You can look, but you can never touch
Taehyung's sure he's ruined it. Not that things were okay before... but the careful pushing he'd been doing-- wearing away at Jeongguk's walls and defenses, falling into a routine of relative normalcy-- had most likely crumbled the moment he had put Jeongguk's finger in his mouth.
You're an idiot, Kim Taehyung, he thinks, considering bashing his head against the wall. And now the fire alarm was blaring again- a sound that had become too familiar to Taehyung in the last few weeks. Boiling spaghetti in theory should have been easy. But now the noodles are burnt. black at the bottom of the pot and there are plumes of smoke coming out of it.
"You can do this," Taehyung says, shaking his head and squaring his shoulders. Jeongguk wasn't even home yet, so he has to take care of this himself. So he walks to the alarm in the hallway, and jumps a few times, trying to get to the button that he'd seen Jeongguk press so many times, but he's not as tall as Jeongguk and it takes a few attempts before the shrill alarm shuts off, surrounding Taehyung in deafening silence.
Taehyung lets out a shaky exhale, but the relief is short-lived when his doorbell rings.
"J-Jeongguk?" Taehyung gulps when he's met with an eye full of bare chest. The younger man is leaning against the doorframe, hands crossed over his chest, eyes disinterested. Taehyung's body flushes with heat because I'm never going to get over the tattoos. Or the muscles. Or him.
"Just wanted to check and see if you were still alive," Jeongguk says, inspecting his nails.
Taehyung splutters indignantly. "Of course I'm alive, I'm not a complete idiot!" There's an uncomfortable heat spreading on his face, and he's trying desperately not to stare at Jeongguk's chest because he should be pissed at Jeongguk, not checking him out.
Taehyung had spent too much time lately staring at Jeongguk. He wonders if he has any shame, because the images of Jeongguk's dragon tattoo, the intricate geometric designs on his pectoral muscles, the words and lyrics inked into his skin are branded at the back of Taehyung's eyelids,. and it's the last thing he thinks about every night when he goes to bed.
He feels guilty, because he doesn't deserve to be able to even think about Jeongguk that way. He had lost that right when he'd taken the picture. When he'd decided being a coward was more. important than the beautiful relationship that they had formed. Jeongguk deserves better than that.
Jeongguk scoffs, rolling his eyes at Taehyung's irritation, before straightening. Despite Taehyung's annoyance, he doesn't miss the pronounced dip of Jeongguk's v-lines, just barely covered by the low-slung slacks and-- Slacks?
Why is Jeongguk wearing slacks? And not a shirt?
"Wait a minute," Taehyung calls when Jeongguk takes his silence for defeat and turns to go. The younger raises an eyebrow in expectation. "Why aren't you wearing a shirt?"
Jeongguk's face is the picture of cool indifference. "You never wear a shirt!" Taehyung points out. Jeongguk just shrugs.
"I take off my clothes when I get home. Is there something wrong with that?" Jeongguk's voice dips low, dangerous, and it just throws Taehyung off more. He knows when he's being messed with.
"But every single time? Isn't it a coincidence," Jeongguk shrugs with disinterest. "You're fucking with me, aren't you?"
Jeongguk's eye twitches, before he steps closer and towers over Taehyung. "Trust me, Taehyung
ssi. If I was fucking with you, you'd know."
"But you are, aren't you? You're trying to throw me off. You're trying to seduce me!" Taehyung exclaims, and he regrets the words the moment they come out of his mouth but by then it's too late, because Jeongguk's face clouds over, and he leans in close, eyes dangerously dark, lips pulled into a thin line.
"You're the last person on earth I would want to sleep with," he whispers, voice sharp, and Taehyung winces, because he feels like he's being cut. Embarrassment and indignation flush through him, but he doesn't drop his gaze, because that would be giving in, and Taehyung won't give in.
"You can look," Jeongguk leans in to whisper in Taehyung's ear. An involuntary shiver crawls up Taehyung's spine, and he feels like he's suffocating on Jeongguk's cologne, the heat of his skin.
"But you can never touch. "
The younger takes a single finger, trailing it down Taehyung's clothed chest, tapping over his rapidly beating heart, before pushing him back just ever so slightly, but to Taehyung, it feels like he's been hit by a train, and he stumbles back. Jeongguk winks wryly, but it makes Taehyung's mouth run dry, and he steps away, straightening up to his full height.
And then Jeongguk is gone, disappearing back into his own apartment, leaving Taehyung standing there alone, slightly aroused, and as usual, embarrassed.
