Taehyung searched for his own place while he stayed at Jeongguk's house, but he still hadn't found something cheap, nice, and close to the cafe. The few small apartments he could afford were too far away from the cafe and without good transit.
When he stumbled upon a good apartment that was only thirty minutes away from the cafe and with reasonable rent, he was exhilarated to go see it. Of course, Jeongguk went with him, not one bit excited at the idea of Taehyung moving out. The moment they walked into the small apartment, Jeongguk scrunched up his nose in sheer disapproval.
No, there wasn't anything wrong with the apartment; it was actually way better than his previous one and in a lot safer neighborhood, but Jeongguk complained about it being on the ground floor and how dangerous that was.
Taehyung argued back with, "But the landlord said that this neighborhood is safe," and accompanied his remark with a deep pout.
But Jeongguk didn't buckle. "It will be too noisy, you won't be able to sleep properly," were his exact words before he seized his hand and dragged him out of the small apartment.
And that was how almost a week later, the two boys were still living together. Jeongguk couldn't be happier about it since he could take care of him and spend time with him, but Taehyung felt bad for staying for so long in his house. He began feeling like a burden to the younger, even though he had never shown anything like that to him.
Taehyung said nothing to him about how he was feeling, even though they had come way closer after their little game in Jeongguk's office. It was natural for the two boys to touch and hug each other almost all the time, and even in front of their friends now.
A couple of days after his fight with Jimin and Seokjin, the two boys went to the cafe and apologized for what they did. Despite that they didn't do it on purpose, they felt awful for making Taehyung so mad. The black-haired boy apologized too since he was harsh on them, and in the end, the three of them forgot about what happened almost instantly.
Jeongguk's hyungs were oblivious to his and Taehyung's bond, and that was why they had asked so many questions that day, not knowing it was too much for Taehyung. With Jeongguk working again until late, the three boys went to the cafe to eat three days later and took the opportunity to apologize to him as well.
Of course, all of his anger had disappeared the moment he realized that Jeongguk wasn't mad at him for telling them everything. So when Taehyung apologized to them too for yelling, everything went back to normal again.
Jeongguk hadn't talked to his hyungs about Taehyung, and they didn't want to pressure him to do it. Although, what the two boys didn't know was that after Taehyung left to go to Jeongguk's office, the five boys talked about them. Jimin and Seokjin stated with confidence that Jeongguk cares about the black-haired boy, but his hyungs couldn't believe it since he wasn't like that usually.
That was why Yoongi went to his office with Taehyung's phone as an excuse. And that was why he was being a jerk, just to see how the younger would react, and Yoongi realized that Jimin and Seokjin were right. It was the first time after his father's death that Jeongguk got so close to another person.
He found it odd, to be honest, but he didn't question anything. In fact, maybe it was quite surprising for him, but Yoongi was relieved that the younger was able to open up to someone after so many years, and his other two hyungs were happy about it as well.
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Taehyung was working at the cafe like usual when three familiar boys walked inside twenty minutes before the end of his shift. He skipped gleefully towards them, but his smile faltered when he noticed that Jeongguk wasn't there.
"What? You thought we were some other people or something?" Yoongi asked with a snicker as the three of them sat at an empty table.
"No, he was just expecting to see Jeongguk," Namjoon said teasingly.
"Yes, I was, where is he again?" He crossed his arms, annoyed, as a pout surfaced on his lips.
"Working," Hoseok stated with a sigh.
"Why are you guys making him work extra hours?"
The two boys looked at Yoongi accusingly, making the boy huff. "I just told him to do his unfinished work a week ago. I'm not making him work extra hours now."
"Yeah, he told me about it. You were such a jerk." Taehyung made a tsk sound as he shot him a disdainful glare.
"I'm still your hyung though, so watch your mouth," Yoongi spat out in a cautionary tone.
Taehyung stuck his tongue out at him with a moue of sheer contempt. "Do I look like I care?"
"You're so bold now, I like it!" Hoseok chirped.
"We'll talk to him about working extra hours, don't worry, Tae," Namjoon reassured with a smile.
Taehyung nodded before returning behind the bar. He served some customers for the next fifteen minutes and then started cleaning around the bar. Jeongguk still hadn't appeared, and he couldn't help but sigh once he finished wiping the counter. He went to change his clothes, and when he was ready, he trod outside and plumped down onto a stool, waiting for him as usual.
Yoongi noticed the boy sitting alone and furrowed his eyebrows. "What is he doing?"
"I don't know," Namjoon said.
"Go tell him to come here."
"If you want him here, go tell him yourself." Hoseok cast him a sly smile, earning a glower from him.
"You're so annoying, Hoseok," Yoongi hissed with an eye roll. "I just said that so he won't wait alone."
The two boys shared a knowing look and then returned their gaze to him. Yoongi mumbled something that sounded like a curse as he stood up and plodded towards the black-haired boy. "What are you doing?"
Yoongi's strict tone startled him, but he averted his gaze elsewhere again, resting his chin in his palm lazily. "Waiting for Jeongguk."
"Come sit with us."
"Why? You don't like me anyway."
"Who said I don't?"
"I can see it, you know." He sighed as he folded his arms over the counter and laid his head turned sideways on them.
Yoongi eyed him in silence for a stretch. He didn't dislike the boy. He was just cautious. He shouldn't be doubting his intentions for his dongsaeng, but he couldn't help the fraction of doubt that nested inside him. "Fine, the others like you, so stop acting like a baby," he said, apathetic, and headed back to his table.
Taehyung groaned at his callous, impassive behavior. What's his problem? He found himself thinking as he hopped off the stool and walked with droopy shoulders towards the three boys.
The two of them smiled upon seeing him and carried on with their conversation as Yoongi didn't even glance at him. "It's been a week and still we haven't found a model for the photoshoot," Hoseok said, frustrated. "Why is it so hard to find a male model?"
"I don't know. We met with so many candidates and all of them just seemed brainless." Yoongi shook his head as he recalled the disastrous interviews.
"Why do you guys care about how smart they are? You want them to pose for a camera, not solve quadratic equations or something," Taehyung said with a frown.
"They have to be able to put two sentences together at least." A low chuckle followed Namjoon's remark.
Hoseok scrutinized the black-haired boy quietly as the others continued chatting and arguing. "You know what?" he blurted out after a moment, drawing their attention to him. "Taehyung is really beautiful."
The said boy's brows bumped together in confusion as the three of them stared at him in depth. "This is really awkward, guys," he breathed out as he hid his face into his hands, embarrassed.
"Taehyung, have you ever thought of modeling?" Namjoon asked with a small smile as he took a notebook out of his bag.
"No?" Taehyung was baffled to the bone about where all of this was going.
"Would you be interested in that?"
His mouth opened and closed without any words coming out at first at Namjoon's inquiry. "I don't know anything about modeling."
"Don't worry about that. The photographer will give you all the directions," Hoseok said.
"Are you guys seriously asking me to model?"
"Yes." Namjoon nodded.
"Why? I'm not even that handsome," Taehyung whispered as he ducked his head.
The two of them broke into laughter as Yoongi just snorted and shook his head. "Taehyung, honey, are you blind?" Hoseok snickered.
"I'm serious," he said, not even a hint of playfulness in his tone, causing the two of them to lose their smiles.
"We are too, Tae," Namjoon said. "We wouldn't be talking about this if we weren't serious. You are extremely handsome, and we want you to be the model for our next photoshoot. Do you want to do it?"
Taehyung stayed silent as he mused over it. He had never pictured himself modeling, and of course, he didn't know anything about it.
"You will get a lot of money too. We pay well, you know," Namjoon added after seeing the hesitant look on his face.
"Um, let me just think about it for today," Taehyung uttered, and the others nodded in response.
The boys started eating after a while, and Jeongguk was still nowhere to be found. He hadn't texted or called Taehyung at all, and he was in a sulk the whole time.
After another ten minutes, Yoongi decided to call him to see what was taking him so long, but he didn't answer his phone. "Is he still working? What the hell..."
"It's okay, maybe he went home already," Taehyung muttered, his disappointment shining through his bitter tone and gloomy face. He slithered out of his seat a few seconds later and slouched towards the kitchen. He placed his order to Inguk but didn't return to his seat.
"Jeongguk's not here, huh?" Inguk asked with a sympathetic smile as he glanced at the boy, who leaned against the wall with crossed arms.
"Yeah, maybe he was tired and forgot to pick me up or something. It's not a big deal."
"Did you call him?"
"Yoongi did, but he's not picking up."
"Why don't you call him, hmm?" Inguk prompted in a soft tone as he finished what he was doing and looked at the boy.
"But Yoongi did already. Twice."
"It's okay. Why don't you try?"
Taehyung shrugged a lazy shoulder and fished his phone out of his pocket, only to see a message from Jeongguk that was sent fifteen minutes ago. Fuck.
Jeongguk: Hey, I'm really tired so I'm heading home. Hanae will wait for you outside of the cafe to drive you here.
What is going on? Taehyung frowned once he read his message. No matter how tired Jeongguk was, he always stopped by the cafe to pick him up and take something for them to eat.
"What is it?" Inguk asked, concerned.
"Jeongguk said that he's tired so he's heading home."
"Maybe he had a lot of work today? Don't worry about it."
"Thank you, hyung." Taehyung took his package and scurried outside. "Bye guys," he said to the three boys, who peered at him in confusion.
"What happened?" Hoseok questioned.
"Jeongguk is home, don't worry. He said he was tired," Taehyung explained in a hurry, and once the three boys said their goodbyes, he surged out of the cafe, only to be greeted by a smiling Hanae.
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