DYING TO KNOW | TAEKOOK

41. Love They Say

*Content warning for mature scenes, and adult language*

"Morning," Jimin stumbled into the kitchen and coughed groggily. He guessed it wasn't too early based on the angle of the sunlight streaming through the window, but he couldn't tell exactly how late he'd slept.

"What time is it?" he croaked, pushing his glasses on and blinking.

"Eight," Namjoon replied, handing Jimin a cup of coffee, motioning for him to sit at the kitchen table.

Jimin sat, sipping his coffee in silence, face still puffy from sleep, "What time is your first patient?" he asked mildly, looking softly into Namjoon's eyes.

"Ten," the older answered, drumming his fingers on the back of Jimin's hand for a moment, "Why?"

Jimin shrugged, "Just wondering if we could talk," he asked tentatively, smoothing out his tousled bedhead.

Namjoon nodded, "Of course. Anything you want," he agreed, voice solemn. He patted the younger's hand for a moment before retreating.

"I was thinking about what you were saying to me while I was in California with Jungkook," Jimin began with a sigh. He felt so conflicted.

Namjoon looked at him with care and affection plainly on his face, "Alright. What about it? You were pretty upset with me," he acknowledged gently, with a slight nod.

"I was," the younger affirmed, "But there was something that Soo said to me, and you said something pretty similar that day that I haven't been able to stop thinking about," he said carefully, chewing on his words.

Namjoon motioned for him to continue, while looking at him as though he meant something.

Something that was worthwhile. It was hard for Jimin to tolerate.

"It was something to the tune of needing to take care of myself and considering the personal cost of all this," Jimin admitted reluctantly.

The older nodded with a compassionate frown, "When you're making sacrifices, it's important to have support and unconditional love," he offered fondly, brushing his thumb across Jimin's jaw.

"I've just been thinking about that, and about you a lot," Jimin frowned contemplatively, pursing his lips.

"And as upset as I am about this thing with Jungkook, I'm not sure I want to push you away," he murmured.

Namjoon smiled sincerely and stifled brief laughter.

"Jimin, we've been sleeping together every other night since you got back. I don't think you've been pushing me away very effectively," he chuckled.

Jimin bit his lip and shrugged, smiling in spite of himself, "I'm just saying that I want to try this with you. If you still want to," he looked up, shy and nervous.

Namjoon tilted his head and took one of the younger's hands, kissing the knuckles and then gently replacing it. He was astonished to hear the words, but they weren't unwelcome.

"Well, I'm not doing this with anyone else, so you don't need to worry about that," he smiled.

"And yeah. Of course I want to try this with you. That's kind of what I've been trying to do for a while now," Namjoon laughed, giving a slight shake of his head.

Jimin nodded, the beginnings of a smile filtering onto his face like sunlight.

"I'm not going to either but god, I'm really bad at this," he blurted out.

"And I don't know how this is all going to work out with Jungkook but he cannot find out about us, in case you were wondering," Jimin stuttered.