subway ;vkook (sugartalk)

how long does it take to fall in love?

how long does it take to fall in love with someone?

"jeongguk, honey? are you ok?" jeongguk heard a comforting voice call through his apartment. 

he heard the footsteps of the professional shoes and he heard them knock over a beer and trip over a pizza. he heard the voice curse and he heard the shoes follow suit and then he saw the face that belonged to the voice and the shoes and he sighed. 

"im ok jimin." jeongguk lied.

"don't lie to me jeongguk." dammit. 

jeongguk was smothered in covers and he probably stank like shit. he'd been crying. the little rosy tip of his nose gave the game away. 

jimin sat on the bed by his feet, and played with the corners of a plaid blanket.

"jimin, you should be at work." 

"so should you." 

there was silence, until jeongguk sniffled slightly. jimin thought he was adorable. 

jimin coughed awkwardly, "anyway, im your assistant. i can't go to work without you." 

jeongguk frowned. "i'm sorry. you won't have a job because of me." 

"it's fine."

 "no it's not. i'm being selfish."

 "be selfish all you want," jimin said, "i was your friend before I was your assistant. don't you remember?" 

jeongguk smiled a little, jimin could've sworn, "i remember."

 jimin shuffled into jeongguk's bed. he wrapped his arms around him and jeongguk liked it. he liked the familiarity.

 "i think i love him," jeongguk smiled. he smiled for certain this time. jimin could hear it. 

"i know i hate him," jimin said. 

jeongguk turned around in Jimin's arms and spoke. "how do you even know who i'm talking about?" 

"the taehyung guy, right? can't you see how fondly you smiled when you told me about him? he broke your heart for goodness sakes jeongguk. i'd hate anyone who makes you cry like this." he wiped his soft tears.

 "i cant hate him."

 "you think too highly of him," jimin tutted. 

"i know that, i suppose. but he's so amazing. he's not even perfect, in fact, he makes me feel so small. like i'm nothing. is that bad?"

 "that's awful."

 "i love it."jimin knew he did. he'd have done anything to make jeongguk less attracted to someone so toxic. taehyung could kill jeongguk but jeongguk still liked him. loved him. jimin thought he must've been insane.

 "when was the last time you showered?" five days ago.

 "last night." 

"don't lie to me jeongguk." dammit. 

jimin slipped out of jeongguk's bed and began to undress him. he helped him take off his jacket and his shirt and then jeongguk stopped him with a question."jimin, how long does it take to fall in love with someone?" 

"jeongguk," jimin laughed a little, but not too much. he didn't want to upset jeongguk, "you're obsessed with taehyung." 

jeongguk shook his head. "i just...don't you think that it's pointless to even live without another person. someone who you can just be as vulnerable as possible around?" 

"yes, maybe."

 "if you found that person, you'd want to hang onto them, right? because if you lose them, what have you got to live for." 

"i guess." 

"what if taehyung's my person? what if i'm supposed to know him? to hang onto him?"

 "what if you already found your person? like me? we're close," said jimin.

 jeongguk laughed, "yeah, but i don't love you. not like taehyung," ouch, "besides, love can't be that easy. it can't be. i won't believe it." 

jimin watched jeongguk talk about love. he was so beautiful.

 "i-i think," jimin tried to be a good enough friend, "i think that love is indefinite. there's no fixed amount of time before you fall in love with someone."

 jeongguk agreed. 

jimin continued. "when you love someone, you think they're just so great." like jeongguk. "not perfect. just great, and you love them for that."

 jimin struggled to take his eyes off of jeongguk but when he did, he stood up and walked into the bathroom, turning on the shower and watching as it got hot. 

as the steam climbed up the curtain, growing apart in two, separate clouds.

just two, heartbroken boys.

jeongguk walked in, a towel wrapped around his body.

"thank you for looking after me jimin. you're the best."

he kissed him gently on the cheek before dropping his towel and climbing in the shower, pulling the curtain across. 

jimin walked out, empty-headed. shutting the door. re-feeling the barely-there touch of jeongguk's tear-stained kiss. how long had it taken jimin to fall in love? 

he didn't know.

~~𝑯𝒆𝒚,

𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒂 𝒇𝒆𝒘 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒖𝒑, 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒇𝒂𝒏𝒇𝒊𝒄 𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒌𝒔 𝒄𝒂𝒑𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝒍𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 (𝒊𝒕'𝒔 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒄), 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒂𝒏 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒗𝒊𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒐 𝑰 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒂𝒑𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒈𝒊𝒔𝒆 𝒊𝒇 𝒊𝒕'𝒔 𝒑𝒐𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒚 𝒘𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒏, 𝒐𝒓 𝒂 𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒆𝒏𝒋𝒐𝒚𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒎𝒚 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔.

𝒙𝒙