Things were getting better, Jungkook supposed. The past week went by, surprisingly, in the blink of an eye. It was the end of the semester and exams had just passed and he felt pretty confident in himself this time around. Perhaps it was due to the study sessions Yoongi insisted they do. It was fun and allowed them some time to just sit quietly together; bask in each other's presence. The wedding was in a little over three weeks, meaning they had some time to kill. Jungkook wasn't particularly thrilled about sitting through the ceremony, but he'd do it for Yoongi.
"Kook!"
Ah, right. Taehyung frowned as he waved a hand in front of the redhead's face, eyebrows furrowed. Jungkook blinked a few times in surprise before giving the other a confused look.
"Were you even listening?"
"Uh. Depends."
"You ass."
Jungkook feigned offence. "Hey! Language! And I'll have you know that my ass is very sexy."
"Right," Taehyung snorted. "Anyways, you're coming with me to mine and Jiminie's apartment."
The younger stopped. "What? Why? Wait, you didn't even ask."
"I know. I don't need to because you're going to whether you want to or not. We can study together."
"Study? Exams just passed. Besides, college doesn't start back up for another month. Why do you wanna study?"
Taehyung pouted and whined, "please just come over. I wanna hang out with my best friend."
Honestly, Jungkook didn't think he could say no even if he wanted to.
"Alright, fine."
"Yay~!"
The walk to the shared apartment was fairly short, Taehyung oddly silent as they reached the building. As they entered the apartment, Jungkook noticed a certain pair of shoes missing from their spot by the door.
"Hey, uh, where's Jimin-hyung? i thought he'd be here, too," Jungkook asked, letting out a nervous chuckle.
Taehyung hummed, pulling off his shoes then making his way to the main room. "He's out."
The elder sat on the couch, eyeing Jungkook curiously from his position. The redhead felt as though he was being scrutinized. He shuffled over to the couch and sat on the opposite side of Taehyung. Tension hung thick and heavy in the air. It was the first time he'd ever felt uncomfortable being in his friends' apartment.
"So, umm," he began, clearing his throat in hopes of breaking the uncomfortable atmosphere.
"Kook," Taehyung began, staring long and hard at the younger. "You love Yoongi, right?"
"What? What kind of question is that?" Jungkook snapped, anger instantly bubbling up inside of him. "What makes you think I don't love him?"
Taehyung frowned. "That's not what I meant."
"Then what did you mean, Tae?"
The elder was silent a moment, biting his bottom lip in thought. He didn't expect Jungkook to get so defensive so soon. Yoongi was definitely the trigger. Perhaps he'd need to try a different approach.
"Well, I was just asking because, to be honest," he paused, licking his lips nervously. "He's not that good a person."
"Excuse me?"
"I don't know, Kook. It's just... Isn't weird that right after Yeongseo, his boyfriend, was murdered, he started going out with you?"
"I don't know what the fuck that has to do with anything. Are you trying to say he has no feelings or something?"
"Well..."
"No. Shut the fuck up, Tae. You don't know shit. He was so depressed after all that. Do you know how much pain he was in? It was just by chance that we happened to get together after that. It has nothing to do with Yeongseo," Jungkook growled, jumping to his feet. "He needed someone there for him, okay? He was scared. It hurt seeing how sad he got. I thought I helped him but- I did more harm than good-"
"What?" Taehyung interrupted, eyebrows furrowed. "Did more harm than good? What are you talking about? What happened?"
Jungkook's heart sank. "That's... That's none of your business."
"No. What do you mean?" Taehyung continued, standing.
"It's none of your concern, alright? If you were truly my friend, you would let it go."
The room became silent, Jungkook glaring at Taehung, who simply eyed him cautiously. Jungkook cursed himself for being so stupid and slipping up like that.
"You... You did it, didn't you?" Taehyung whispered, taking a step back, eyes wide and fearful.
Jungkook's heart began to race. "Did what?"
"You killed Yeongseo."
"I-"
"You killed him. That's why you said you did more harm than good. You hurt Yoongi-hyung in your ploy to get rid of the competition."
Taehyung yelped as he was shoved against the wall, Jungkook's arm against his throat, and body holding him still. The younger had his head down, biting his bottom lip and breathing heavily. Fear rushed through Taehyung, heart sinking as he realized he was trapped. What would Jungkook do to him?
"You... You don't know what you're talking about," the redhead began, voice wavering. "He was a bad guy. He was using hyung. He deserved it..."
"Jungkook, what are you talking about? You murdered him! No one deserves that."
The younger grit his teeth and shoved Taehyung harder. "You think I don't know that? You think I don't regret everything I've done?" His voice shook as he spoke, lowering to a whisper.
"Kook-"
"I get it, okay? I know what I did was wrong. I... I'm so fucked up that I go and do that... I don't know what to do now." He looked up, eyes full of tears and lip quivering- he looked scared... "God, I- I'm holding you up against the wall-" his eyes widened as he said that and he jumped back, trembling.
"Kook... It's okay. I don't really understand what happened exactly, or why it did, but," Taehyung paused, biting his lower lip again. "You can talk to me, yeah? I can see that you're scared of all of this... Whatever happened, it definitely didn't occur when you were in the right state of mind. I admit that it was wrong for me to just spring this out of nowhere, but I'm worried about you, Kook. You're not okay. Does Yoongi-hyung know about any of this?"
"No," Jungkook whined gripping his hair. "I'm too afraid to tell him. I don't know how he'd react and, to be honest, I'm afraid of losing him."
"I know, Kook, but he deserves to know. If he really loves you, then he'll try to help. At least think about it?"
"...Okay."
"Okay." Taehyung nodded and went back to the couch, huffing out a breath a smiling weakly as he sat. "This was pretty stressful for the both of us, huh? How about we take a load off and watch one of your favorite movies?"
The younger hummed low in his throat, slowly making his way back to his spot, a little grateful that the subject was dropped. "Only if it's Iron Man..."
"Of course!"
~
"Yoongi baby!"
The few patrons in the cafe turned to stare at the man in the doorway, large heart-shaped grin overtaking his face. His cheeks dimpled adorably and his fiery orange hair was reminiscent of the sun itself. Yoongi gasped and stood up, smiling widely as he was suddenly engulfed into a tight embrace.
"Hoseokie," he mumbled, unable to stop his giggles. "It's been a while."
The two settled in a booth together, both still grinning like madmen. They hadn't seen each other in over two years, so of course they were excited. Yoongi had just heard that Hoseok was back in town and nearly cried when he received the call. He really missed him. A lot. The conversation carried on with ease, both excitedly chattering about anything and everything. It was nice.
"So," Hoseok began, taking a sip from his soda. "Heard you got a boyfriend. Spill the tea, sis."
Yoongi chuckled. "Alright. His name is Jungkook. That's all you're getting."
Hoseok gasped, pretending to look offended. "That's it? And I thought we were friends."
Something about that name felt familiar... Hoseok just couldn't place it.
"Say," he began, making a show of rubbing his chin in thought. "What's his full name? Somehow I feel like I've heard that name before..."
The elder eyed him curiously, answering "Jeon Jungkook. Why?"
Hoseok's eyes widened a fraction, before he smiled, albeit awkwardly. "Ah, I see. I guess I was mistaking him for someone else. Anyways, hyung, tell me how university is going."
'That was weird, Yoongi thought. 'Anyways, I should introduce him to Jungkook.'
It sure seemed like a good idea.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Edit: UH hello... I didn't expect so many people to read this all of a sudden.. Thank you (///>~<///) I'll try and update soon. So sorry for the wait hnnng.