” Jimin said, more quietly now. He sounded as if he were about to cry. “God, I’ve never seen him like this, so…so…”

“Heartbroken?” Yoongi supplied.

“Yeah…” Jimin was quiet for a few seconds and then he asked, “Did you know?”

Yoongi didn’t need to ask for clarification. “Yeah,” he said reluctantly, “I knew.”

“Well, why didn’t you fucking tell me?” Jimin said, raising his voice again. “If I had known--”

“Look, I only knew because I guessed and Jungkook just confirmed it. It wasn’t my thing to tell you, baby. That was up to Tae.”

“I guess...” Jimin grumbled. “God, this whole thing is just so fucked up.”

“I know,” Yoongi said. “Look, I’ll talk to Jungkook. Just concentrate on being there for Tae. You’re his best friend and he needs you right now.”

Jimin sighed heavily. “Okay. But will you at least give Jungkook a good kick in the ass when you talk to him?”

“I’ll think about it,” Yoongi said, thinking it might not be such a bad idea to knock some sense into Jungkook. “I’ll talk to you later, okay? I love you.”

“Love you too,” Jimin said softly and they both rang off.

Yoongi grabbed his coffee and headed back to his dorm room, wondering what sort of state he would find Jungkook in, if it was even possible for him to help Jungkook fix the fucking mess he had made. But he at least had to try.

***

Jungkook was lying on his bed, facing the wall, when Yoongi came back in. He didn’t even turn to acknowledge his friend, didn’t say anything. He felt sick to his stomach, his mind replaying over and over the expression on Tae’s face when those words had spewed out of his mouth.

“Hey,” Yoongi said.

Jungkook just grunted.

“I want to talk to you,” Yoongi said and Jungkook could hear from his tone that he knew.

“Well, that’s too fucking bad,” Jungkook said, his voice thick. “I don’t feel like talking.”

“I get that, man, but ignoring it isn’t going to make it go away--”

“I said I don’t feel like fucking talking about it!” Jungkook snapped, getting up from his bed and heading for the door. If Yoongi thought he was going to sit there and listen to him scold Jungkook, he had another fucking thing coming--

“Jungkook, sit the fuck down!”

Jungkook glared at Yoongi but Yoongi just glared right back at him. But then Yoongi’s face softened slightly. “I don’t need you to talk, Jungkook. I just need you to listen.”

Jungkook clenched his jaw but sat back down on his bed, Yoongi sitting across from him.

“I heard what happened,” Yoongi said quietly and Jungkook’s shoulders slumped as his mind flashed back to the look on Tae’s face and he put his head in his hands, feeling like he wanted to hide from Yoongi, hide from everybody.

“I don’t know why I said it,” Jungkook said, his voice slightly muffled. “I don’t know what the fuck is wrong with me, man--” He felt the lump rising in his throat again, and he swallowed, trying to stifle the tears that threatened to burst forth again.

“I think I know,” Yoongi said. “Or, at least, I think I can make an educated guess.”

Jungkook looked back up at him. “Is it because I’m an irredeemable asshole?”

“Well, no, I wasn’t going to say that,” Yoongi said, “although Jimin might think so right now.” He smiled slightly and Jungkook just snorted and rolled his eyes.

Yoongi’s expression turned serious again. “I think…I think it was because you were scared of getting hurt again, you know? So, maybe unconsciously at least, you did everything you could to prevent that from happening. Even if it meant hurting Tae first.”

Jungkook winced slightly. “Since when did you become a psych major?” he grumbled.

“You got hurt in your last relationship, really fucking badly,” Yoongi said. “And then Tae comes along and you really like him but you’re worried that he’s going to do what Ali did so you push him away.” He shrugged. “It doesn’t take a genius to figure it out.”

Jungkook gnawed at his lower lip. What Yoongi was saying did make sense. He just wished he had realized it before.

“I think I was falling for him,” Jungkook said quietly, staring at the floor. “And it fucking terrified me.”

“Yeah, I could sort of tell that you had, uh, feelings for him,” Yoongi said, and Jungkook looked back up at him. “And I could tell that he had feelings for you, too.”

Feelings for him…Jungkook was suddenly struck by something Tae had said to him in the car after they had finished having sex. ‘You’re really great and I like you a lot…’

Oh, for fuck’s sake. How could he have been so stupid? Tae had fucking told him that he liked him, wasn’t so much as hinting at his own feelings for Jungkook as fucking broadcasting them. How had his mind taken that and twisted it into thinking that Tae was only interested in sex?

Jungkook groaned. “I’m such a fucking idiot.”

“Love makes idiots of us all,” Yoongi said.

“You sound like Yoda.”

“No, if I wanted to sound like Yoda, I would have said it like, ‘Idiots, love makes of us, hrrrm.’”

Jungkook shook his head, the ghost of a smile hovering around his mouth.

“Look,” Yoongi said, “I know being cheated on sucked balls for you. And I know it really fucked with your head and maybe it was too soon for you to try dating someone else. But you can’t go through life thinking everyone is going to do what your ex did. That’s no way to live.”

Jungkook shrugged, scratching the back of his neck. “I don’t know what to do,” he said. “I don’t know how to fix it.”

“Maybe you need to just…stay away from him for a while, you know? Get your head right first before you try talking to him.”

Jungkook gave a hollow laugh. “I don’t know how to fucking fix that either.”

Yoongi just looked at him for a few moments. Then he heaved a sigh. “You remember a few months ago, when I was really miserable and depressed?”

Jungkook nodded. It hadn’t been a good time for either of them. Yoongi had become surlier than usual, isolating himself for long stretches of time, barely talking to anyone and Jungkook had been going through his first rough patch with Ali, doubt and suspicion starting to fray the edges of their relationship.

Jungkook had a feeling he knew where Yoongi was going with this. “Let me guess,” he said bitterly, “and then you met Jimin?”

“No,” Yoongi said slowly, “I finally decided I was sick of being a miserable piece of shit and I did something about it. And then I met Jimin.”

Jungkook frowned at him. “What do you mean?”

Yoongi tugged at his earlobe, a subtle tell that Jungkook knew meant that Yoongi was feeling uncomfortable. “I started going to see the school therapist,” he confessed.

“You did?” Jungkook said. “How come you never told me?”

“I didn’t want anyone to know,” Yoongi said. “It was my thing that I had to deal with, you know?”

“Well, did it, um, help?”

“Yeah, it did. I dunno, I thought the whole therapy thing would be all ‘tell me about your childhood’ and that kind of bullshit but she’s not like that. Like, here’s this person who just sits and listens to you talk about your problems, all the weird shit that’s going on in your head and then just offers suggestions about how to deal with it. Or at least can give you a different perspective on it.”

“So…you’re saying I should go see your therapist?”

Yoongi raised an eyebrow at him. “I’m not about to tell you what you should do. But I’m saying you might find it helpful, that’s all.”

You should seek professional help. God, Tae had basically said the same thing, although he probably hadn’t meant for Jungkook to take him literally. But maybe it would help to talk to someone, someone who could help him deal with the churning ocean of rage that seethed in his brain.

“Do you really think it’ll help me?” Jungkook asked quietly.

“Yeah, man, I do. I found that since I started going, I don’t have to…live inside my head all the time, you know? And when I finally made myself go out and meet new people, well, it still sucked sometimes, but meeting Jimin made it all worth it.”

Jungkook nodded absently. Then he said, “What if I already fucked everything up? Between me and Tae, I mean?”

“If you did, you did. You can apologize to him, and for the record you really fucking should but,” he added, shrugging, “it’s up to him whether he decides to forgive you or not.”

Jungkook swallowed thickly. “And if he doesn’t?”

“Then it’ll suck. Just like being cheated on sucked. And it’ll keep sucking for a while but then…it’ll get better.”

Jungkook snorted. “Just like that? God, you sound like one of those ‘it gets better’ Youtube videos.”

“Okay, fine, it doesn’t just get better,” Yoongi said. “You’ve gotta decide to make it better.” He got up from his bed, heading for the door, turning back to look at Jungkook. “Up to you, man.”

***

The very first thing Jungkook did the next morning was text Tae an apology, a really long one that took him a good ten minutes to type out and another five minutes to read over to make sure it sounded right.

He couldn’t say he was surprised when Tae only sent back a two-word response:

>FUCK. OFF.<

Jungkook sighed, putting his phone away. He hadn’t really expected Tae to forgive him, not right now, but he at least wanted to put it out there, let Tae know he was sorry about what happened.

The next thing he did was swallow his pride and ask Yoongi to go with him to make an appointment with the school therapist. They went that afternoon, Yoongi standing quietly beside him, pretending to scroll through his phone while Jungkook hesitantly made an appointment for Thursday.

But even just making the appointment made him feel slightly better and he told Yoongi this afterward.

“It’s because you’re not just sitting around feeling sorry for yourself, wallowing in your feelings,” Yoongi said sagely, “you’re actually taking action, doing something about it.”

“Whoa, man, that was deep,” Jungkook said sarcastically. “Can you be my therapist?”

“And deal with you and all your fucked up problems? No fucking way. I do that enough as it is.”

Then he punched Jungkook hard on the shoulder, but in an affectionate sort of way.

Jungkook spent the rest of the day trying to focus on his classes, but his mind inevitably drifted back to Tae. That night, back in his dorm room, he called him and when Tae didn’t answer, as he suspected he wouldn’t, he left a message.

***

“Hey, Tae, it’s, um, it’s Jungkook. I didn’t expect you to answer, you might not even bother listening to this but I just wanted you to know that I’m sorry…”

Taehyung lay on his bed, his phone on his chest, Jungkook’s soft voice on speaker, echoing around him. It was his second time listening to Jungkook’s voicemail.

“And I know saying sorry isn’t enough for you to forgive me, I don’t expect you to but I just need you to know that I didn’t mean what I said. I…fuck, Tae, I don’t really know how to explain it but that anger it wasn’t…it wasn’t directed at you. It shouldn’t have been anyway, I mean, I didn’t want it to be but…it’s just…” Here Jungkook sighed. “Fuck, I can’t even explain it properly. But I need you to know that it was nothing you did or said or anything. You weren’t responsible for it, I was. Okay? Fuck, Tae, I really need you to know that.”

At this point, Tae could hear Jungkook’s voice break a little and he had to bite down on his lips to keep them from trembling, a single tear escaping and slipping down his face.

“I’m--I’m not at the point where I can be with someone right now. And maybe I should have realized that before we…before we got involved with each other but…God, Tae, you’re the most incredible person I’ve ever met and…I wouldn’t want to…I mean…I’m still glad in a weird sort of way that we…”

Tae covered his mouth with his hand, stifling a sob.

“Fuck, I’m not making any fucking sense. The point is that you deserve better. So much better than what I can give you right now. But…I’m, um, going to be dealing with my shit so that I can be better. I want to be better for you, Tae. I want to be the kind of person who deserves to be in your life.”

Tae felt his face crumple and he didn’t even try to stop the tears from coming this time.

“I mean, I just want to be a better person in general, you know? Kind of tired of going all ‘Hulk smash’ all the time.” Jungkook made a noise that sounded like something between a laugh and a sob which only made Tae cry harder.

“I do want to be with you at some point, Tae. Even as friends. I know that I’ve already used up all my chances with you and if your only response was to tell me to go fuck myself, I’d completely understand. But I just want to be honest with you. I want you to know how I feel. I’m not asking you to wait for me or anything, I just…I want you to be happy, Tae. I really do. I just…really care about you. I care about you a lot and I’m sorry that I didn’t show you that enough.”

There was a pause as Jungkook exhaled a long, shaky-sounding breath. “Anyway, I don’t expect you to call me back. Bye.”

Tae sniffed, wiping at his face, smearing his tears across his cheeks. Then, for the third time in a row, he replayed Jungkook’s voicemail.

***

Taehyung did his best to forget about Jungkook and move on. But it was hard when little reminders of him kept popping up. Reminders that were mostly self-inflicted.

He couldn’t bring himself to throw away the T-shirt Jungkook had bought for him, nor did he stop sleeping in it. It’s comfortable, he told himself every time he put it on, I’m not going to throw away a perfectly good sleep shirt over a stupid break-up. He found he slept more soundly whenever he wore it, too, for some strange reason.

And he couldn’t quite bring himself to delete Jungkook’s voicemail. Each time he tried, he just ended up listening to it again, insisting to himself that he only wanted to hear it to remind him why being with Jungkook was a bad idea. It definitely wasn’t because he wanted to hear the sound of Jungkook’s voice.

Probably the worst reminder, though, was his painting, Euphoric Goo. He had handed it in to his art professor on the very Monday things had gone south with Jungkook, having completed the painting in a whirlwind of creative energy over the weekend after the night they had spent together. There had been a glow in his chest when he had presented it to her, thinking it was his best piece yet.

During next week’s class, she had shown it off to the other students, positively bursting with praise.

“Just look at the use of colour to express the depth of emotion,” she raved, “you truly do feel euphoric when you look at it, don’t you? It spills over with joy, passion, love…”

Love.

Tae had stared at his feet the entire time, while the other students oohed and aahed over his painting. He could barely stomach to look at it.

He hadn’t finished a painting since things had ended with Jungkook. He had tried to paint something new but every time he did, he just stood in front of a blank canvas, a paintbrush in his hand hovering over the untouched white space, begging to be filled with colour. But the rainbow that had been inside of him had faded to a dull gray landscape and the canvases remained empty, lifeless.

He became so desperate to get Jungkook out of his mind that he finally agreed to let Minho take him out on a date.

So now he was in some tacky diner, sitting in a booth across from Minho, a plate of tasteless fries between them. Minho was going on about something about one of his classes and Tae was doing his best to pay attention but his mind kept drifting back to a certain night of Slurpees and gummy bears…

“Hey,” Minho said gently, reaching across the table and taking Tae’s hand, “you okay? You seem a bit distracted.”

Tae yanked himself out of his reverie. “Yeah, sorry, just, um, lot on my mind. Schoolwork and all that.”

“Yeah,” Minho said, “I get it.” He was still holding Tae’s hand, stroking his thumb across his knuckles and Tae had to suppress the urge to pull his hand away.

“I’m really glad you’re here, Tae,” Minho said, gazing across the table at him. “I’m really glad you decided to give this thing between us a chance.”

“Yeah,” Tae said, forcing a smile. “Seemed like it was time.” The tinny music blaring from the diner’s speakers was starting to give him a headache. He wanted to just leave already and was about to suggest they call it a night when Minho started speaking again.

“You know, since we’re on the subject, there is something I wanted to kind of talk to you about.”

“Mmm?” Tae said, feigning interest, trying to locate their waitress without making it obvious he was looking for her.

“Well, it’s just that, if we’re going to do this thing, you and I…I want to do it for real, you know?”

“What do you mean?” Tae said, his stomach clenching.

“Well, I just mean, I want to make sure that you’re going to be…committed.”

“Committed…?”

“Like, um, I mean,” Minho stammered, looking a bit flustered now. “I just mean that I know you like to, you know, hook up and I just want to make sure that you’re ready to…settle down.”

Tae felt his jaw clench. “Settle down?”

“Yeah, you know, just be committed to one person. I mean, I know why you’d only sleep with jerks before.”

“And why’s that?” Tae said through gritted teeth.

“Well, you know,” Minho said, smiling sheepishly, “it’s because you have low self-esteem--”

Taehyung threw his drink in Minho’s face.

Minho spluttered, blinking, his face dripping with the remnants of Tae’s soda. Tae stood up, balling his hands into fists. “I have fucking had it,” Tae grit out, his voice shaking, “with people like you who think they have the right to fucking judge me based on how many people I’ve hooked up with. Because, fucking surprise, asshole, I like to have sex. A lot of fucking people like to have sex. Maybe if you had more sex, you’d feel less inclined to try and shame me for the amount that I have.”

The other people in the diner had turned to look, watching them like a live broadcast of a soap opera was playing out in front of them. Even the waitresses had stopped what they were doing to gape at them. But Tae didn’t care. He had had enough.

“So why don’t you go fuck yourself, Minho,” Tae snarled, “because I’m certainly not going to.”

And with that, he turned his back on Minho and stormed out of the diner, feeling a stab of savage triumph as he slammed out the door.

***

It had been almost a month since things had ended with Taehyung. Jungkook missed him so much he felt like there was a constant ache in his chest. But at least his other wounds were finally starting to heal.

His therapy sessions were going well and he found he actually looked forward to his appointments every week. His first meeting had been a tad embarrassing, seeing as he had started bawling his eyes out within the first five minutes. But his therapist had just calmly handed him a box of tissues and encouraged him to elaborate on his feelings.

And it turned out to be such a fucking relief, to be able to get out all of the anger, the resentment, the fear, instead of bottling it all inside until he went super volcano on someone. The ocean of rage that had been sloshing around his brain shrank to a lake and then to a small pond with a couple of pissed-off frogs hopping around.

He no longer felt like he wanted to put his fist through a wall whenever he thought of Ali. He actually didn’t feel much of anything if she ever happened to drift into his thoughts. Maybe a stab of resentment but he had learned that, even though it had ended badly, his relationship with Ali had at least showed him the kind of relationship he didn’t want. He now knew the kind of relationship he did want. And who he wanted it with.

Jungkook hadn’t tried talking to Taehyung since he had left him that voicemail, didn’t want to try approaching him until he felt like he was ready. Tae hadn’t tried contacting him either, which Jungkook understood, but he still couldn’t help the small thrill of hope that shot through him whenever his phone buzzed, only to feel the crushing sense of disappointment when he saw that the message wasn’t from Tae.

And it wasn’t just Taehyung who had stopped talking to him. Jimin point-blank refused to acknowledge Jungkook’s existence if they ran into each other, the frostiness emanating from him actually giving Jungkook chills. Still, he was mildly impressed by Jimin’s commitment to giving him the cold shoulder.

“He’ll come around,” Yoongi told him. “He can’t hold a grudge against you forever.”

“You wanna bet?” Jungkook said. “Seems like he’s in it for the long haul.”

While he regretted losing the easy camaraderie he had had with Jimin, he knew that Jimin was only doing it out of solidarity for Taehyung. At this point, he was just glad that Jimin was only ignoring him and not hiring thugs with baseball bats to beat Jungkook to a bloody pulp.

He did want to patch things up with Jimin eventually, but fixing things with Tae was his first priority. If they could even be fixed.

He had only caught a glimpse of him once in the month that they had been apart. It had been two weeks since Jungkook had fucked everything up between them and he had just been crossing the quad, on his way back from his second therapy session. Even though Jungkook had promised himself to stay away from Taehyung for now and give him space, he still couldn’t help himself from keeping an eye out for him, wanting to just see him, even if it was from a distance.

And then he did see him, coming from the opposite direction and his heart had nearly punched out of his chest. He had immediately dropped to his knee, keeping his head down as he pretended to do up his shoelace. He flicked his gaze up, watching Tae approach from underneath his bangs. Luckily, Tae was walking on the sidewalk on the other side of the quad so he wouldn’t pass right by Jungkook.

He had been alone, walking slowly, sketchpad tucked under his arm. Jungkook watched as he turned his head, scanning the area as he walked. Almost as if he were looking for something. Or someone…

But Jungkook immediately dismissed the thought. Why would Tae be looking for him?

Jungkook had sat there, still hunched over his shoe, gazing after Tae until he was out of sight.

He had wanted to sprint after Tae, tackle him to the ground, tell him how much he had missed him, kiss him all over. But he ultimately decided that such an impulsive approach might not be the best way to win back Tae’s affections. So he had gotten up and trudged back to his dorm.

He still wasn’t sure what exactly he would say to Taehyung if he ever got him on his own long enough to apologize to him. There were only so many ways you could say I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it, please forgive me.

But when he spotted Tae in the library one Friday afternoon, browsing the stacks, he knew it was now or never, carefully thought-out speeches be damned.

Jungkook approached Tae cautiously, his heart galloping in his chest, his mouth dry. “Hey, um, Tae?”

Taehyung turned towards him, his eyes narrowing slightly. “What?” he said, his tone not exactly welcoming.

“Could I, um, talk to you? Just for a few minutes?”

Tae stared at him for a few endless seconds, Jungkook holding his breath. He noticed that Tae’s once-vivid turquoise hair had faded to a soft baby blue and his brown roots were starting to show. But he was still so achingly beautiful, still the most perfect person Jungkook had ever seen. And it scared him because, now that he knew Taehyung, he couldn’t imagine ever wanting to be with anybody else.

Taehyung opened his mouth to speak and Jungkook braced himself to hear Tae tell him to fuck off but instead he said, “You’ve got five minutes.”

“Okay,” Jungkook said, loosing the breath he had been holding, “okay, um, great.” He paused for a second, trying to gather his scattered thoughts. God, how was he going to explain himself to Tae? “See, the thing is--”

“You really hurt me, Jungkook,” Tae said quietly.

Jungkook’s heart just about sank to his toes. “I--I know I did, Tae and I--”

But Tae held up a hand, stopping him. “No, just wait a second, if you want me to hear you out, you have to hear me out first.” His expression was open, vulnerable and yet there was a steely glint of determination in his eyes. “You hurt me and it really fucking sucked being hurt by you because I really fucking liked you.” He sighed and looked away, hugging himself, running his hands up and down his arms as if he were cold. “I thought that we…that we had something, I don’t know…special.” His voice was softer now, almost a whisper. “And then you ruined it, you took what I thought we had and threw it in my face.” He looked back at Jungkook, blinking rapidly, his eyes shimmering. “I just don’t know…I don’t know why you had to do that.”

Jungkook felt his throat tighten, seeing the look on Tae’s face, his heart seeming to cave in on itself. “I know I hurt you, Tae,” he said in a hushed voice, taking a step closer, wanting to reach for him. “I feel awful and I wish I could take back what I said to you that night. And I know just saying sorry doesn’t make up for it, doesn’t make it okay but you just have to know that it had nothing to do with you. It was all me.” Jungkook looked down at his feet, swallowing thickly. “It was all me and how fucked up I was…how fucked up I still am.”

Silence descended, heavy and oppressive and Jungkook was sure that it had been more than five minutes, that his time with Taehyung was up. But Tae was still standing in front of him, not moving, not attempting to leave. Jungkook looked back up at him, Tae’s expression unreadable. But he thought the steely look in his eyes might have softened slightly.

“The truth is…I was scared of being hurt again,” Jungkook went on. “I mean, I knew I was falling for you…”

Tae started. “You were…falling for me?”

Jungkook nodded. “Yeah,” he said, “pretty fucking hard.” I still am, he thought, every fucking second, I’m falling--

Tae’s eyes were wide, his mouth hanging open in an almost comical expression of surprise and disbelief. But then he schooled his features back into a neutral expression and all he said was, “Oh.”

“Yeah,” Jungkook said, “and once I knew that, I was afraid of letting you in, afraid you would end up hurting me. So I guess I decided to hurt you first and…Jesus, Tae, it wasn’t until after everything and you weren’t talking to me that I realized…” he swallowed nervously, “it hurt so much worse being apart from you, not being able to see you, not being able to talk to you--”

“Not being able to fuck me?” Tae said drily, raising an eyebrow.

“No,” Jungkook said quickly but then relented. “Okay, I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t miss that part too but it wasn’t just a sex thing with you. I mean, maybe it was at first but…” He looked down at the floor again, no longer able to meet Tae’s gaze. “It felt like it was more than that. I want it to be more than that with you.”

He could feel a lump rising in his throat and to his utter mortification, a tear slipped down his cheek. He wiped it away impatiently. “And I know that I fucked everything up and it’s too late for that…” he said. He stopped, not knowing what else to say. It really was too late, he realized. No matter how many times he apologized, there was no taking back what he had said, what he had done. Tae deserved someone who could give him the entire world, not a fucking mess of a person like Jungkook.

Another tear slipped down his cheek and he didn’t bother to wipe it away this time. It was over. It was really fucking over. “Sorry,” he said, his voice trembling, “I’ll just go--”

He was about to turn to leave when Tae reached up and brushed his thumb across Jungkook’s cheek, wiping his tears away. Jungkook inhaled sharply, his gaze riveted on Tae’s face.

Tae’s hand lingered on his cheek for a few seconds and then he reached for Jungkook’s hand, bringing it up to his lips, pressing the gentlest of kisses against his knuckles. He sighed, flicking his gaze up to Jungkook’s face. “What am I going to do with you?” he murmured, still holding Jungkook’s hand.

Jungkook could barely speak, could hardly think over the overwhelming feeling of euphoria flowing through him. He felt like laughing, he felt like crying, he felt like shouting Taehyung’s name to the sky. But they were in a library so he didn’t.

“Can we at least be friends?” he asked hesitantly, not daring to hope for too much.

“Yeah,” Tae said, reaching for him, pulling him closer, “just friends.”

And then he kissed Jungkook, his lips soft and warm against his own.

Jungkook wrapped his arms around Tae’s waist, pressing him back against the bookshelf, the two of them seeming to melt into each other as they kissed.

“We’ll take it slow,” Jungkook murmured between kisses.

“Right,” Tae whispered back, “nice and slow…”

After a week of officially dating, Jungkook asked Tae to be his boyfriend and Tae said yes.

So much for taking things slow.

***

Two months later…

Jungkook fought back a laugh as he watched Tae roll his third gutter ball in a row. He swaggered up behind him, slipping his arms around Tae’s waist. “What was that you told me when we first met? Something about bowling me under the table?”

“Oh, shut up,” Tae groaned, “you put me off my game earlier when you were tying my shoes. This is all your fault.”

Jungkook smirked. In the spirit of chivalry, he had knelt in front of Tae when they had been putting their bowling shoes on, tying his laces for him--and then proceeded to whisper in Tae’s ear, in extremely vivid detail, exactly what he was going to do to him when they got back home. This resulted in the two of them hobbling onto their lane, both of them painfully hard, probably looking like they had a weird fetish for bowling balls or something.

Jungkook kissed the nape of Tae’s neck, delighting in the little shiver it elicited from Tae. “Still, I like the way you handle balls, baby..”

Tae snorted, twisting in his arms to face him. “Oh my god, you’re ridiculous.”

“You love it…”

“I love you,” Tae murmured, kissing him.

“Love you too,” Jungkook whispered, never tiring of the thrill that coursed through him whenever he heard Tae say those words to him. He had first told Tae that he loved him only a few weeks after they had been together, his tongue tripping over the words, so nervous he felt like he might have a full-on brain aneurysm.

But when he finally got the words out, Tae had beamed at him, kissing him, telling him that he loved him too. And then Jungkook’s brain really did short-circuit after that, and Tae had to kiss him back into coherence.

Love.

Being with Tae, being in love with him and being loved back, was so much better than anything Jungkook could have imagined. They had learned so much about each other in the two short months they had been together, that Jungkook felt like they had known each other for years.

He had learned that Tae loved animals, dogs especially, so much that he had to stop and coo over each and every single one that they met when they were out together; that he loved playing video games even though he was appallingly bad at them, pouting every time he lost to Jungkook at Mario Kart but still allowing him to claim a victory kiss; that his tongue tended to poke out of his mouth when he was painting or drawing, looking sexy and adorable all at the same time.

And Tae had learned a lot about Jungkook too. How he was usually grouchy in the morning until he had either coffee or sex (both of which Tae was only too happy to supply); that he cried during every single Studio Ghibli movie they had watched together so far; that he would always insist on being the big spoon when they cuddled, even if his arms always went numb.

And they were both learning, more and more every day, that they were completely and utterly perfect for each other.

Jungkook and Taehyung were still kissing when they heard Jimin’s voice behind them. “Oh my god, I knew you two were going to be macking on each other when we got here.”

They broke apart, turning to see Jimin and Yoongi finally arrive.

Tae quirked an eyebrow at his best friend. “You’re going to give us shit for kissing when you and Yoongi waltz in here with ‘I-just-had-sex' hair?”

Jimin’s face turned the same shade as his messy, pink hair, a devilish smile playing about his lips. “We, uh, got caught in traffic.” He turned to Yoongi, still smiling. “Right, babe?”

“Right,” Yoongi smirked, smacking Jimin’s ass, “traffic.”

“Ooh, don’t, I’m still sore…”

Jungkook rolled his eyes. “Can you believe how gross those two are?” he said to Tae in a mock whisper.

“Absolutely disgusting,” Tae said, laughing.

“You’re disgusting,” Jimin retorted, pulling Tae into a hug.

“Ew, don’t, you’re probably all sticky…”

Jungkook just raised his eyebrows at Yoongi and his friend just shrugged, grinning at him.

“All right, losers,” Jimin said, pulling away from Tae. He stretched out his arms in front of him, cracking his knuckles. “Prepare to lose.” He skipped up to the keypad, starting a new game, entering his name as ChimChim and Yoongi’s name as Big D.

Taehyung went up and elbowed him out of the way, typing in his name as TaeTae and Jungkook’s name as Even Bigger D, tossing Jungkook a wink over his shoulder as he did so.

“Oooh, escalation, TaeTae,” Jimin said, cackling. “You’re in for it now.”

They got down to playing, Jungkook sitting down and tugging Tae onto his lap as they watched Jimin knock down three pins on his first roll.

“We can’t lose to him, Jungoo,” Tae said, “I’ll never hear the end of it if we do.”

“We won’t,” Jungkook said reassuringly. Then he lowered his voice. “Just concentrate on bowling and not on how I’m going to fill you up later with my big--”

“Shut up,” Tae said, blushing and landing a light smack on his arm, squirming slightly in Jungkook’s lap.

Jungkook huffed a laugh against his boyfriend’s neck. In all honesty, he couldn’t feel too concerned about whether they lost or not. Looking at Taehyung, his arms wrapped around him, he felt like he had already won.