• this is what tae looks like
• this is what my boy junghoon looks like
[the camera is placed on the bed, tilted slightly upwards to capture the owner of said camera properly as he cups his face with his hand and puffs his cheeks out endearingly. taehyung lies on his front on his unmade bed, staring at the camera's lens with lidded, tired eyes]
TAEHYUNG: "hey kook. i, uh, went to junghoon's yesterday and um, he's offered to take me to yours. u–um, im sorta contemplating on going 'cause of two reasons though," [taehyung lifts two fingers in the air, using them to visually tick of his reasons] "one, 'cause im putting literally all my trust into this guy i barely know and who could potentially harvest and then sell my precious organs on the freaking black market. two, i—" [taehyung hesitates, his speech faltering suddenly] "i . . . i don't know if you still want me."
TAEHYUNG: [taehyung looks away from the camera, swallowing noticeably before speaking softly] "is that, is that why you haven't contacted me yet? 'cause you maybe don't want me anymore?" [taehyung sends him a strained looking smile] "if that's the case then that's, that's okay. it's okay. i understand; its normal for, um, people's minds to change really quickly. i just—just wish," [taehyung ducks his head, fixing his spectacles] "i just that if that's the case, you rather have told me immediately than have me come down here, looking for you like some, i don't know, really desperate idiot?" [taehyung lets out a shaky breath, humourlessly laughing a little at his words]
TAEHYUNG: "maybe it's–it's cause i haven't been the best boyfriend? i mean, i did get you hit on the forehead by that baseball bat wielding freak and made you sleep on all those stained couches and tried knocking you out with that vase — but that was before we got together so does that count? oh, and i ate your food sometimes when you weren't looking and . . ." [a guilty taehyung trails off, biting his lower lip slightly] "nngh."
TAEHYUNG: [he shakes his unkempt bangs out of his eyes] "let's, uh, concentrate on more pressing matters like the fact that im going to god-knows-where with your brother; a total stranger who could potentially sell me off to some fifty year old bastard. but if he tries to, it'll be okay 'cause you see, i called up jae yesterday about what im doing and he grudgingly — he's still sorta upset with me — activated a tracking device on my phone so he can monitor my whereabouts. also i gotta call him every hour to reassure him that im alive and relatively well. if i don't call him, he's just gonna have to assume im in trouble and send a SWAT team to my location. but hopefully it doesn't come to that resolution."
[taehyung crosses his fingers for luck at his words, trying to look optimistic for the camera. his facade is soon broken away when his phone, which lays besides him on the slightly crumpled bedsheets, rings suddenly and loudly, startling the boy, who looks down at his lockscreen]
TAEHYUNG: [the boy disables his alarm] "uh, that was my alarm, telling me to get my ass up and get myself to the nearest bus stop. which i have yet to find out." [taehyung laughs softly, a little hesitantly] "bye for now, kook. ill see you soon if your twin doesn't decide to kill me!"
[smiling at the camera's lens, taehyung reaches over to thumb at the "stop recording?" button, promptly causing the recording to halt abruptly, submerging itself into darkness]
END OF VIDEO.
WATCH ANOTHER?
YES | NO
[the camcorder displays someone's grainy point of view as they step off a bus, the soles of their beat up sneakers meeting grey gravel that crunches audibly under their weight. sneaker clad feet start walking forwards awkwardly, stiffly — as if being forced to move along. behind the camera, bus doors retract, hissing as they do so and as someone speaks up in a frantic mutter]
TAEHYUNG: "oh god, i feel like im gonna throw up— no, taehyung. no. you are not going to throw up, not now when you're surrounded by all these godamn people who're gonna judge you so freaking hard."
[resolute, taehyung continues walking for two–three seconds before stumbling to a stop, his timid footsteps faltering in his path as he exhales heavily]
TAEHYUNG: "i haven't–haven't thought this through properly," [taehyung flips the camcorder round, allowing the low quality lens to capture his apprehensive facial expression as he stutters nervously to himself] "what if, what if h–haneul opens the–the door? what if this is all a joke and junghoon and haneul are gonna laugh at me while i stand on their doorstep?"
TAEHYUNG: "no, tae. think positive thoughts, think really, positive, positive thoughts," [taehyung whispers as he hurriedly fixes his hair] "think positive. positive thoughts."
[with his camcorder capturing the mumbled mantra accompanying his stiffened stumble, taehyung finds himself mindlessly walking up the steps to junghoon's plain but nice apartment complex, entering the building held open by a bored looking doorman. he shies (more like shoves his camcorder under his armpit) the fact that he's videotaping his surroundings when the doorman raises an unimpressed eyebrow at him]
[with his camcorder peeking out from behind the striped sleeve of his sweater, taehyung steps foot inside the building's lobby; a square space decorated in a theme of blue and faded whites. an old two seater couch aligns with the wall, followed by a small, chipped oakwood table that upholds a vase of wilting white lilies. the floorboards are worn with wear under his sneakers — its once sleek surface now resembling a dull shine. to the right of the entrance where taehyung stands is an uncomfortably tiny alcove where a crummy looking desk is wedged into the minuscule space. a similarly crummy looking man is sat behind the sore excuse of a piece of furniture, studying taehyung (and the camcorder tucked away under his armpit) carefully]
[slightly uncomfortable, taehyung shifts the camcorder to his hands, unknowingly turning the camera to capture his face from a low angle, gifting jungkook a lovely view of his chin. the boy plasters a small smile at the wary man before fumbling with the camcorder, wandering over to the elevator that's open for the taking. uneasy, he steps unsteadily inside the mechanical beast of an elevator and punches the button indicating "fourth floor"]
[settling into the back of the elevator whilst glancing anxiously at the four walls of the metal compartment that trap him in momentarily, taehyung shakily exhales before lifting the camcorder to his face, sending a small smile at the lens]
TAEHYUNG: "claustrophobia." [is all he says weakly, brown eyes flickering upwards at the band of numbers that line the ceiling of the elevator, glowing a soft red when the elevator passes said numbered floor. in a focused manner, taehyung subconsciously mouths numbers that light up a faded crimson, accounting for the floors of the apartment complex]
TAEHYUNG: [mumbling] "i can do this, i can do this, i can do this, i can do this. you can do this, tae."
ELEVATOR: "please stand clear of the elevator doors as they open."
TAEHYUNG: [still mumbling] "i can do this, i can do this, i can do this—"
JUNGHOON: "well, damn, don't you look like a real cutie?"
[the camera, still concentrated on taehyung's face through an awkward low angle, clearly captures the boy's perplexed facial expression. his brown eyes widen a fraction at the sight of junghoon crowding him frontwards. his slackened mouth parts but no eligible words spill out]
TAEHYUNG: [nearly chokes] "u–uh. uh, thanks! and, u–um! you look really cute today to0!!"
TAEHYUNG: [taehyung's cheeks immediately colour crimson at his words, his embarrassment made obvious] "fuck, that's not what i—"
[junghoon chuckles just before the camcorder is suddenly switched off by a flustered taehyung, his fumbling fingers hurriedly digging into the "stop recording?" button and cutting his log to an abrupt halt]
END OF VIDEO.
WATCH ANOTHER?
YES | NO
taehyung focus
internally, taehyung curses himself at his absurd compliment — because jeon junghoon looked nothing like cute in those sinfully torn up jeans and that long sleeved white sweater that practically strains under the guy's toned biceps. an acid washed denim jacket is in one hand and in the other is a—
a tiny, caramel coloured pomeranian? a tiny, caramel coloured pomeranian that has its sharp canines sunk into the sleeve of junghoon's sweater, gnawing away at the woollen material almost petulantly. said animal now hisses violently at taehyung upon noticing the boy frowning down at her.
"ah," junghoon hums, noticing taehyung's widened eyes on the pup in his arms, "this is haneul's precious pup; lily. i call her rabid bitch lovingly though. don't i, sweetheart?" junghoon smiles down at the pomeranian, raising his other hand to pet lily between her ears.
the small pup is quick to nip harshly at his fingers, causing junghoon to grit out a strained "fuck" and hastily retract his hand away. "rabid bitch is fitting, no?" he asks, seething. "she's pissy with almost everyone except fucking haneul."
"rabid bitch, huh."taehyung says, gulping at the threatening growls emanating from such a fluffy looking, small animal. "how come i didn't see her yesterday?"
"the rabid bitch and her highness came back from hong kong last night and whilst her highness rests, im put on dog-sitting duty for the day." he scowls, glaring at the dog clawing his sweater to pieces.
"oh."
"uh, speaking of her highness, i apologise on behalf of haneul," he sighs, lifting a hand to cup the back of his neck, "i knew she's a third of the reason why you two had to break things off and—"
"it's okay, junghoon." taehyung glances up, offering a small, tight-lipped smile, "you shouldn't have to apologise for her actions."
junghoon looks at taehyung with an unreadable expression sitting on his features before coughing a; "r–right." he clears his throat, looking mildly embarrassed by the small crack in the voice, "so, what's with the camcorder?" he queries as a distraction, stepping forwards into the elevator and taking place besides taehyung, "haven't seen a model as old as that since i was a kid." he comments, leaning past taehyung slightly to press the button labelled 'G' for ground floor.
taehyung, practically pressed up against the wall of the small compartment (due to the younger's incredible build), studies junghoon through the corner of his eye, watching the boy's movements warily in case he decided to suddenly break out of character and pull out a menacing looking, serrated knife from behind lily's tawny fur and slice taehyung to pieces then and there.
struggling to breathe regularly with junghoon standing so close to his side (he was so close, taehyung could fucking smell the younger's mint based cologne), the older squeaks out a reply; "m'using it to make video logs f–for jungkook to watch so he doesn't feel like he's missed out on anything."
junghoon, slightly surprised at taehyung's response, turns his head to face him then, warm brown eyes studying taehyung as a small smile breaks out on his face, a cute dimple (that has taehyung gulping hard) presenting itself.
"hyung's really hit the jackpot with you, hasn't he?" he says, turning away with a grin on his face. the latter reddens at the comment.
"thank you?" taehyung replies uncertainly, self consciously fumbling with the clunky camcorder in his hand.
the elevator doors part once more, revealing the square space of a lobby that junghoon steps into first, distracted by an impatient lily trying to scramble out of his grasp. taehyung follows after them, keeping a safe distance just in case lily decided to launch herself at his face and embed her sharp claws into his features.
"is lily coming with us?" taehyung asks, hoping the temperamental pup wasn't going to be the one to accompany them.
"unfortunately, yes. her mom thinks we're going out for walkies," junghoon grits out, jerking his face away from lily when she hurriedly scampers up his chest, pressing the mouthful of soft fur into the boy's mouth. "little does she know that we're going for a three hour long 'walkie' to seoul."
he's going to lie to his own girlfriend for me? me, someone he barely knows?
"three hours–– wait, what? jungkook's in seoul?"
"yeah; hyung, jiminie hyung, yoongi hyung and hoseok hyung all live up in seoul."
"junghoon," taehyung exhales, stopping in his tracks, "if you know where they are, why don't you just give me their addresses and ill make my own way up? it's not necessary for you to make all this effort."
junghoon focus
"it's not necessary. . . no, but id like to do it."
"why?"
seriously though, why do i wanna take him all the way to seoul?? why not just send him off on his own?
is it 'cause i feel like playing cupid?
'cause i wanna see hyung happy again by reuniting him with grey? 'cause i wanna be in hyung's good books again?
'cause i wanna be spiteful and ruin haneul's efforts to separate them?
taehyung focus
"uhh," junghoon drawls out, turning round slowly and thinking through his answer, "'cause i wanna get to know my future brother-in-law?" he suggests lazily.
his suggestion has taehyung choking on his spit, coughing hard as he tries to surpass the sudden choking.
junghoon simply grins, turning around and walking towards the opened entrance (courtesy of the indifferent doorman) and heading straight out of it whilst taehyung splutters with disbelief.
recovering from his fit of disbelief, taehyung jogs after him, red in the face from choking on his own spit and his backpack thumping loudly against his shoulders with every movement he makes. he hurries down the stone steps outside.
"w–wait!" he yells after junghoon, "that's a . . . sorta plausible reason but!" still jogging, he shrugs his alexander wang backpack off his shoulders and unzips the accessory, "there's bound to be a reason why you're doing all this for me when you don't have to, so, uh, just state your price!" a breathless taehyung rummages messily through the contents of his designer backpack as he stumbles after junghoon, finally grasping his chequebook and pulling it out.
junghoon stops by an audi parked just outside the apartment complex, glinting almost dangerously under the winter sunlight.
"grey, i own the latest audi model. i own even more expensive cars that are stowed away in three garages all over the country. i own eight penthouse suites, six villas, two private jets, night clubs distributed in both japan and korea, fucking farmland somewhere in the middle of england that i don't even bloody need—"
"you'll do this all for free then?"
"huh? when'd i say that? money is money," the grin on his face only makes taehyung roll his eyes in response. "kidding. i don't really require anything in return but you can always pay the mcdonalds order im gonna get at their drive thru." he hums, rounding the hood of the car with an upset lily still pursuing her bout of scampering about with little grunts emanating from her mouth.
taehyung, standing a little off to the side of the audi, sighs at junghoon's words as he shoves his chequebook back inside his backpack, zipping it up distractedly as he stifles a laugh at the sight of junghoon wrestling an outraged lily into the bright pink travel carrier seated in the backseats of the car. taehyung, smiling to himself, walks towards the passenger seat of the audi and tugs at the handle of the door, remembering something.
"oh, and, uhm, just wanted to warn you now that-you-shouldn't-try-anything-iffy-'cause-i-have-a-fifty-two-man-SWAT-team-tailing-your-ass-and-they-won't-be-afraid-to-shoot-you down-without-any-proper-warning. so, uh. . . no slicing me open and selling my organs on the black market, okay?"
junghoon snorts at taehyung's garbled words, saying nothing else but a simple; "alright, that's noted," which is just about enough to convince taehyung to relax his stance and slide into the passenger seat of junghoon's audi.
+
an angered lily jabs at her chew toy with her front paw, snarling at the way it squeaks in response to her squishing. junghoon glances at the rear view mirror, noting the way she hisses at him from time to time, reminding him just how much she disapproves of him. the boy simply rolls his eyes at her hostile behaviour and retrains his gaze on the asphalt road stretching out before him, completely disregarding her behaviour.
taehyung, seated on his left in the passenger seat, rests his elbow on the ledge of the window, cupping his cheek as he stares outside, seeming to be in deep thought. ten minutes, he's been like this. ten minutes, they've been driving and junghoon's slowly, slowly growing restless at the lack of speech, just the irritating squeaks of lily's chew toy filling the silence between them.
the younger twin isn't one to feel comfortable during quiet, slow drives; he prefers racing down streets with his heartbeat hammering against his ribcage and listening to the radio churn out mainstream tunes which only act as background noise for junghoon to relax in. but with the little knowledge he has of taehyung, he doubts the older would appreciate him speeding through the city, joining in loudly with tyga as he raps profanities about his women.
so instead of the aforementioned scene, junghoon drives at a steady, but smooth pace into the heart of the city, no music desecrating his ears as he does so.
at first, he didn't think it was too bad; driving at a fairly calm speed and in relatively comfortable silence was a little abnormal but nevertheless fine. but once lily decided to gnaw at her chew toy in an aggravating manner, junghoon's hands literally itched to turn the radio on and allow music to overlay the obnoxious sounds emanating from the dog toy.
taehyung is, somehow, unaffected by the headache inducing commotion in the back.
"wanna listen to some music?" junghoon finally grits out, his tone concluding he's had enough of listening to the auditory abuse.
a dazed taehyung breaks away from his thoughts and glances out at junghoon, blinking, "hm? of what genre?"
"s'a burnt disk i made a while ago of korean and english music –– it's mainly rap, r&b, a few pop songs here and there, a couple of kdrama osts. . . uhhh, it's a jumble, really."
"sure. im pretty much open to all kinds of music so," taehyung shrugs, looking away and returning back to gazing out of the window, "hit me with what you got."
junghoon grins, placated with the idea of no longer having to be ensconced in infuriatingly loud squeaks. he reaches over with one hand, sliding a cd into the slot and pressing play—
"bentley basketball, uh (git), we playin' that a lot, huh. imma just get to the chicken, whip it (git, yuh). then i flip it, then trap it all, huh (git, git, brrra, trap it all). i gotta get to the dolla. smoking' on gas a lot, ready to wack 'em all. huh, huh, wack 'em all, wack 'em all (brrr, brrr, wack). clap, clap, clap, clap, clap 'em all, huh. this what i do to the haters. the choppa hit 'em, tell 'em back 'em off, huh.
she like apple jack, huh (git, jack). i like apple sauce, huh, huh (brrra). that's a boss, huh, huh (boss, git, git). that's the cost—"
started, taehyung hurriedly reaches for the pause button, abruptly halting the song with a stuttering laugh following, "hah, ha. uh. how about we just stick to the radio, hm?"
junghoon raises an amused eyebrow at him, "thought you were open to all music, though?"
"oh, uh. . . well, um, yeah. but, i–– actually, you know what? it's your car, your music."
"yeah?"
"yup—"
"huh, huh (cost, brrra, git, git). why you tryna flex and your fashion off? (brrra, flex). chain around my neck and her ass soft (ayy).
smokin' on that gas, i ain't passin' off (git, git, smoke). asthma cough (asthma), fashion law (flexin'). stash it off (brrra, stash, stash), dash in' off (dash). flash it off (brrra, flash), don't pass it off (hey, hey). imma—"
"—okay, jesus christ." taehyung wheezes out once he cuts off the music again, "can we just uh, listen to some radio? some good old twice? or. . . ?"
junghoon laughs, nodding, and moving to remove the disk. "radio, it is." he hums, and seconds later, momoland's bboom bboom spills out of the car's sound system, causing taehyung and junghoon to immediately burst into song — well, sing along enthusiastically for 0.5 of a second before they trail off, perplexed by the other's bout of singing.
". . . you like momoland too?"
"d'you like momoland?"
they ask simultaneously.
taehyung's eyes widen as a grin forms on junghoon's face.
"yeah!"
"yeah!"
chuckling, junghoon leans over and turns up the volume, singing along with a laughing taehyung who soon accompanies him, following up with slightly off, wild arm gestures.
+
the six minutes it takes to slide into the mcdonalds' drive-thru is full with apt conversation about who they favourite the most in momoland, their immaculate choreography and there's even some talk about sistar, mamamoo and many other girl groups they both seem to adore.
it's safe now to say that taehyung is reasonably comfortable around jeon junghoon.
the latter settles against the leather upholstery of his seat, sipping at his can of coca cola through a straw and smiling to himself as he mouths along the lyrics to red velvet's bad boy.
"hey, grey, you sure you don't wanna order anything?" junghoon asks for the third time, glancing over his shoulder at him. taehyung, caught off guard, shakes his head quickly.
humming "alright," junghoon returns to reciting his order to the mcdonalds employee who seems to be more concentrated on junghoon's car than his order of burgers and fries. taehyung stifles a chuckle at this, leaning down slightly to haul his backpack onto his lap, unzipping it in order to gain access to the camcorder shoved inside. he felt in the mood to log a little for jungkook.
resettling his backpack by his sneakers, taehyung lifts the camcorder into his hands and presses the "start recording?" button.
[the camera flickers on to show taehyung frowning at himself as he attempts to sort his ash grey locks by using his reflection in the camcorder's lens. soon becoming distracted by how unkempt his hair is, taehyung almost forgets the camcorder's recording his actions until he feels a jolt of realisation coursing through his body, smiling sheepishly at the camera as his hand falls from his hair]
[his embarrassed, little smile is hurriedly replaced with a scowl when two brown paper bags, stained with grease (courtesy of the fast food inside), are both placed on his lap]
JUNGHOON: "the healthy shit is for you in case you get hungry. figured you'd prefer carrot sticks over the big mac." [he turns away, taking the takeaway cup of coffee off the mcdonalds worker and thanking her] "thanks for that boh. . . mi? bomi? that your name? huh, cute name for a cute girl."
[taehyung, listening to junghoon flirt, rolls his eyes at the camera, pushing his spectacles further up the bridge of his nose]
[curious, he rifles through the paper bags in search for his "healthy shit" — which he soon finds when his fingertips graze across a couple of packets of bite sized carrot sticks. pulling them out of the bag, taehyung scrunches his nose with distaste at the sight of condensation mingling with warm carrot sticks]
[taehyung leans forward to set the camcorder onto the dashboard before him, making sure the lens faced him before tearing the packet of carrot sticks open and taking one out. hesitant, he nibbles slightly at one end of the vegetable stick]
TAEHYUNG: [taehyung nibbles a little more, looking thoughtful as he does so] "it's not that bad? a little warm, a little watery but otherwise it's alright."
[growls from the backseats emanate, causing taehyung to glance over his shoulder at lily sitting inside her pet carrier and glaring at him with something akin to dislike in her eyes]
[taehyung glances down at his piece of carrot stick, looks up at lily, thinks for a second and the gingerly offers the carrot stick in her direction — and to taehyung's surprise, when he slots the carrot piece inside the pet carrier through the latch, lily immediately grabs ahold and starts gnawing furiously at the vegetable piece, whilst making what sounds like passive-aggressive yips at taehyung]
[taehyung, grinning, turns back round to face the front]
JUNGHOON: "did it hurt when you fell—"
???: "sir, i have other customers to attend to, so please leave now unless you'd like to order something else from the menu."
JUNGHOON: "are you on the menu?"
???: "no."
JUNGHOON: "damn, bomi, why you gotta be so cold?"
[taehyung ignores junghoon's attempts to flirt with bomi, and instead distractedly rummages a little through the brown paper bags, taking note of its cloying contents which he pulls a face at. the stench of meat overwhelming his senses]
TAEHYUNG: [frowns at the contents of the paper bags sitting on his lap] "why is there three of everything?"
JUNGHOON: "huh?" [junghoon glances over at the greasy paper bag taehyung holds up, heavy with the three messily parcelled burgers inside. the boy blinks] "oh. they're all for me."
TAEHYUNG: "all of them??"
JUNGHOON: "yup." [junghoon tears his gaze off bomi again to beam at taehyung, evidently happy with his choice of breakfast. the wide grin he wears on his mouth drops however when he notices the clear disapproval etched onto taehyung's face] "what? im a growing boy — i need the extra junk." [he mutters defensively]
+
[the camera is kickstarted awake by taehyung who's currently sipping at a can of coke as he languidly places the camcorder on the dashboard of junghoon's car, making sure both of them are present within in the camera's focus]
[whilst taehyung adjusts the camcorder's placement and waves a little hello in greeting, junghoon speaks over his mouthful of burger]
JUNGHOON: "so," [junghoon swallows his mouthful of burger] "i said i wanted to get to know my future brother-in-law better, and like what's a better method to do that than by playing twenty questions?" [junghoon takes another bite of his second burger] "ill start first."
[the boy chews slowly, thoughtfully, whilst taehyung sits back in his seat and picks up his mobile phone, his yellow care bear charm (that he bought impulsively from the convenience store by his hotel) swings from his phone's earphone dock]
[junghoon seems to have thought of something as he clears his throat, smiling slyly as he does so]
JUNGHOON: "so grey. . . what're your kinks?"
TAEHYUNG: [the boy glances up from his phone to blink at junghoon] "hm? what are kinks?"
JUNGHOON: ". . ."
JUNGHOON: "i— okay. okay." [junghoon inhales sharply before raising his voice, startling taehyung] "folks, don't panic but we have an Innocent among us—"
[lily barks in alarm at junghoon's volume]
TAEHYUNG: "junghoon, what—"
JUNGHOON: "—we keepin' things PG–13 for grey here on now in order for him to stay pure and a child of god—"
[lily joins in with his exclaiming by barking loudly, creating a commotion that had taehyung wincing]
TAEHYUNG: [the boy, unimpressed, rolls his eyes as he lifts his phone up] "m'gonna google it if you're not gonna explain—"
JUNGHOON: "it's happening. everybody stay calm—stay fucking calm, lily—!"
[lily barks harder]
TAEHYUNG: [reads off his phone screen] "urban dictionary says 'fetish/es seen as unusual to the public, ie. biting, bondage. . . uh, voyeurism. . . s–spanking. . ." [taehyung trails off slowly, startled realisation overtaking his featured]
[junghoon laughs hard in the background]
TAEHYUNG: "i, i, i dont have any kinks!"
JUNGHOON: [laughs even harder] "of course, you don't; you're an Innocent."
TAEHYUNG: [annoyed, taehyung furrows his dark brows at junghoon's side profile] "yeah? well, what're your kinks, mr im-not-an-innocent?"
JUNGHOON: [as soon as taehyung's words leave his mouth, junghoon's laughter slowly trails off to awkward, little chuckles] "uhhh," [junghoon's warm brown eyes dart away from taehyung's questioning gaze, coughing unsubtly as he does so] "uhm, how about. . . we, uh, try to not to make things awkward for each other since you're gonna be marrying my bro soon, hm?"
[taehyung rolls his eyes at the boy's lame response. lily seems to think it to be a poor excuse too as she sends a dismissive glance at junghoon, growling softly with distaste]
JUNGHOON: "but!" but, i can inform you on hyung's kinks if you wanna know?" [he shoots taehyung a sleazy wink which only makes the boy laugh in response, shaking his head with disbelief at the younger's personality]
JUNGHOON: "so?" [he looks expectantly at taehyung, raising his eyebrows in a suggestive manner]
TAEHYUNG: [is embarassed] "alright, alright. uhm, what're k–kook's kinks?"
[junghoon stifles a smile that taehyung doesn't see as he now, very unsubtly, pretends to seem uninterested by examining the ingredients listed on the side of his can of coca cola]
JUNGHOON: "hmm," [junghoon almost laughs at how quickly taehyung's head snaps upwards — a clear indicator that he had the boy's full attention] "mm. . . im fairly certain about one kink he's into — like i think he's super invested in it." [junghoon side eyes taehyung carefully. taehyung, in reply, chews unconsciously on his yellow-and-white striped straw]
TAEHYUNG: "and, uh, what—what is that specific kink?"
JUNGHOON: "i think hyung's biggest kink is," [junghoon lowers his voice ominously] ". . . bestiality."
TAEHYUNG: [he gulps nervously] "and, uh, what's, what's bestiality?" [the boy takes a measured sip of his coke in order to perhaps brace himself for what junghoon's about to say]
[junghoon brings a fist to his mouth, biting down on his knuckles in order to stifle a heart wrenching sob that has taehyung shuffling in his seat, looking so fucking scared, junghoon feels bad]
JUNGHOON: "hyung, he–he likes fucking little animals."
TAEHYUNG: [chokes and unintentionally spews coca cola all over junghoon]
[lily barks excitedly, deciding then and there that kim taehyung is his favourite human (second to haneul though) for spraying junghoon with lukewarm coca cola and offering him those delicious carrot sticks earlier. the small pup makes it her personal goal that day to attract the pretty boy's attention]
+
"alright, what's your question for me?" junghoon mutters, driving one handedly as his other hand uses a balled up paper towel to clean up any traces of coca cola on his skin.
"i really don't have anything in mind, to be honest," he coughs, adjusting his rounded spectacles on the bridge of his nose. "um, do you have any photographs on you of you and kook when you were kids? like the ones in your home?"
". . . im giving you the most perfect opportunity for you to find out more about hyung through me but you just wanna waste the opportunity by looking at our baby photos?" junghoon tuts, shaking his head in disapproval, but still reaching inside his jacket pocket for his mobile phone, "like, i can tell you so many things about hyung that he'll never bother to share with you; things like the first time he bottomed for someone. wasn't a great experience for hyung im guessing since he punched the guy in the face when he went in and accidentally knocked him out. he woke me up at 3am in the fucking morning and made me drive the poor guy to A&E 'cause his ass hurt too much to do it himself." junghoon concludes, laughing and handing his unlocked phone to taehyung who takes it, eyes widening at his words.
taehyung glances down at junghoon's phone screen to see he was in his photo album app, staring at a grainy photograph of three year olds jungkook and junghoon grinning so hard at the camera (that their eyes form crescents), cheetos are shoved up their nostrils. taehyung chuckles at the sight.
"swipe right for more." junghoon smiles.
taehyung does as junghoon says, giggling at the next photo which happens to be of either a ten year old junghoon or jungkook glaring viciously at the camera whilst being kitted out in a black turtleneck, black skinny jeans, several pieces of chunky silver jewellery and boots studded with little spikes. additionally, the boy eyes are heavily lined with black and his face powdered a ghostly shade of white. in the background, taehyung notices an infuriated elderly lady lifting a sandal in the air, seeming to be in mid–warrior cry.
junghoon, noticing taehyung laughing especially hard at this photo, grins, explaining; "hyung tried going to school like that one day but our grandma saw and beat his vampire looking ass, telling him she wasn't gonna drive him all the way to the hospital if he got heatstroke."
taehyung laughs harder in reply, swiping right with his thumb to find yet another low quality photograph of both the twins in their final year at high school, dressed in muddied football wear and looking a lot more like how they look now; tanned by the sun, muscular, dark hair tousled and wearing grins that leave taehyung a tad bit breathless.
fuck, i bet they were super popular in high school, taehyung thinks, wanting to send this specific photograph to his own phone so he could privately drool over them in their red and white coloured football uniform. he suppresses the urge to does so and instead forces himself to swipe right—
"oh my god, oh my gOD. WHAT—WHAT IS THIS?"
"hmm?" junghoon takes a peek at the photograph, grinning, "oh, those are my old high school nudes," junghoon hums, amusement evident in his voice as he studies the image depicted on his mobile phone screen, "man, i was tiny back then. don't worry, i swear im way bigger now."
"why would i fucking worry about your dick size??" taehyung chokes out, hurriedly throwing junghoon his phone back as if the iron man casing could potentially burn a rectangular shaped mark onto his palm.
"'cause you know, you might think hyung's tiny too 'cause we're identical twins." junghoon shrugs, chuckling. "don't wanna have hyung hunting me down later for spreading false information about his dick size."
"junghoon, please stop talking."
+
"s'your turn to ask a question now, grey." they've been playing twenty questions for quite while now, probably passing the limit of twenty long ago.
taehyung thinks for a second, chewing contemplatively on his straw before glancing at junghoon, blurting out; "why. . . why did you cheat on hyung?"
taehyung almost kicks himself for his incapable brain-to-mouth filter 'cause as soon as those words spilled out from his lips, taehyung found himself wanting to swallow back very single word. but what's happened has happened and there's nothing taehyung could do to redraw the flinch that junghoon reacts with.
"oof, we're going for the big questions now, huh?" he coughs, the hand that's not on the steering wheel reaching upwards to cup the back of his neck as he laughs awkwardly. taehyung thinks that the younger has a habit of touching his neck whenever he felt uncomfortable.
taehyung clears his throat now, looking down at the half empty contents of his can of coke that he stirs silently with his straw. "um, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to." he mumbles.
". . . no, ill—ill tell you. it's, uh, it's, it's just a question that people surprisingly haven't bothered to ask me." he replies, quiet.
A YEAR AND A HALF AGO
junghoon focus
"try not to hate me too much for making jimin work over time on your birthday," the dimpled boy calls over his shoulder as he walks away, a grin forming on his face when he hears junghoon groan behind him.
"it's hard not to, hyung!" the boy yells after him, watching as namjoon languidly drapes his charcoal coloured winter coat over his shoulders. "but thanks for coming, hyung." junghoon grins, lazily wiping the messily smeared buttercream icing off his cheek, "we really appreciate it."
"of course ill come; you guys are family." namjoon chuckles, walking towards the front door whilst reaching into the pockets of his coat in search for his lighter and the hand sized box of cigarettes.
junghoon's about to reply warmly back to his hyung's statement when he's suddenly interrupted by someone flinging their entire, full weight into his side, throwing their heavy arms around him and engulfing him whole in an overly tight bear hug. his attention is immediately casted down at the mess in his arms.
"junghoon–ah, hyung wishes you a happy birthday!" jungkook exclaims loudly against junghoon's neck as he clutches at the boy's acid washed denim jacket. junghoon, almost instinctively, wraps his arms around his twin brother and laughs into his dark hair, responding with a muffled, "happy birthday too, hyung."
"no, happy birthday to you." jungkook persists in a croak before the boy starts sniffling loudly. and just as junghoon had preconceived it, his brother breaks down completely, sobbing and crying into his shoulder and weakly mumbling something along the lines of "wish mom and dad were here to see us" and "fucking hell, shithoon, when'd you get such a nice physique?"
and whilst jungkook sobs quietly and distractedly squeezes his brother's left bicep, from his left, junghoon hears yoongi groans; "oh god, who the hell gave the sad drunk alcohol?"
"m'not a sad drunk, hyung!" jungkook protests tearfully, pulling away from junghoon to glare at yoongi through narrowed eyes before returning to his brother's inviting arms and bawling like the sad drunk he is.
"yeah, yeah, sure you aren't, kid." yoongi smiles fondly, rolling his eyes when jungkook mumbles a sequence of incomprehensible words directed to him. junghoon, still laughing, comfortingly pets his brother's soft hair.
"babe, c'mon, you're stifling junghoon." haneul giggles, coming out from nowhere and resting her hand on the small of her boyfriend's back, patting him comfortingly.
the rather emotional twin reluctantly shuffles away from his brother upon hearing haneul's softly spoken words –– but he doesn't let up at all on being a baby because the next thing he's doing is crushing haneul in a bear hug, making the startled, smaller girl stumble a few precarious steps backwards as he tearfully chokes out "love you so so so much, neul" and "you're the bestest."
haneul, in reply, laughs softly, letting her emotional hulk of a boyfriend wrap his arms around her waist and draw her suffocatingly close to his chest.
"love you." jungkook hiccups, "i love love love love you."
"mm, i know you do," is what she hums to him as she reaches up and soothingly runs her perfectly manicured fingers through jungkook's tousled, jet black locks.
glancing upwards, she meets junghoon's warm eyes and simpers under his gaze, smiling sweetly at him before mouthing, "m'gonna take him to the guest room and let him sleep it off. is that okay?"
junghoon, in response, nods, smiles gratefully at his brother's girlfriend before shifting his attention back onto a disgruntled yoongi.
"there's something off about her today," yoongi mutters, folding his arms over his chest as he follows haneul's retreating back with narrowed eyes, "i mean, there's usually something off about her but today it's maximised a hundred times." yoongi explains, flickering his calculative brown eyes onto junghoon, "hm, be careful, hoon."
"hyung, you make it seem like she's a witch out to get me specifically." junghoon laughs, shaking his head with disbelief.
"she is one." yoongi mutters under his breath.
"hyung, haneul's not gonna grow warts and green skin overnight and attack me in my sleep, okay? i think the likelihood of that is near impossible so stop worrying. she's a good person — c'mon, you know that. you've seen her with hyung — she loves him with all her heart." junghoon grins.
"yeah, yeah, whatever," yoongi dismisses, relaxing his stance and shooting junghoon a small smile, "happy birthday, kiddo. you've grown well."
"'you've grown well'? what the hell does that mean?" the boy laughs, raising an eyebrow at yoongi. the later simply smiles knowingly at him before glancing over his shoulder, calling his boyfriend's name. hoseok is currently strewn across junghoon's and jimin's couch, chugging down the celebratory vodka he himself has bought for jungkook and junghoon as a gift.
"seok, for gods sake, quit drinking already. i don't wanna have to spend all night holding back your bangs whilst you throw up," yoongi groans out loud as he walks away from junghoon and towards hoseok who giggles at yoongi, not-so-discreetly tucking the bottle of alcohol behind his back and giggling some more.
junghoon tears his attention off the couple when a small "ding!" emanates from the phone in his palm, indicating that he's got a notification. glancing down at his phone, junghoon smiles at the instantly heart warming message sent to him by jimin.
BABY💘:
i might've missed out your birthday party but im determined!! to!! finish!! hacking this godamn database within an hour so we can celebrate your birthday a little before midnight comes :)))) save me some birthday cake n alcohol if the hyungs haven't downed it already!!
BABY💘:
so see you in an hour-ish! i love you!! ❤️💛💚💙💜❤️💛💚💙💜❤️💛💚💙💜❤️💛💚💙💜❤️💛💚💚💙
BABY💘:
oh and if jungkookie's still there at the apartment, tell him i said happy birthday and i love him lots and that his birthday gift's in the back of our wardrobe!!
junghoon pockets his phone, smiling at his boyfriend's message as he does so — he's still smiling to himself like an idiot when he waves goodbye to an annoyed yoongi and his bumbling drunk of a boyfriend, he's still smiling when he locks the door after them and moves to his hideously untidy kitchenette, fumbling around with the now empty takeaway boxes of greasy pizza and the stray, half melted candles decorating the kitchen's countertops.
"hey, there."
junghoon glances upwards at the sound of haneul's greeting, offering her a small smile.
"is hyung asleep?"
"mhm," haneul reassures, "he's off to dreamland and snoring the entire way."
"yeah?" junghoon chuckles, heading towards the kitchen's bin and dumping the pizza boxes by its side, setting it as a reminder for him to take the trash out tomorrow morning.
suddenly remembering something, junghoon glances back up at haneul, "oh hey, if you're tired, feel free to stay the night here with hyung. there's no need for you to make the journey back to yours so late at night."
"thanks." haneul grins.
"no worries."
"oh, and, junghoon, honey? you're not meant to clean up on your birthday," she hums disapprovingly, shaking her head as she fully walks into the kitchenette's small space, her cream coloured heels click-clacking against the tiled marble floor. "it's basically an unwritten rule." she laughingly announces as she strides over to the steel beast of a refrigerator, opening the appliance up and procuring more of hoseok's celebratory iced vodka. neatly painted, red fingernails encompass the glass neck of the bottle, its hand waving the said item tauntingly at junghoon.
"i don't think that rule applies to the boyfriend of park jimin," junghoon chuckles to himself, rolling up the sleeves of his thrasher hoodie and dutifully resuming his self assigned task of cleaning the kitchen, "better to clean this all up that have my baby whining my ear off tomorrow."
"oh, im sure jiminie could let this pass," haneul assures, walking towards the kitchen island where junghoon's situated and leaning against the polished countertops the boy cleans nicely by wiping the surface down with a dish rag. "c'mon, birthday boy, ive haven't seen you drink at all during the party." haneul coaxes softly, settling the bottle of vodka down on the countertop with a pleasant 'clink'.
junghoon, in reply, raises a dark eyebrow at haneul's persistency — to which the girl flutters her eyelashes in response, smiling innocently.
"i really shouldn't—"
"have one sip as least."
junghoon rolls his eyes playfully, "just one sip?"
"just one sip." haneul agrees, handing junghoon the bottle of alcohol for him to pop open. junghoon does as he's told with a soft sigh before lifting the opened bottle to his lips, tipping his head back and swallowing more iced alcohol than just a mere sip.
"thanks, neul, but i think i should really finish up on cleaning—"
"oh, come on, junghoon–ah," haneul drawls, gazing at junghoon through her lashe, "don't make me drink all this by myself."
. . .
"want more?" she queries once she parts from the bottle, wiping her saliva slick lips with the back of her hand. she suppresses a smirk when she catches junghoon dazedly glancing at her mouth.
"uh, i shouldn't." he slurs, "ive drank too—"
"one more sip? for me?"
. . .
"this is gonna cause such a—such a big! such a big hangover tomorrow." junghoon hiccups, giggling like a child.
"just bask in it for now, junghoon–ah."
. . .
"haneul, i don't think i can—"
"it's okay, junghoon. just one more sip. one last sip, okay?"
. . .
one sip turns to two. two sips to three. three sips to four, and four sips to countless many more. with haneul pressurising him with each sip to take yet another and another, and her watchful, hazel coloured eyes compelling him to follow, junghoon soon becomes an inebriated mess — his vision becoming a whirlwind of colours and his words only creating an incomprehensible jumble.
. . .
"jiminie," junghoon slurs, "i—"
"your baby's busy right now but im right here. i can be your entertainment for tonight, hoon–ah." haneul murmurs, her usually sweetened tone now stripped down to a sultry demeanour.
"wait, i—"
PRESENT
"next thing i know im in hospital for alcohol poisoning and my friends and family fucking hate me." junghoon sighs, almost tiredly. he glances at taehyung, "grey, i never intended to drink that much, and i never intended to do anything with haneul. that night—that night, i had no fucking clue what i was doing, i wasn't moving of my own accord. the selfish bitch just kept pouring alcohol down my throat until i was so fucked i could barely think. for fucks sake, i didn't even realise i had sex with haneul until she visited me in hospital and told me everything."
"and after all that she's done to you, you're still with her," taehyung states quietly. he looks up, "why?"
"as soon as i was discharged from the hospital, i tried to meet up with hyung and explain what'd happened but he didn't let me speak, didn't even bother opening the door when i went round to his apartment. and yoongi hyung, who took jiminie in, didn't allow me to speak to him. yoongi hyung himself, hoseok hyung — all of our friends stopped talking to me after they found out what i did with haneul. i didn't have anyone apart from fucking haneul who kept staying over at mine, claiming she would never leave me like my friends and family did, would love me ten times more than they ever did, and like an idiot, i believed her words."
"you're not an idiot. you were alone and hurt; it's normal to seek out comfort and its just unfortunate that haneul was the only one willing to give it at that time."
junghoon looks momentarily startled by taehyung words; he wasn't expecting taehyung to believe his words so easily let alone console him.
"and junghoon," taehyung, gnawing on his lower lip, mumbles, "you didn't give consent. so what haneul did to you is sexual assault. you, you need to explain this to kook and—"
"i know what she's down," taehyung notices junghoon's blunt nails digging into the soft leather of the steering wheel as he speaks softly, "but im not gonna file a complaint because. . . it's kinda unfair, don't you think? me getting her charged for sexual assault when ive done so much worse? grey, for gods sake; i once worked for a fucking human trafficking ring when i was seventeen."
swallowing hard, taehyung looks away from junghoon at that, feeling so fucking angered, disgusted even, by what the boy's just claimed. looking plenty disgusted himself, junghoon continues speaking with his nails burrowing crescents into the leather of the steering wheel, "and, ive already thought about explaining it to hyung or jiminie but after really thinking it through, ive decided to not to tell them because despite the non consensual sex, haneul and i still became a 'thing' afterwards — an unhealthy thing, yeah, but nevertheless, a thing. meaning that, in a way, ive still cheated my brother and jiminie hyung. it's, it's just pointless now to explain my situation back then and try to win them back."
taehyung doesn't reply to junghoon's words and junghoon makes no effort in trying to chance a response from taehyung — they both sit in the audi, in heavy silence and air too thick to breathe in without feeling suffocated. lily's passive–aggressive growls can even mask the tension within the car as she's sleeping peacefully in her carrier.
"do you—do you love her?" taehyung asks quietly.
"no." junghoon replies firmly without a second thought.
"then why are you still with her?" taehyung says simplistically, staring at junghoon's side profile as he drives. "leave her already and make amends with your hyungs."
"it's," junghoon sighs, "it's not that easy, grey."
"you make it sound like haneul's your life support, that you need her to breathe but." taehyung turns away, mumbling, "maybe she's the thing that's suffocating you. you and jungkook."
junghoon doesn't say anything for a few seconds and again, taehyung doesn't press him for a response. the latter rests his head against the headrest of his seat and stares out of his window at the scenery flitting by until junghoon speaks up.
"i. . . i know that she's bad for me." junghoon murmurs, not looking at taehyung but keeping his eyes on the road ahead, "that's why i keep her around."
the older, furrowing his brows, swivels his head to face junghoon, "what?
junghoon sighs, "im not a good person, grey. im a bad guy, and bad guys never get the good things — they don't deserve it. it's practically a written rule that they should never get the girl, or in this case, jiminie hyung. they don't get the good friends or the nice, easy life. i don't deserve to have hyung or jimin, i deserve haneul. do you. . ." junghoon exhales tiredly, "do you get what im trying to say?"
taehyung narrows his eyes at junghoon, "that has got to be the most idiotic ideology ive ever heard in my entire life."
junghoon frowns at taehyung's strong words, "grey, i—"
"yeah, you're a bad guy. but so's jungkook; he does bad things for a living, but that doesn't stop me from loving him, does it? junghoon," taehyung exhales, "love has no bounds." he states almost fiercely, "just because you're bad, it doesn't mean you can't love and be loved."
junghoon doesn't say anything in response.
+
the two are quiet after that; junghoon driving silently and taehyung resting his elbow on the ledge of the window, cupping his palm as he stares past the glass. the radio is still on, playing so softly that it's not soon before it lulls taehyung to sleep.
junghoon notices the boy's head tilting forwards and jerking back suddenly, bleary eyes blinking in bewilderment at his surroundings before closing once more.
"grey, if you wanna lie down, you can sleep in the back with the rabid bitch." he suggests.
"m'okay," is what taehyung replies with softly but makes no movement to climb into the back. junghoon quirks an eyebrow at this but lets the boy doze off, not bothering to wake up him up.
five minutes later, whilst in traffic, junghoon reaches into the back for his denim jacket that lies across the seats and picks it up, balling the item into a makeshift pillow for taehyung to use. unbuckling his seat belt, junghoon leans over to cup taehyung's cheek, lifting his head slightly to shuffle his denim jacket under before letting him go. he smiles when he notices taehyung cozying up to his makeshift pillow.
drawing the seatbelt over him, junghoon turns away, still smiling as he murmurs out, "thanks tae. thanks for believing me."
lily decides to wake up at that moment, immediately starting her bout of incessant growling.
junghoon rolls his eyes and replies to lily with an; "oh, fuck off."
+
taehyung stirs in his sleep at loud laughter coming from his left, the sound of persistently loud chatter making taehyung reluctantly open his eyes and blearily study his surroundings.
lily yips excitedly behind him, causing him to tear his gaze away from the denim jacket sitting on his lap as a crumpled mess. at her little barks, taehyung looks over his shoulder to see the small pup looking up at him expectantly, pink tongue lolling out of her mouth. he's surprised to say the least when she starts whining, nudging at the latch of her pet carrier dejectedly — so dejectedly, it pulls at taehyung's heartstrings and he immediately finds himself reaching for the latch.
he stops himself short though, remembering this morning when she literally looked like she wanted to dismember taehyung. lily whines again. taehyung feels conflicted.
"please don't bite my fingers off." taehyung finally says, sighing before reaching for the pet carrier with shaky hands, unlatching it slowly and allowing the pup to gingerly nose the front open. delighted, she barks in what taehyung presumes is joy. cute.
"hey," taehyung peers to his right when he hears the aforementioned accompanied with the car door opening. taehyung sleepily watches the boy slide into the driver's seat, a packet of strawberry laces in his hand which he soon proffers to taehyung. taehyung, still half–asleep, takes the packet and simply holds it in his hand, yawning.
"are we nearly at kook's?" taehyung murmurs, finally looking out of the window to see that they were currently parked at a busy petrol station — that explains the cacophony that had woken taehyung up and the smell of petrol that he now wrinkles his nose at (he wasn't one of those people who liked the smell of petrol).
"yeah, we'll be at his in around thirty minutes." junghoon hums nonchalantly.
taehyung, suddenly awake, swivels his head round to face junghoon, his eyes widened and jaw slackened with surprise. "w–what? thirty minutes?"
"yeah, it's—"
lily barks at the boy. junghook glances at the pup through the rear view mirror and immediately sharply inhales at the sight of her proudly parading around atop the backseats of his car. "who the hell let the rabid bitch out?"
"i did," taehyung mutters out, distracted with tearing open his packet of strawberry laces, "she looked sad."
"oh god, oh god, oh god, don't make eye contact with her," junghoon tells himself, "don't make eye contact. making eye contact with her is like challenging her to pee all over the seats. or worse; she's gonna claw the leather upholstery apart—"
"she seems sorta sweet," taehyung says, chewing on a strawberry lace. "c'mere, lily." he says, setting his gifted confectionary down on his lap and reaching carefully for the elated ball of caramel coloured fluff that practically jumps into his arms. giggling, taehyung pulls her close to his chest before turning round to beam at an aghast junghoon.
"fuck, grey, she's turned you over to the dark side—"
taehyung burrows his cheek against the pomeranian's soft fur and rolls his eyes at the boy's words, "oh, don't be dramatic, junghoon."
lily glances up then and junghoon swears the puppy's smirking at him.
+
thirty minutes pass by in a flash.