"Coach? What should I do now?"
Jeongguk blinked and looked at the girl he was supposed to train. Her name was Riho, she spoke with a cute Japanese accent and Jeongguk really liked her because she had a wicked sense of humor, and sessions with her were always fun. Usually.
But this time, he was incapable of concentrating on her for more than two minutes straight; then his mind came back to the one thing that had been constantly haunting him for the past three days, since he'd met Jimin and his friends at the Bulletproof Bar: Kim Taehyung.
Up until now, Jeongguk thought that he had been pretty successful at moving on and erasing from his mind the memories of the brief but intense relationship he had had with Taehyung, and especially the shitty way it ended. Granted, it wasn't easy, it took some time, months, years even, but he really used to believe it was behind him. He had a cool job, a wonderful group of close friends, a boyfriend he wasn't quite in love with yet but still liked well enough for them to maybe become something great in the future, and he was happy, all things considered.
It turned out Taehyung wasn't as far behind him as he thought he was.
"Sorry, Riho. Let's move on to the next exercise."
Riho wasn't a special case; all his students this week had had to put up with his distraction, and he was furious with himself for being unable to act like a professional, just because a ghost from his past had suddenly emerged before his very eyes.
So what did it matter if Taehyung was Jimin's friend? They belonged to two distinct groups, and surely they wouldn't merge very often, or at least, he hoped not. Because if he had to withstand Taehyung's presence on the regular... there would be some kind of adjustment to make.
At least, people around him didn't suspect anything. True, when that dreadful evening had finally ended, he'd let out a sigh of relief and realized afterward that Yoongi had heard him, looking at him askance. But he'd visibly chalked it up to Jeongguk being his usual shy and antisocial self and didn't comment on it.
So, yeah. That had been a shitty night, and it was a shitty situation, but it was over now and he'd never see Taehyung again and life could resume the way it was before. So why was this encounter sticking in his mind like gum on the sidewalk?
When his work day was finally over, after taking a shower in the employee locker room, he saw a text had arrived from Yoongi.
Feel like drinking tonight? I know you're not working tomorrow morning.
In fact, Jeongguk very much needed a drink right now, but before everything, he had to make sure that no one (and especially not a certain someone) from Jimin's clan was invited. He needed peace and quiet with his friends.
Who's coming?
Just you and me for now. Maybe Seokjin later. Hoseok won't be free before Saturday. I'm already at the bar.
Ok, I'll be there in twenty.
What he expected, going in, was having a nice evening to drink and relax with one of his best friends, and maybe letting go of the thoughts that had been plaguing his mind non-stop for the past few days.
What he didn't expect was Yoongi almost on the warpath, on his back as soon as he sat down opposite him at their usual table, dead set on making him explain what the fuck had his problem been on Saturday.
"W-what do you mean?" Jeongguk stuttered, his heart suddenly racing in his chest. True, he hadn't been entirely able to hide how much he despised Taehyung, but Yoongi was looking so enamored with Jimin that night that Jeongguk hadn't thought he'd noticed.
Although, now that he was thinking about it, maybe he shouldn't have underestimated Yoongi. His friend was like a bloodhound, noticing everything about everyone, even if he generally kept his observations to himself. Sometimes, when one of them had something on their mind, he'd sit next to them and he'd say, wanna talk about it? And they'd say yes and he'd listen without ever interrupting, or they'd say no and he'd drop the subject, albeit making sure they knew he was there if they changed their mind. And that was usually a good thing. He believed in giving people space to sort out their emotions, and Jeongguk loved that about him.
But tonight was different.
Yoongi rolled his eyes. "You know what I mean. Saturday."
"What about Saturday?" Jeongguk replied with a defensive tone.
"You're doing it again. You were distracted all evening, snappy even, never paying attention. Jimin said you were just being shy, but I know you, and it wasn't that. I almost wasn't gonna bring it up, because we all have bad days, but I was concerned. Is it Jimin? You don't like him and didn't want to tell me? Is that it?"
Jeongguk's eyes went wide with shock. So that was what he was worried about. He wanted his friends and his boyfriend to get along and thought Jeongguk secretly hated Jimin.
"What? Of course not!! Jimin is amazing and I'm so happy you found each other, hyung. Really."
Yoongi rubbed his hand over his mouth, looking both relieved and thoughtful. "Ok, that's good. I mean, you don't have to like him, but I'm glad you do."
"I do. I really like him. It's not Jimin, I promise."
"What is it, then?"
It was harder to lie to Yoongi than to anyone else, because Jeongguk immensely respected him and he had been looking up to him practically since he met him. "It's as you said. We all have bad days. This was one of them." In fact, it wasn't entirely a lie. It was mostly true, even. He was just omitting a crap load of important details.
"Ok. And what did you think about his friends?"
Of course he had to go there. "They, um... they seemed nice, too." At least one of them, he thought. "Seokjin looked plenty interested in Namjoon," he added, a desperate try to change the topic.
Unfortunately, Yoongi wasn't having it. "What did you think of Taehyung?"
Jeongguk tensed. Why did he want to know? "Why do you want to know?"
"I met him a few days ago. He's a funny guy. I thought you'd get on well," Yoongi shrugged.
Jeongguk wasn't getting fooled. Yoongi was like a shark, able to smell a drop of blood in the water from miles away.
"He..." God, how was he going to get himself out of this mess? "He's, uh..." Words were so hard to find. He didn't want to lie, but he also couldn't think of a single good thing to say about Taehyung. "He... He has a nice face."
Well. That was about as complimentary as he was going to get.
Yoongi narrowed his eyes. "He has a nice face," he repeated, tone flat. "Right."
"Well, he does," Jeongguk replied defensively. That much, at least, he couldn't deny.
"So this is about him, isn't it?"
Jeongguk felt his heart stop for an instant. "W-what is?"
"You. This," Yoongi replied, gesturing in his general direction. "What is it, then? Are you having a crush on him and being too shy to admit it?"
Why did everyone think that? "Of course not."
Maybe now was the time to come clean about something else, since both Seokjin and Yoongi were so convinced he somehow had feelings for Taehyung. (True, he had feelings. Deep, intense feelings of hatred and resentment.) "I've got a boyfriend anyway."
The sudden announcement had the expected effect. Yoongi's eyes widened in surprise. Truth be told, Jeongguk felt a bit bad about using his boyfriend as a shield, but hey, whatever worked to get him off his back.
"You do? Since when?" Yoongi gaped.
"Going on three months now."
This time, Yoongi looked positively flabbergasted. "Three months? How come I'm only hearing about this now?"
"It wasn't serious. I mean, it still isn't, but... it could be. I don't know. I'm taking it slow."
"What's his name?"
"Cha Eunwoo, we met at the gym. He's a good guy."
Jeongguk had been Eunwoo's trainer for a while, and as much as it was obvious Eunwoo was into him, he took great care of never responding, so as not to overstep his role as a coach. Eunwoo, aware of that, finally asked the gym if he could change trainers, and as soon as he was assigned to someone else - Jeongguk's colleague Yugyeom - he asked Jeongguk out.
He was cute, and smart, and kind, and very much crazy about Jeongguk, and in return Jeongguk liked him enough to at least give it a try. Three months in, he still wasn't madly in love, but he wasn't ready to call it quits yet. It was slow going, easy and nice, and it could still become something beautiful, given time. And Jeongguk had a lot of time to give.
Yoongi looked at him like he had sprouted horns. "Are you telling me you've been in a relationship for three months and didn't think about telling us? What, are you ashamed of this Eunwoo guy? Or us?"
"Of course not!" Jeongguk vehemently protested. "I wanted to introduce him to you guys when the time would be right. But up until now, I wasn't ready for that. You guys are the most important thing in my life, you know? I wanted it to be done the right way."
At this, Yoongi looked a bit mollified, but he still shook his head. "Do you think you're ready now? Because I was thinking about drinking at my place on Saturday rather than going to the bar, for once. Cozier, more intimate, and all. Would you like to bring him with you?"
Jeongguk tensed up again. "You mean, us four and Eunwoo?"
The thought was already terrifying as it was. But if it wasn't them four...
"More like, us seven and Eunwoo."
Us seven. So that was a thing, now. In less than a week, they'd gone from four to seven. Jeongguk had better quickly reconsider how it would affect the dynamic in their group if Taehyung was to be part of their tight-knit bunch of friends.
He hesitated, so long in fact that Yoongi was the first to speak again. "What is wrong, Jeongguk? You know you can tell me everything."
Of course Yoongi would say that, and of course Jeongguk couldn't. Seeing his friends getting along with Jimin, Namjoon and Taehyung, was obviously something that was very important to him, and it felt unfair to try to rob that from him.
"Nothing is wrong", Jeongguk stated firmly. "Saturday, your place, us seven and Eunwoo. Sounds great. Looking forward to it."
He could do it. He would go there and be very adult about the whole situation, and everything would go without a hitch. He wasn't sick to his stomach just imagining the man he was currently dating meeting the one who had shattered his heart - and self-confidence and blooming personality at the same time - in a million tiny pieces seven years ago. Not at all.
Everything was peachy.