DYING TO KNOW | TAEKOOK

8. Miami Still

*Brief content warning for strong language, mature themes, references to sex / sexuality*
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They sat at the round table adjacent to the kitchen, and Jungkook kicked his sneakers off. He tried to relax as they talked.

He listened to Taehyung answer questions, and absorbed the answers as though they were oxygen.

"Have you ever done that team building activity where you have to pick five words to describe yourself?" Taehyung asked out of the blue.

Jungkook met his eye contact with a softness he didn't usually find within himself and nodded, "Sure," he replied.

"And?" Taehyung gestured for him to answer, to boil his entire being down into five measly words. He looked...expectant. Like he wanted Jungkook to say something specific.

Softly biting back a litany of disclaimers, Jungkook inhaled, "Uh, let's see," he felt a wave of nausea.

"I would say, Resilient, Determined, Creative, Loyal, and, um, Sensitive" he breathed, trying to shed some positive light on all of his negative personality traits.

He laughed a little, unsure. Taehyung nodded, smiling into his empty glass.

"What are you smiling about?" Jungkook teased quietly.

Taehyung laughed deeply, "Oh nothing, I just like your list. Those are good traits" he said, leaning back in his chair and crossing his legs.

He looked directly into Jungkook's eyes as he unbuttoned the top of his pristine white oxford and rolled up his sleeves, cuffing them neatly.

"Thanks, that's sweet," Jungkook replied simply. He was strangely distracted by Taehyung's forearms.

"So what are your five?" He demanded brashly, sitting up straight, folding his arms over his chest.  

"Hmm, I suppose they change every so often," Taehyung seemed amused, "But I guess they would be, Detailed, Artistic, Idealistic, Impatient, Loyal" he said decidedly, smiling.

He looked hopeful again. Jungkook wondered why. What was he hoping for?

"That's cute," Jungkook cooed. It was cute. Taehung laughed just once.

 "Oh yes, so cute that I'm impatient and idealistic, to a fault, what a winning combination" he rolled his eyes sardonically.

 "At least it's honest" Jungkook leveled.

"Whenever someone asks me that question I think of my zodiac sign," he ventured feeling a little bold.

"Once, someone I know gave me a session with this famous astrologer to tell me all about my stars," Jungkook recounted.

"And the lady was like, you have this giant wound in your chart and it is the wound of relationships," he blabbered.

"She kept saying to me, you feel like something is missing in your life and it's like a hole inside you that you keep trying to fill with outside things," he paused.

Taehyung was listening intently, tongue between his teeth.

"I don't know, she kept saying the thing that is missing is your soulmate," Jungkook recalled the day with incredible clarity.

"And I kept trying to tell her that wasn't it, I had met my soulmate but she was like no, you have this deep wound relating to love and-,"

and sex, he thought, recalling what the woman had said.

But he didn't say that out loud. And he didn't see Taehyung frown.

"In any case, it was super weird but she always left me with this one thought that I was so loyal and passionate and artistic to a fault, but it left me empty," he laughed hollowly.