Still with you

Chapter ten

Jungkook doesn't realize how obviously he's staring until Taehyung tips his head to the left to make eye contact, his fluffy brown hair swaying in the light wind. He smiles, and his lips are pink and damningly kissable. Jungkook's been avoiding admitting it to himself despite how stupidly obvious it is, but looking at those lips, and then up to those eyes, he can't help the thought that echoes through his mind. It's so clear, so loud that he couldn't deny it even if he wanted to.

I really like him.

Duh. Echoes afterward, a little quieter and at the back of his mind, effectively drowned out by the alarm bells that had begun blaring the minute the original thought was processed. He looks away, as if breaking the eye contact would prevent Taehyung from looking into his soul and stealing every one of his secrets.

"Today was fun." Taehyung says eventually, breaking the silence that had surrounded them. "Yeah... Even though we barely spent time with the others." Jungkook says, prompting a laugh from the elder. "Yeah, and whose fault is that? You dragged us away before we were even done with the hellos!" They both giggle at that and then, finally, conversation flows freely between them, easy and welcome. Taehyung speaking up was like pulling the first string, unraveling the suffocating tension that threatened to engulf the two men whole. They speak about a plethora of things, from coursework to written exams, from personal hobbies to extreme fears. Goals, aspirations, the future.

And the moon shines down on them with its watchful glow as their relationship shifts. Not by much, nothing noticeable to the two in the moment. But something... Changes.

Inside, through the slightly cracked open doors, Jungkook watches as the lights fade from blue and purple to pink and orange and a familiar song plays faintly through the speakers. "Is that..." Taehyung starts, capturing Jungkook's attention. "Jimin's voice?" And the blue-haired man smiles at the disbelief on the brunette's face before explaining. "Yeah, it is! Jimin was telling me how Namjoon Hyung wanted to write a song and put it in the playlist so he asked him and Yoongi Hyung to help!" The elder's eyebrows raise at that, but the smile that's always so beautiful on his face returns. "That's so cool!" Jungkook stands up from the brick wall, dusting imaginary dirt off of his suit before extending his hand to Taehyung, smirking in that mischievous, eye-sparkling way he always does.

"What?" Taehyung asks, adorably clueless.

"C'mon, we have to dance, it's our friend's song!"

"Out here?"

"Yes!!" He laughs. "Come on!"

Taehyung lets his hesitation melt away as he takes Jungkook's hand, yelping in surprise when he's dragged up aggressively. The younger's other hand makes itself comfortable at his hip and suddenly he's chest to chest with the man he's been not so subtly crushing on for the entire time he's known him. The way he has to look up a little to meet his eye makes his cheeks heat a cherry red. Taehyung snakes his arms around his shoulders and Jungkook smiles down at him reassuringly as they start swaying to the music, still scarily in tune with each other. But now the atmosphere is different — no longer the exhilarating, breathtaking back and forth they had shared before but instead a slower, tender, more heartfelt moment. One that warms the cool air around them, buzzing a pleasant hum and effectively blocking off the rest of the world. (That might just be the alcohol, though.)

The passionate flames from before morph into bright flashes and paint strokes. Adjusted into a purple light, blinding and hot and overwhelmingly perfect. The song is faint but the lyrics are audible. Taehyung, listening intently to them, notices how they are quite romantic.

'We laugh together, we cry together.'

'These simple feelings were everything I had.'

'When will it be? If I see you again.'

'I will look into your eyes and say, I missed you.'

Jungkook thinks that maybe he drank too much tonight, pushing him past tipsy and into lightly drunk. So when the music unexpectedly speeds up, his already sloppy brain struggles to keep up, especially when moving in tandem with Taehyung who doesn't seem to be having any trouble at all. And he doesn't know if it's his own foot or the elders he's tripping over but suddenly he's crashing forward, completely losing his balance and taking Taehyung down to the floor with him. They hit the hard ground with a loud thud. Jungkook hisses in pain when he lands on his knees, grimacing even harder when he hears Taehyung's head slam into the rough floor beneath him. He's got both palms on either side of the brunette's head and their faces are close. A million things go through his mind all at once whilst it simultaneously being utterly and eerily quiet.

Jungkook's mind mirrors the real world around him. The music is still loud though slightly muffled but he and Taehyung are dead silent. They stare at each other in ghoulish soundlessness for a few seconds or minutes or hours, who knows? Jungkook looks into Taehyung's eyes and notices for the millionth time how pretty they are. And then they both burst out into boisterous laughter, uncontrollable giggles so intense that they water up pretty eyes. So they laugh together under the crying moon and Jungkook is still kneeling over Taehyung and their faces are still very close together. Taehyung can smell the fruity alcohol on Jungkook breath but he would much rather focus on those soft, pink lips next to that hard, silver ring. He wonders, through his chuckles that are dying down now, what it would feel like to kiss someone with a lip piercing. What it would be like to kiss Jungkook. To feel those hot lips contrast with that cold metal, God, just thinking about it has his face heating up.

Their laughs fade back into silence, but this time it's flooding with bliss. Taehyung's still looking at Jungkook's lips. And he wants to kiss them. He wants to kiss him. He wants to kiss him. He wants to kiss him so bad. It's difficult, but he drags his eyes off of the younger's mouth to meet his. But when he looks up, those entrancing doe eyes are looking down. Down at his lips. Then they flit back up as if caught. And suddenly the want to kiss him is extremely overwhelming, his brain is malfunctioning, shutting down, going blank. His chest feels tight, his throat feels tight, his whole body is tense, on edge, about to snap. The want is no longer a want but a need, his entire existence narrows down to one point, right now he is only breathing for one thing, he only has one goal, one want, one need.

Kiss him.

Now.

But it turns out Taehyung doesn't need to do anything. He doesn't need to lean forward, he doesn't need to initiate because he blinks and suddenly Jungkook's lips are pressing into his on their own accord.

It only lasts for a few delicious moments before the blue-haired man is pulling away, eyes even wider and cuter than they usually are. He looks worried, guilty. And we can't have that now, can we?

"I'm s—"

He cuts him off before whatever stupid, stupid thing he was about to say leaves his pretty, pretty mouth. Pulling him back in for a much more demanding kiss. And, fuck, Jungkook feels, tastes even better than he looks, even better than Taehyung could have ever imagined. His lips are burning hot, the piercing is freezing cold, Taehyung feels dizzy. He doesn't feel real, this doesn't feel real. But the cool air around them and his pounding head from their comical fall tells him everything he needs to know. That this is real. He can't believe it but this is real.

And the moon watches with its lonely tears.

And they've only known each other for two weeks.

And Jungkook tastes better than he looks.

❈❈❈

Published: 07/09/23

Word count: 2060