ᴡʜᴏsᴇ ɪᴅᴇᴀ ᴡᴀs ᴛʜɪs? || ʙᴛs ᴄʜᴀᴛ ғɪᴄ ✔️

thirty-two

"Ah, s-sorry," Taehyung blurted. Jungkook just laughed.

"It's fine. Were you going to say something?"

"I don't know, were you?"

"What?"

"...I forget."

"Something about Jimin and Yoongi maybe?"

A light bulb lit up above Tae's head. "Oh right! Jiminie." He swung his head around to look at his dear friend again. Jimin hadn't moved. But Taehyung could see the boy's eyes were still open, and even from across the table he could also see how red Jimin's face had become, and he thought of how conflicted his friend must have felt about the situation, and whether or not he should try to get Yoongi to move or just give in to his heart's innocent desires again and fall asleep with him.

"You think he's enjoying himself over there?"

"Jiminie would kill me if he heard me say this, but yes, probably immensely so."

"He likes Yoongi, doesn't he?"

It was somewhat of a spontaneous action, just as his hugging a rain-drenched Jungkook had been, but Tae felt the need to grab Jungkook by the wrist, bring him to his feet, and take him swiftly out to the kitchen where no one else was at the moment. There, he promptly pressed a finger to his own lips and whispered a harsh, Sshhh!"

Jungkook deadpanned for a second but then cracked a small smile of amusement. "Is it really that much of a secret, Tae?" He chuckled. "He does, right? It's not just an admiration thing. He actually likes him."

Now Taehyung was the conflicted one. Turning away from Jungkook, he folded his arms and thought deeply about the boy's question and considered that perhaps answering him honestly wouldn't be an issue. Perhaps it was as obvious as Jimin feared.

"Yeah." He sighed. "He does. Very much so. But you can't tell him I told you. I don't want Jiminie to be upset with me."

"I won't say a word to him. Or to Yoongi. I promise." As a way of 'sealing' that promise, Jungkook pretended to zip his lips shut, and he smiled, which in turn made Taehyung smile, too.

"Thanks. I know I can trust you."

"I do have a question, though," Jungkook added. "Why won't he say anything? Jimin, I mean. If he likes Yoongi so much then why doesn't he ask him out?"

Boy, that sure hits home. "He's scared, I think," Tae answered honestly, letting out a quiet breath. "It's not strange to be...he hasn't said it directly to me, but I'm sure he's afraid Yoongi doesn't feel the same, and that he's been misinterpreting things, and that Yoongi only sees him as a friend...you know, those kinds of doubts. I've been encouraging him along the way but truthfully I don't really know, either. Misunderstandings can be scary things..."

Jungkook didn't know what to say at first. Tae's voice had slipped into somewhat of an empathetic tone, smile having been replaced by a troubled expression. It puzzled Jungkook. And made him just a touch sad, too, though he didn't know why. Perhaps because he could relate to Taehyung's empathy, but also because he found it an upsetting thing that Tae empathized in the first place.

"For what it's worth, I'm rooting for him."

Taehyung looked Jungkook in the eye and found the boy smiling at him.

"As much as I tease Jimin, I do see him as a good friend. After all, he kinda forced me out of the antisocial bubble I'd slipped into at the start of college, introducing me to you guys and whatnot."

"I'm glad he did."

Something about the pure sincerity in Taehyung's voice, and the soft smile and his warm eyes and the way Tae looked at him...it made him blush. He wanted to look away, or at least cover his face so that he wouldn't be noticed, but all of sudden his embarrassment was overtaken by the realization that Taehyung had pretty eyes. Not just pretty, but calming, and that was probably the only thing that kept Jungkook's blush from deepening.

"So, uh...are you staying, Jungkook?" Tae asked after a few long seconds of silence had passed. "Namjoon said we could crash here for the night if we were too lazy to head home or whatever. I have a class early tomorrow morning, though, so I think I'm gonna head back soon."

"Me, too."

"You have a class tomorrow morning?"

"No, I mean I'm gonna head back soon. I'll go with you."

"Oh. Right. Of course."

A quiet giggle crawled up Jungkook's throat. "Although..." He began, "...are you gonna be leaving Jimin behind?"

"That depends," Tae laughed. "If he finds the strength to push that giant paperweight off himself."

"...so that's a 'yes', then."

"Yeah, pretty much."