him | taekook

chapter 13

The trip back to the university is different. Hoseok, Jimin, and Jin get to go in one car and Namjoon and Yoongi are stuck with the two lovebirds that keep sending each other heated glances from across their seats. Namjoon doesn't understand why Jin kicked him out of his car when they were fine after all, making dinner together and smiling as they got their marshmallows burnt in the fire the previous night. What happened after? What did he miss? What is he missing right now?

"...but well, you were a great teacher," Jungkook grins and Taehyung grins right back at him, cheeks blushing furiously as he glances away, out the rolled window. Namjoon stares at them from the backseat, their interactions so natural and intimate that it makes him feel as if he were intruding into a private conversation. Maybe he is. "I'm serious, I probably wouldn't have aced any exam without you."

"Oh, shut up. You were smart, just lazy," Tae shrugs, the red still present in his flushed face. It makes him look beautiful in Jungkook's eyes. The sunlight pouring over his skin, the lashes batting whenever he blinks his way, the hundreds of love songs trapped between his lips whenever he hums at the radio...Jungkook thinks he's undeniably lucky to not only have recovered his best friend but also so much more ; to have Taehyung finally glance his way with sweet eyes like honey instead of hard rocks, to have him forgive all of his mistakes and allow to take care of him like he deserves. He won't screw this up no matter what. "Are we close?" the older asks then.

"You asked that five minutes ago," Jungkook replies with an eye roll, but there's no real bite to his words. Part of him doesn't want the trip to end, scared that the spell may break as soon as they arrive to their rooms. But the fear is dull and stupid if he really thinks about it, so he decides to ignore its burn.

"Yeah, so are we close now?" Tae smiles, his eyes curving and shaping into crescent moons that remind Jungkook of the night sky.

He chuckles before answering, "Half an hour away, endure."

Taehyung fakes a heavy sigh, hand thrown over his forehead almost theatrically, but all he says as he turns up the volume on the radio is, "Will do."

"Are you going to see him?" Jimin asks from his bed, feet tangled with a pillow he keeps kicking back and forth to entertain himself. Taehyung should've probably just worn something of his own, but when he realized all of his sweaters had holes in them and Jungkook had probably already seen them anyway, he ran towards his best friend's dorm and began searching through his piles of shiny clothes. This reminds him of that night before his first high school party, Jimin helping him out with his make-up and smiling comfortingly whenever his hands would shake with barely concealed anxiety. And now here they are, years later and Jimin frowning at him with disapproval. It hurts.

"It's been a week, can we please just move on?" he questions as he finds a soft pale sweater that feels like a pillow under his touch. This is the first real date he's going to with Jungkook and he really wants to look good for him; he wants for the younger to be unable to take his eyes away from him, to keep his gaze locked on his with that intensity, that intimacy only his eyes can produce; that emotion that never fails to rise goosebumps in his arms and make his heart skip a couple of unhealthy yet magical beats.

"I don't know, can we?" Jimin arches an eyebrow challengingly.

"Jimin, seriously. This is stupid," he grumbles as he tries the sweater on. He looks at himself in the reflection of Jimin's mirror, the one he glued inside his closet because he thought it was absolutely delusional not to have one inside his dorm. Now Tae wonders if he should steal it from his best friend because fuck, who knows how long does Jimin stay looking at himself in the mirror nowadays? Who knows what he sees when he does?

"Is it?"

"Okay, whatever. I'm leaving," he sighs after thinking the sweater suits him pretty well; it's lose on his body and velvety whenever his fingers rub over the fabric. He hopes Jungkook likes it, too.