2am ; jinkook

3.9

3.9
lying in between our truths, it's what we do best
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"taehyung, why are you like this?" Jeongguk is distressed.

he'd pulled his friend off to the side, leaving namjoon to jimin. oh no. jeongguk's eyes widened to the shape of moons, his head snapping in the direction he left poor, defenseless namjoon. "i left him in the hands of a monster." he whispered to himself, disbelieving and horrified.

"i mean," taehyung sang, "you aren't wrong." he glanced over his shoulder to observe the way jimin twirled a lock of his hair around his finger before pushing it away from his face, saying something to namjoon with That look, causing the taller to sputter.

"so we should go back and save mr. beefy sexy." taehyung had the looks of plotting in his eyes that jeongguk figured he'd shut down right then and there.

"this is all your fault kim taehyung!" he screwed up his face into something that should've resembled extreme annoyance. taehyung thought jeongguk looked like he need an enema.

"i just wanted to have a spicy saturday." taehyung defended himself, bending over to touch his toes so that he wouldn't have to make eye contact with jeongguk any longer. the boy may have looked like an angry bunny, but his arms flexed like he could snap taehyung in half. jeongguk's physical features were on complete ends of the spectrum: the damn energizer bunny on roids.

"i'm not going to question what a spicy saturday is." jeongguk sighed in defeat, watching taehyung stretch before chancing a glance back at namjoon and jimin. the both of them were stretching—well.. jeongguk tilted his head to the side as he watched in pained amusement.

jimin was in front of namjoon in full side splits (impressive) reaching his hands forward as the other man stretched his hamstrings looking everywhere but in front of him. namjoon works hard, but jimin's gall works harder.

"are you seriously bothered?" taehyung asked after a moment's silence. "really, if you are we can just leave. i didn't mean to ruin your outing."

guilt and apprehension painted underneath the darkness of taehyung's irises stupefied jeongguk in that second. he wasn't bothered, necessarily. "it was just sudden, tae. you aren't a bother and neither is jimin." he wrung his hands together, shuffling on his feet when taehyung stood straight again only to plop himself down on the carpeted floor.

jeongguk followed suit with a heart that beat quickly with budding nervousness. did he make taehyung feel bad? unwanted? he never wanted the older to feel that way—he was a friend who jeongguk cherished and held dear. "i know, i'm just being dramatic i guess." taehyung breathed out loudly, expelling whatever it was he actually wanted to say.

jeongguk didn't press on it. if taehyung wanted him to know, he would have known by now. if they had to pretend for a while that would be okay. they could pretend until the dam broke if that's what taehyung wanted, even if that's not what he needed. they don't push each other; not after how taehyung stormed into jin's home.

"seokjin messaged." jeongguk said, mirroring each stretch taehyung performed. "another booty call?" taehyung rolled his eyes, massaging the underside of his knees. "probably. i wouldn't doubt it." he answered and paused in debate with whether he should continue on with his thoughts.

"he said i should come over," he spoke quietly, "i was asleep though, and i'm with namjoon, so clearly i didn't. but i never got the chance to answer and i don't know if he's seen that i left him on read. which shouldn't be a big deal right? we're only fucking." ouch.

"kookie, you're rambling." taehyung frowned. "and it is a big deal. you like him." he said, as if jeongguk needed reminding. as if it wasn't one of his default thoughts; something that popped up into his frame of mind when doing mindless tasks.

but in reality, jeongguk didn't know what they were doing. they never talked about it.

"yeah." he chose to say instead. "i do like him." pathetically, even.

"he's perfect in the moment, you know?" jeongguk brought his knees up to rest underneath his chin, circling his arms around his shins. taehyung kept quiet, allowing his friend tlme to think before saying more. "he's so good to me when it's in confidence. when it's just jeongguk and seokjin as people, as individuals. it makes me forget how he calls for me like i'm a service," the smile he gave was small, something aching lying beneath it even he couldn't place.

"he made me feel wanted because i deserve to feel wanted. but between that i forgot how to discern lust for feeling, and when he suddenly acts offstandish, i feel like how he treats me rather than how i believe he treats me. it's all treaded dirt where i see roses."

he looked up from his pointed stare on the floor to see taehyung's eyes flashing with the same hurt embedded in him. something that looked eerily close to understanding.

"ah," jeongguk laughed humorlessly, "look who's being dramatic now."

taehyung looked about to say something, something jeongguk didn't think he could take hearing at the moment, so he spoke up again before he could face reality any further. if taehyung was pretending for a bit, he could too.

"jimin just challenged namjoon to curl ups," a simple chuckle passed through his lips, "who do you think will win? my lack of money is on park."

"stop hurting yourself, kookie." taehyung whispered. jeongguk couldn't help but feel like they were having the wrong conversation in the wrong setting. a heavy weight fell down onto its steel rack in the distance, the sound of running shoes falling against conveyor belts muddled their intermission.

i could say the same for you.

"what happened last time you went over? did anything seem off with him for his behavior to be the way it is now?"

no, jeongguk thought. he went over that last night in his head. he'd shown up at ths complex, rode the elevator, and met min yoongi at the door. "yoongi was there," jeongguk recounted in a small voice, "jin didn't expect him, but he stayed over in the guest room–"

"why?" taehyung interrupted brusquely intense in the way he zeroed in on jeongguk's features, unwavering the way he stared into his eyes. "why..." jeongguk repeated in thought himself. "seokjin said yoongi needed him."

"and you didn't ask why?"

"it wasn't my place to, taehyung," the younger exhaled tiredly, wrapping his arms from around his legs and leaning back on his palms. "you're so adamant on this, so i take it you two still speak. if you were anyone else, i would still be keeping quiet but..." he couldn't read taehyung's expression.

on every other occasion the man was so easy to read. he was like a children's book which consisted mostly of pictures. but when it came to min yoongi, taehyung's features hardened and his feelings were all hybrids stemming from something jeongguk didn't understand yet.

"...he was crying. quiet tears that you wouldn't notice unless you looked. so no, i didn't ask."

it was then that jeongguk decided troubled and torn were not good looks on taehyung, and he figured, they mustn't suit him all that well either.

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ok so i know this got kind of angsty but i promise it won't be like that for long ok!

i really didn't plan for this chapter to be so sad but i guess it's a reflection of how i've been feeling?? en ee ways we been knew i only produce good work when i'm feeling extreme emotions so here's this! (also i'm fine, just stressed)

please do tell me what you like about 2am so far! i don't update all that frequently so it's really nice to get feedback from you all.