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i.
Jeongguk was just trying to be a normal college student; living in his dorm and eating artificially flavored chicken ramen every night unless one of his older friends took pity on him and brought him some real food. He got decent grades for his first year - for a dance major - in all of the subjects he was forced to take even though he was obviously never going to use them while he was dancing. Everything was completely normal.
Until his best friend called and asked him to cat sit.
“No, hyung, there is no way-“
“It’s just one week, and I swear I’ll never ask you for anything ever again!”
“You said that last month, too, and look at how long that lasted,” Jeongguk mumbled into his cell phone. This wasn’t the first time Jimin had called him up at ungodly hours of the night asking for favors. As a freshman student in college, it wasn’t as if he was asleep at 1 am, but binge watching half of a season of Breaking Bad doesn’t exactly qualify as studying. “Why can’t you just ask Seokjin-hyung? He watched Taehyung last time for you.”
“Hoseok and Taehyungie didn’t get along well, you know how clingy they both are, and there’s only so much of Jin-hyung to go around.” Jimin sigh out in exasperation. “Yoongi-hyung refuses to take Taehyung with us and you’re the only one without plans next week.”
“Hey, who says I don’t have any plans? Maybe I have a really hot date next week,” the younger proclaimed, clicking the ‘Next Episode’ button on his laptop screen.
“You’re not fooling anyone, Kookie. I doubt you’ve gotten any since back in high school when you thought you liked girls–“ Jeongguk sputtered in protest. “–and how would someone who is as deprived of social interaction as you find a date?”
“…you have a valid point.” Jimin hummed in satisfaction. “Fine, I’ll watch Taehyung while you and Yoongi-hyung are in Busan.”
Even without seeing him, Jeongguk could imagine the victorious smile on his friend’s face as he spoke, “Great! See you Sunday!” before hanging up and leaving Jeongguk to question all of his life choices up until now.
ii.
Sunday came quicker than expected and before he knew it, Jeongguk was holding his apartment door open as Jimin entered, a cheerful looking cat hybrid, who he assumed to be Taehyung, clinging to his arm free from suitcases. He took the cases from him – Christ, what did he put in these things? – and drug them into the living room for the time being. When he returned, Taehyung was speaking animatedly to Jimin about all of the new toys Jimin’s mom had promised to send home with him when they returned and only stopped when the car horn sounded from outside.
“Ah – that must be Yoongi – you know how impatient he gets,” Jimin says before ruffling the hybrid’s violet hair and shooting Jeongguk a grateful smile. “Thanks for watching him, Kookie. You won’t even know he’s here.” And with that, the eldest boy swung the door open and waved behind him as he left, leaving the two remaining boys to stare awkwardly at each other.
“My name is Kim Taehyung; Jimin said you will take care of me well.” A hand was outstretched towards Jeongguk and he would have gone to shake it if it didn’t reach for the strings hanging down from his hoodie instead and batting them to the side.
“I’m Jeon Jeongguk, and yes, I hope so…” the younger replied warily, watching as Taehyung entertained himself with the clothing. Before he had the chance to speak again, the hybrid, who had suddenly become very close in proximity to him, suddenly stopped what he was doing and looked up at Jeongguk.
“Do you have any sharpie markers?”
“Um – I probably have some lying around somewhere. Why do you ask-“
Taehyung is tearing through the house searching for the sharpies in a second. The next morning, Jeongguk wakes up and looks in the mirror to see a mustache drawn onto his face with bright orange marker. As he washes it off, he mutters under his breath in a mocking voice, “You won’t even know he’s here.”
iii.
Only four days into watching Taehyung, Jeongguk decides that he needs a break from watching the elder boy tear through the apartment singing “I’m a Barbie Girl” at the top of his lungs. He first forces the hybrid into some actual clothes, rather than the pajamas he’s been wearing for the past full day with pink and blue elephants on them. After arguing over where the two should go for the day, they decide on the park down the street and start walking.
Multiple times, Jeongguk has to pull Taehyung away from the street because he always seems to gravitate towards the rush of cars and doesn’t seem to understand that maybe cats have nine lives but he did not.
When they finally reach the park, the violet haired boy is springing from Jeongguk’s side in a minute to go and join some of the other hybrids he must have known from when Jimin had brought him there. Sitting on a bench next to the gates of the park, the brunette watches the other boy as he playfully chases around a younger cat hybrid with long blonde hair and a flowery dress.
As he watches, the late nights of studying seem to begin to catch up on him, and Jeongguk finds himself almost falling asleep on the bench with his arms crossed over his chest and eyes just barely open. Just as he was going to allow exhaustion to pull him in, he feels the presence of a body across his lap and opens his eyes to see black hair and bright white teeth smiling up at him.
“Hello, Hoseok hyung.”
“Hi, Kookie,” the elder boy says, reaching up and pinching at Jeongguk’s cheeks. “What are you doing here? Did you get a new hybrid? Are they here?”
“No, I didn’t. Jiminie and Yoongi hyung went out of town, so I’m watching Taehyung for them.”
Hoseok’s face drops slightly, but he regains his composure and glances over at his own caregiver. Seokjin was standing by a group of children, all of them smiling and showing their best aegyo to get his attention. His eyes are back on Jeongguk after a lingering second and he sits up next to him. “How long is he staying with you?”
“Just a few weeks while they’re in Busan visiting Jimin’s parents,” he hums out in response.
“Yoongi actually agreed to that? I thought his resolve was stronger than that. I guess he’s growing soft.”
“Only for Jimin, otherwise he’s a total jerk,” Jeongguk mumbles under his breath.
Hoseok glares at him, “Respect your elders, kid,” he threatens, but there is no bite in his tone. “He’s got a reputation to uphold, it’s tough. You know he cares about all of us, including you.”
“I know.” Jeongguk searches around for lilac hair and when he finds it, it is being braided into patterns by the younger hybrids Seokjin was with earlier. He doesn’t seem to be bothered by it and smiles fondly at the kids, his furry purple ears twitching slightly each time they pull on his hair a little too harshly.
“Hey, Earth to Jeongguk, are you listening?”
“Huh?” Hoseok is not looking very amused at that moment, and especially not so when he watches as Seokjin returns to the children and Taehyung is all over him in an instant. He scowls uncharacteristically and pushes himself off of the bench to slip his way between the two. Seokjin seems to disapprove of this, but allows the hybrid to nuzzle his head into his shoulder anyways. Taehyung, on the other hand, seems oblivious to the other boy’s distaste for him receiving attention from his caregiver and goes to throw his arms around the eldest boy’s waist, hugging him joyfully.
Sensing that something was going to go down if he didn’t intervene, Jeongguk stands and makes his way over to the trio. As he does, Taehyung spots him approaching and immediately retracts his arms from Jin and pounces onto Jeongguk instead. The younger nearly falls over from the extra weight, but regains himself and steadies them both.
“Hi, Kookie! Thank you for bringing me here; now I get to see Seokjin hyung and Hoseok!” Taehyung exclaims loudly, startling a pigeon that was hopping around nearby so much that it flew away.
“Anytime, Tae, are you getting hungry yet? How about we get some soup?” Jeongguk knows that Jimin would kill him if he doesn’t feel Taehyung properly while he is gone, and honestly, soup is probably the only thing that he can squeeze into his quickly descending college life budget.
“Can we get eomukguk?” Jeongguk isn’t surprised that the cat hybrid would want fish cake soup, and nods before pulling him towards the exit. Taehyung turns back to Seokjin and Hoseok, who are now playing tag with the kids, and yells his goodbye.
They get to the soup shop and are seated by one of the waitress; a tall brunette with a lot of eye make-up. Jeongguk barely blinks at her, even though from the moment they walked in she has been trying to flirt with him. He never liked going into public places for this reason, it was always awkward when female strangers tried hitting on him because it was blatantly obvious and he felt bad for them because it wasn’t their fault they didn’t know.
Taehyung has seemed to have lost his bubbly attitude and is staring out the window and avoiding Jeongguk’s stare. He clears his throat to get the elder boy’s attention. “What do you think looks good, other than the fish cakes?”
“Whenever Jimin-ah and Yoongi hyung come here with me they get Yukgaejang to share because it’s less expensive that way.”
Jeongguk hums, and nods in reply, mulling over if he really wants something spicy today or not. The waitress returns in no time, and flashes Jeongguk an over exaggerated smile before asking them if they were ready to order.
“Could we get fish cake soup and spicy beef soup, please?” Jeongguk tries to ask casually, as if he didn’t notice she looked like she wanted to jump him right there. It was hard to ignore, but he was a professional.
“Can I get you something to drink? The weather has been awfully hot lately.” She eyes him suggestively, finishing writing down their order.
“Do you want something, Tae?”
Taehyung grins and reaches across the table to thread him fingers into the other boy’s. He sends him a quick wink before speaking, “I think you know what I want.”
“Uh-“ Jeongguk stammers awkwardly, trying to ignore the warm, bubbly feeling in his stomach. “We’ll just take two waters, please.”
The girl, now looking quite flushed with embarrassment, mumbles a yes and rushes away from the table. Now alone, Jeongguk snaps his attention to Taehyung, who has since withdrawn his hand from across the table and had decided that his sneakers were very entertaining at the moment.
“What was that?”
“Hm? I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He deadpans, glancing up at the brunette innocently.
Jeongguk knew he had two choices right now. One; call him out on lying, or two; let it go and move on.
He was never one to simply ‘let it go’.
“You know what I’m talking about, Taehyung-“
“You weren’t interested, and she was bothering you, right? I took care of it for you. If she thinks we’re dating, she won’t try to flirt with you anymore.” The purple haired boy smiles over at him, resting his chin on his hand that was pressed against the table. “Plus, I didn’t like the way she was looking at you; like you were just a pile of meat or something.”
Jeongguk only blinks at him for a moment, kind of surprised that the other could be so serious compared to his usual cheerful and carefree attitude. “Oh,” he manages to say, “thank you.”
Cue another blindingly bright smile. “You’re welcome.”
iv.
It’s about a week and a half into Taehyung’s stay when more things start happening. Everything seemed normal that night; normal enough, at least. They had just gotten off of the phone with Jimin, and had confirmed the day of his and Yoongi’s return to pick up Taehyung. The cat boy had been speaking ecstatically to his owner, telling him all about the late movie nights and trips to the park Jeongguk had taken him on. He looked his usual happy and cheerful self until Jimin had to leave, and the joyful grin was wiped from his face in an instant.
“Tae, dinner’s almost ready- hey, are you alright?” Jeongguk walks into the room with oven mitts and a pink apron on that Seokjin had bought him as a college ‘dorm warming’ gift. He’d never admit that he actually wore it.
“Mhm,” the hybrid hums. “I’m fine. I’m not very hungry though, so I think I’m going to go take a nap.”
“Oh.” The brunette stares. “Alright, I’ll be in after I put the left overs away.”
Taehyung is out of the room in no time, mumbling a, “Don’t rush,” as he goes. Jeongguk watches his back until he closes the door softly behind him, expression absolutely puzzled.
Even though the other had said not to, the younger hurriedly wraps up the chicken he had prepared and places the dishes, still unused, back into their spots in the cupboards.
When Jeongguk enters their shared room, Taehyung is lying facing away from the door, blankets still folded neatly under him. He paces across the room and crawls under the thick red comforter to nuzzle in next to the elder. Any other time, the hybrid would have turned and snaked his arms around Jeongguk’s torso and snuggle in closer, allowing the younger to rest his chin on his head in between his ears. That was not the case this time, and a few long moments passed by while the brunette waited to be cuddled with. “Hey, Tae?”
Nothing but silence answered him. Jeongguk took a moment to think that maybe he was asleep already; it wasn’t unusual for cat hybrids to fall asleep quickly. So, deciding to get some rest as well, Jeongguk let out a sigh and closed his eyes, letting his fatigue wash over him and pull him into sleep. Right as he was on the edge of sleep, he felt a shift on the bed beside him and warm breath against his face, making him scrunch his nose. Something that sounded like a giggle sounded in his ear, making him become more and more conscious of how close Taehyung must actually be to him. Just before Jeongguk was about to open his eyes and ask why the boy was awake, a finger was gently placed below his chin and a light pressure was pressed against the corner of his mouth.
His eyes shoot open, and Taehyung must have felt him tense because he pulls back hastily and nearly rolls off the bed doing so. He stares at Jeongguk, looking just as shocked as he does, and opens and closes his mouth to speak multiple times before giving up and standing up to rush out of the room.
It takes a few minutes for Jeongguk to finally get up and go after him to see if the elder boy was alright, because he knew how upset the hybrid could get. He finds Taehyung sitting on the couch with the television on watching some late night drama.
Without trying to startle him, Jeongguk slips over to the couch and takes a seat next to the purple haired boy a safe distance away. When he looks over to see Taehyung’s face, his eyes are drooping tiredly and he looks as if he could pass out from exhaustion at any second. In order to ease the very apparent tension, Jeongguk reaches over and eases the boy’s head onto his shoulder, feeling him relax next to him.
They sit there on the old blue couch positioned towards the television for the next twenty minutes. Jeongguk had leaned back with his feet up on the coffee table and Taehyung had moved his position to be sprawled out lying practically on top of him. The younger of the two carded his fingers carelessly through the other’s violet hair and allowed him to fall in and out of sleep in his arms.
“We’re going to have to talk about this sooner or later, Tae,” whispered Jeongguk, half trying to keep from disturbing the other and half trying to subtly get his attention.
“Later’s good,” Taehyung slurs, eyes closed and head resting in the other boy’s lap. He lets out a whine as the brunette shifts under him and snuggles closer into his source of warmth to cease its movement.
“Taehyung.” Jeongguk has stopped running a hand through the purple locks of hair and has placed his thumb and forefinger under the elders chin to force him to look up at him. “I’m not kidding, Tae, you need to talk to me about this.”
Blinking innocently up at him are chocolate brown eyes, and Jeongguk almost loses his resolve with how absolutely exhausted Taehyung looks. He traces his fingers across the boy’s jawbone and up to his cheek before rubbing soothing circles on his cheekbone. “Fine,” he says, “get some sleep; we’ll talk about it tomorrow.”
Not having to be told twice, Taehyung fits his head snugly into the crook of Jeongguk’s shoulder and links their fingers together at their side. His tail swishes lazily back and forth close to Jeongguk’s feet, brushing against them occasionally. The brunette lets out a sigh of contentment into the hybrid’s hair and watches as his ears twitch and flatten onto his head. He buries his face deeper into Jeongguk’s shoulder and then stills at last.
Jeongguk thought he agreed to watch his friend’s hybrid for a few weeks, not to gain an emotional attachment to him. Sighing, he looks down to the boy sleeping peacefully at his side.
He didn’t sign up for this.
v.
Unsurprisingly, they do not talk about it tomorrow (or the next day, or the next day, or even the day after that). Until there are only three more days until Jimin and Yoongi will be returning home, neither of the two say a word to the other about the incident that had occurred almost a week prior. In that time, Jeongguk had grown uneasy.
Was it a mistake that they had kissed? Was Taehyung just curious about what it’s like to kiss someone and Jeongguk just happened to be there? Maybe that was it. He doubted that Taehyung had ever dated anyone since he had been living with Jimin since they were both 17, and before then he had been living with an older couple who just couldn’t take care of him any longer because he was so full of energy and they just didn’t have bodies like they used to.
Jeongguk didn’t like dealing with his feelings, especially when it came to Taehyung – his best friend’s hybrid, no less.
When he did deal with his feelings (on a very rare occasion), he realized that despite Taehyung being over energetic, and loud, and overall kind of weird sometimes, he was pretty much exactly what Jeongguk needed in his boring life.
He was always there in the morning still fast asleep when the younger woke up in the morning, and was the last thing he saw before he went to sleep at night. Whenever Jeongguk was studying, Taehyung would lounge around next to him and occasionally try and distract him by telling a really awful joke, always succeeding on making him laugh.
Taehyung was everything Jeongguk had ever wanted.
Jeongguk didn’t think that was the case for Taehyung.
vi.
On the last night Taehyung spends at Jeongguk’s apartment, he has a very hard time falling asleep. He’s restless, and has been tossing and turning on his spot on their bed for the past ten minutes and it’s amazing he hasn’t woken up the other boy yet.
It’s given him time to think about what he wants.
After he and Jeongguk had kissed – well, technically it was he who had kissed Jeongguk, he figured the other boy was too shocked to do anything even if he wanted to – he had begun to sort out how he felt. He had never felt the way that Jeongguk made him feel with anyone else. Not once.
Taehyung knew he has to make a move before Jimin and Yoongi came to pick him up tomorrow, but he was nervous. How would Jeongguk react? After they had kissed, the younger boy had wanted to talk. Was it to tell him that he wasn’t interested? Or maybe he liked him too?
Letting out a sigh, Taehyung flipped onto his side to face Jeongguk. The boy looked so peaceful when he slept, and the hybrid couldn’t help but to reach a hand up to touch the other boy’s cheek. He rubs smooth circles on Jeongguk’s skin with his thumb and listens to his steady breathing. He really hopes Jeongguk feels the same way that he does.
The brunette shifts under his touch and Taehyung takes his hand back in an instant. He frowns at his cowardice and worries at his bottom lip thoughtfully. It was really now or never.
“Jeongguk,” he whispers next to the sleeping boy’s ear. He watches as Jeongguk’s face scrunched up in confusion and smiles at how cute it looks. “Hey, Jeongguk?”
“Hm?” the boy mumbles out, but Taehyung isn’t sure if he’s actually awake or not. He also doesn’t know the next time Jimin was going to take him to see the boy, and if he didn't tell him how he feels now, he will regret it later.
“Jeongguk, I like you.”
It’s silent for a minute, and Taehyung thinks the other boy had fallen back asleep, until he cracks an eye open to look at him. “Yeah, Tae, I like you too.”
This was not what the hybrid had planned on happening, and he stared down at Jeongguk before shaking his head and pulling on his arm. “No, that isn’t what I mean. I mean; I like you in the way Yoongi hyung likes Jimin, or in the way Hoseok likes Seokjin hyung.”
“You know about that?” Taehyung now has his full attention.
Taehyung rolls his eyes. “Of course I know about that, I may be fooled easily but I’m not stupid. Everyone knows about that.”
“Then why are you so clingy with Jin hyung if you know-“
“Jeon Jeongguk, that is not my point. I like you, and I want to know if you like me too.”
“Tae, it is 1 in the morning, can we talk about this after a reasonable hour-“
“No, last time that one of us said that we never spoke about it,” the hybrid exclaims, ears perking up in frustration and tail whipping back and forth under the comforter.
Jeongguk stares at him for a moment before sitting up and running a hand through his matted hair. “Fine, Taehyung, let’s talk about this.”
The violet haired boy sits up as well, folding his legs under him and facing Jeongguk. “Okay,” he starts, now slightly more nervous than he was before. “I don’t know when this happened, but every time I’m close to you or each time I look at you, I get this really weird feeling in my chest. It’s warm and fluttery and it isn’t bad, but I just don’t know what to
do. Do you feel fluttery whenever you look at me too? Oh god, what if I’m not supposed to feel fluttery. Is that bad? Do I have a heart disease? Am I going to die-“
“Woah, no, no, you are not going to die,” Jeongguk reassures, an amused smile stretching on his lips. “But I can tell you something else, okay?”
Taehyung nods eagerly, staring up at the younger boy expectantly.
Jeongguk leans closely into the other boy, leaving barely any space between them. They can feel each puff of warm air that the other exhales out, and it sends a shiver through Taehyung’s body. “I feel fluttery whenever I see you too.”
Jeongguk hesitantly leans the rest of the way to fill the gap in between them, pressing his lips onto Taehyung’s and circling an arm around his waist to pull him flush against his chest. It takes little time for the elder to react and press himself even closer to Jeongguk, kissing him back with vigor. Taehyung trails his tongue across the brunette’s bottom lip before taking in between his teeth and pulling away slowly to take in the sight of Jeongguk. The younger boy reaches up to brush away the locks of purple hair that had fallen into his eyes.
Jeongguk smiles. This was everything he could have ever wished for.
vii.
Jimin knocks on the front door for Jeongguk’s apartment the next morning a total of four times before it finally opens to reveal the taller brunette. Jeongguk blinks over at the older male with his sleep clouded eyes before letting out an awkward laugh and inviting him in.
“Where’s Tae? I have a lot of new things that my mom got for him while we were there, and Yoongi is in the car so I shouldn’t keep him waiting very long.” Jimin leans against the living room door frame and lets his eyes scan the room for the overactive hybrid.
“Oh, he’s still sleeping – he couldn’t seem to get to sleep last night,” Jeongguk says, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. “You might want to bring Yoongi hyung in; when Taehyung gets up we have something to talk to you guys about.”
A look of horror flashes over Jimin’s face. “Did he do something wrong? Oh god, Jeongguk, I can pay for anything that he broke, I swear. I am so sorry-“
“No, no, nothing like that. He didn’t do anything wrong at all, we just have to tell you something that you would probably want to know,” the boy reassures, smiling with unease. He was not sure how his friend was going to take the news of his hybrid and best friend dating. He still wasn’t even sure how he was going to tell Jimin that they were dating. Jeongguk knew he couldn’t just come out and say, ‘So while you were away, Taehyung and I started a romantic relationship together without telling you, sorry.’, but what else could he say?
“Alright, thank god. He is okay though, right?”
“Yes, Taehyungie is-“
Jimin shot him a surprised look at the mention of the new nick name. “Taehyungie? I didn’t know you two were so close.”
“Well, a lot has gone on in the last three weeks…” Jeongguk diverts his eyes away from his friend. ‘And you don’t know the half of it.’
Just as Jimin opens his mouth to speak again, a different voice chimes in from down the hallway, “Jeongguk-ah, I’m cold, come lay with me~” This makes Jimin’s eyebrows practically shoot up to his hairline, sending the other a very confused look.
“Um, actually, Jimin and Yoongi hyung are here for you, Tae.”
The hybrid pokes his head from around the corner of the hall, lilac hair sticking up in all different directions, and his face immediately brightens up ten times more than it was before. He circles around the corner and throws himself into Jimin’s arms, nuzzling his face in between his shoulder and neck. “Jiminie~ did you miss me? Where is Yoongi hyung; is he in the car? I missed you both very much.”
“We missed you too, Taehyung.” The two break away from their embrace to turn to Jeongguk, who was standing a few feet away looking slightly uncomfortable. “So, I’ll go get Yoongi from the car, and we will be back to talk.” Jimin gives a short wave before disappearing out the door and Taehyung takes a step closer to Jeongguk.
“Are we going to tell them?” he asks somewhat nervously, glancing up at the taller boy under his eyelashes.
“Of course we are… unless you don’t want to?”
“I want to!” The lilac haired boy assures, grabbing for the sleeve of Jeongguk’s shirt and pulling himself towards the other boy. Jeongguk nods, smiling softly and slipping his hand into the other’s free hand.
“Then let’s work out a plan. What are we going to say?” the brunette questions, glancing over at the window to see if Jimin and Yoongi would be returning soon.
“Let’s just say it how it is, no going around the topic. Jimin will understand, and even though he won’t seem it, Yoongi hyung will too.”
“I’m not so sure-“
Someone clears their throat from the doorway, and the pair turns to see Yoongi standing there with a very unamused face, Jimin beside him looking much more cheerful than his boyfriend. “What was so important that I had to come inside?”
“I’m sorry to bother you, hyung, but it’s important. While you guys were gone, Taehyung and I were around each other very often and,” Jeongguk takes a breath, looking over at the hybrid next to him whose tail was waving nervously behind him, “a lot has changed since you guys left. I mean, what I am trying to say is that I like Taehyung and he likes me and it’s not the friendly kind of way. Well, I do like him in the friendly way too, but that’s not exactly my point-“
“Jesus Christ,” Taehyung finally hisses exasperatedly, reaching up to take a fistful of Jeongguk’s shirt collar and pulling the other boy down so their lips could meet. For a moment they were both oblivious to the other two boys that could see them right now, and were lost in only each other.
Until they hear loud cheers from Jimin and a groan from Yoongi as his own boyfriend shouts, “You owe me fifty dollars!”
“Wait, what?” a confused Jeongguk asks as he pulls back to stare over at the two. He swears that Jimin looks like he’s going to bounce off of the walls with excitement and he doesn’t know if his apartment can take that again after Taehyung who has done so his entire stay.
Yoongi is mumbling what sounds to be curses as he takes out a pile of bills from his wallet and hands them to Jimin. “We made a bet to see if you two would get together or not. You owe me fifty bucks, brat.”
“Hey – I didn’t tell you to bet on my love life!” Jeongguk exclaims, huffing out angrily as Taehyung laughs next to him. The brunette turns to his best friend and speaks, “You bet on whether or not I would like Taehyung?”
Jimin simply shrugs, smile still plastered onto his face. “Yeah, but I don’t see why you should be complaining. He likes you, you like him, I get fifty dollars; everyone is happy!” He seems to ignore the, “I’m not happy,” that Yoongi grumbles out beside him and rolls his eyes instead.
“So, you can take him on weekends and ask to take him any day of the week, unless we have plans of course. Also, I know how you work, Jeon Jeongguk, so don’t you dare think about tainting my Tae Tae anytime soon. You have gotten by for almost twenty years just fine and if I find out that you-“
“Okay, Jimin hyung, thank you.” Taehyung is blushing so hard that even his collarbones are flushed red.
“I’m sure I can manage, hyung,” Jeongguk manages out, glaring halfheartedly over at his friend.
“I had to give him this talk sooner or later, you should be thankful I’m getting it out of the way now.” Jimin turns towards the door and starts to make his way to the exit, dragging Yoongi along with him.
“Hyung, wait for me.” Taehyung makes an attempt to trail after the two, but is stopped by Jimin.
“Don’t you want to spend the rest of the day with Kookie? We’ll come back for you later, Tae. Besides, I need Yoongi hyung to myself for a while.” He throws an over exaggerated wink in Jeongguk’s direction before practically pushing Yoongi out the door and closing it behind them.
Taehyung stares after them, still slightly lost about the entire situation. Jeongguk goes to stand behind him, wrapping an arm around his waist and setting his chin on the other boy’s shoulder. “That went much better than I expected it to.”
“That was much more embarrassing than I expected it to be.”
Jeongguk rolls his eyes, turning the boy around in his arms to face him. “At least it is over now. Everything is fine; Jimin and Yoongi know, we don’t have to hide anything from them.”
Smiling, the ears that were previously flattened to Taehyung’s hair perk up happily. “Yeah,” he agrees, “I guess you’re right. Does that mean you’re going to take me out to get Japchae for our first date?”
The younger boy looks at the pleading expression on the other boy’s face and sighs. He can’t say no to that face, and so he nods reluctantly.
This was definitely not going to fit into his budget.