It had been a long day. The last few patient fans still queued to come and see us. It was always so nice to connect with the fans face to face, but the hours spent greeting hundreds of people were long and tiring.

I gazed at Taehyung, he was smiling and playing with a young fan, doing silly faces. I felt a pull inside and had to look away.

A young woman had appeared out of nowhere and she stood in front of me, smiling. She saw me looking at Taehyung and her smile widened, her eyes sparkling.

"This is for you and Taehyung." She looked at me in earnest, passing the boxes over the signed posters. I snapped out of it.

"Ah hello, thank you." I smiled.

The two small boxes were beautifully wrapped and decorated with large silver bows. I bowed my thanks. She said:

"It's really important that you both open them at the same time, together." She pointed at Taehyung at the other end of the long table and then back at me. Then blushed and bowed, flustered.

"They are form all the fans here in Seoul, we made a collection and decided together what to get you..." she was emotional, unshed tears twinkling in her eyes. She beamed at me and then at Taehyung who happened to see her -they exchanged energetic waves.

"That's beautiful, thank you. I really appreciate you coming over here today and seeing us, it's wonderful to see you. I am really grateful for the presents and I'll make sure we will open them with Taehyung, together, straight after this, OK?" I reassured her and smiled showing my bunny teeth. That always seemed to cheer them up no end.

"Would you like me to take a picture for you, or sign something?"

She nodded furiously and smiled through the tears. She passed me her phone and while I was taking the selcas she said:

"We wanted you guys to know how much you guys mean to us and that we will always support you and love you, no matter what." She sniffled.

I passed her phone back and held her hand, gently.

"Thank you. I really appreciate that and I will tell Taehyung what you said. I know he will feel the same."

It was time for the next person to come and speak to me, so she had to move along. She held on to my hand for as long as possible, until the very last tip of a finger.

"Remember what I said!" she exclaimed. She walked away, wiping her tears.

Glancing at the boxes, I wondered what was in them and why Taehyung had to open them with me.

*

"Hey, you ok? That was a long one, huh?" I said to Taehyung when we were stretching our legs after the fan sign event. We were all hungry and tired and desperate to go home.

"Yeah I'm ok, I'll survive." His smile was tired but still dazzling. It took my breath away.

"Listen, there was a girl today who brought us something..." I started.

"Us? You mean all of us?" he asked.

"No, just me and you." I said, trying not to sound excited about it.

"Oh, well let's see it then."

"No, I think we should wait until we get back. I just wanted to tell you I had them and that I promised her we would open them together." I said, matter-of-factly.

With our bellies full and in the privacy of our dimly lit room, we got comfortable. Tae removed his jacket, revealing his gorgeous, slim but shapely arms. The sleeveless black top emphasised the pearl necklace even more, his slim waist was feminine and supple. My mouth felt dry. When he lay down on the bed like a movie poster, I temporarily lost the ability to speak. How beautiful could a person be?

While I was trying to find my voice, I dug around in my backpack for the presents.

I passed one to Tae and I kept one for me to open. They both had a tag labelled "TaeKook" on them. I gazed at it, silently. What an earth was this...?

I nodded to Tae when he asked me with his eyes whether to open it. We ripped the beautiful wrapping paper at the same time. Tae picked up the silver bow and placed it on his head, doing a cute face. I could hardly stand it. How could someone so sexy look so cute and innocent at the same time? My breath shook.

Tae managed to open his first.

The beautiful wrapping paper revealed a large, dark blue jewellery box. I stopped opening mine and concentrated on Taehyung.

He looked at me, his face a question.

I shook my shoulders. "I have no idea. Open it."

Excited, his long, delicate fingers wrapped around the edges and opened the box slowly, cherishing every moment. He was clearly trying to guess what was in the box. If this was the amount of joy he experienced opening one tiny present, I hoped I'd get to see him opening presents at Christmas. Seeing his face would be better than any present.

The box was open, and he looked at the contents, his eyes shining.

"Well, what is it?" I said, impatient.

"It's two things... one for you and one for me..." he said slowly, looking up in wonder.

"They are even engraved with our names. Both of our names, in both of them." Awe turning into confusion.

"What do you mean? What are they?" I pulled the box out of his hands. There were two beautiful, modern design, men's silver bracelets in the box and the insides of both of them had an engraving "Taehyung ***TAEKOOK*** JungKook" written in large, clear letters.

We both stared at each other for a long moment.

"What is this? What does this mean?" Tae asked me in deep confusion.

"I have no idea but now I need to know what's in the other one!" I ripped the rest of the paper off urgently and sat down on the bed with Tae.

"What can it be?" he said, all excited again, his hand innocently squeezing my arm muscles. I really must get him some presents...

Slowly, I eased the sides apart and opened the lid. I gasped. The meaning of the bracelets was suddenly clarified by the fact that the second box contained an exquisite set of couple rings, with both of our names engraved onto both of the rings.

"Holy shit!" I said and we stared at each other, silently. In shock, I dropped the box onto the bed.

Staring at it, Taehyung scratched his head in dismay. "I don't know what to say. What does this mean? That they want us to be a couple?" He looked at me, confused.

His eyes widened. "They think we ARE a couple!!" His fine fingers covered his mouth in shock.

Colour drained from his face, I worried he was going to pass out.

Suddenly, he jumped and squealed.

"I want to try them on! I want to try them on!!!!" The shock suddenly forgotten, he was excited and playful. I could not resist playful Taehyung. "Quick, quick, quick!" impatiently he wriggled his fingers at me.

"C'mon, do it for me!" He put on a very feminine pose, pretending to fan himself in dizziness as if I had just asked him to marry me. He held his delicate hand on his chest and exclaimed "I DO! I mean, YES! I will marry you Jeon JungKook" he giggled and extended his hand out dramatically, fingers straightened, at the ready.

But as soon as I grabbed his hand and pushed the ring on, suddenly, he fell silent. It fitted perfectly. Silently, I sunk deep into his chocolate gaze, still holding his hand.

Without saying a word, he wanted my ring. His impatient fingers would not stop wriggling until the ring was in his hand. Gently holding my hand, he looked into my eyes and silently pushed the ring onto my ring finger. Then, entirely unexpectedly, he lifted my hand to his mouth, and he kissed my ring finger, affectionately.

My stomach lurched, my lungs suddenly empty of air. It didn't look like he was joking anymore.

As quickly as the seriousness had arrived, it disappeared and jovial Taehyung was back.

"There!" His smile was wide and dazzling. "I pronounce you husband and wife!" he announced loudly and giggled. "Or should it be husband and husband?" he bit his finger, trying not to laugh. He failed.

Shy and flustered, I looked down. Secretly, if I were entirely honest with myself, I was hoping, more than anything, that this was for real. If only he could be all mine...

"And, and, and! Where's the bracelets, I want the bracelets!" he jumped up on the bed, bouncing on his knees, giggling and clapping his hands together.

I smiled and passed him the box. He opened it like it were a treasure chest he had just discovered and the bracelets within were his loot. He picked one and held it up to the light, admiring it, turning it from side to side.

"They really are rather lovely. The fans must have taken a long while to decide which ones to get." He spoke, quiet and serious, suddenly remembering why they had bought them.

His eyes were dark and deep when he gazed at me, wordlessly.

"Why... why do you think they got them for us?" he hesitated, his voice uneven. He looked down and fiddled with a non-existent bit of fluff on his knee.

I stared at him without an answer.

He braved a look but coyly avoided my eyes once he saw me looking.

After a silence that felt like an eternity, I said:

"Well... I don't think it matters why. I think what matters is that that they went through all that effort... getting organised over this, collecting money, deciding which ones to get -probably voting over it- so much effort, just to tell us to they love us, only us two... so it doesn't matter why, we should at least acknowledge the gifts... I think, you know... show them that we have them and that we love them? And that we want to thank them?" My voice fell into the silence of the room.

Quiet for once, he nodded, admiring the jewellery on his left hand.

"Well, they are beautiful." He smiled wistfully. "and I don't mind being your partner-in-crime." His voice was low and quiet, surprisingly serious.

Again, our eyes lingered.

"Well, the next time we're out and about, we should make sure we wear them so that the fans see them." I went to remove the bracelet to put it back in the box.

"But I want to wear mine all the time...!" toothy smile. "...And if I wear mine, then you'll have to wear yours, otherwise it's pointless!" he dared me.

Not entirely sure what I was promising, I agreed.

The perfectly fitting jewellery was beautiful and looked very attractive. But wearing it gave me a very strange, unexpectedly strong feeling in the pit of my stomach. I felt connected to Taehyung on a whole new level. Why would a bit of jewellery do that? Was it because he was the one who had put it on me?

It felt like the jewellery made our connection, which was primarily a mental connection, into a physical connection and a connection that was and had been noticed by other people -and therefore it had to be real. I was confused.

This physicality evoked all sorts of previously unseen sights that continuously swam in my deprived, needy mind. I struggled to contain my feelings, especially in the vicinity of Taehyung. It took my constant, extreme effort to not drag him somewhere where people could not see us and ravish him until he cried tears of happiness.

My desire for Taehyung became solid, realised. I could no longer pretend it did not exist; ignoring it became nigh-on impossible.

I was frequently caught off guard by moments where I would suddenly imagine him naked under me, restrained, with his wrists shackled above his head, his naked body struggling against the restraints, his face distorted in desire...and invariably these thoughts turned me on until I was a dribbling wreck.

Before going to bed every night, I had to relieve myself of the sexual frustrations that had been gathering all day. Sleeping against his soft body every night was becoming incredibly difficult.

*

I was helping Jin by setting the table for everyone while he cooked. Having dinner together was something we all tried to do every day, as a wind down time, adjusting from working together to hanging out together. Not that things were that formal, it was just nice to sit together and catch up on what had been happening during the day. A proper family dinner.

Jimin, Hobi and Namjoon were playing on the console, shooting and shouting so much that I could see Yoongi getting annoyed over the noise. His eyes were drooping even though he was doing his best to sit up and socialise.

"Hey that's nice, is it new?" Jin commented on the jewellery, reaching for the saltshaker and seasoning the food sizzling in the pan.

I shook my wrist and admired it "Yeah, it's nice. The fans gave them to us."

"Us?" he asked. He looked at me, curious.

"Yeah, last week, a fan gifted them to us -they're engraved and everything." I took the bracelet off and showed him the engraving on the inside. He stared at it for a long while, quiet.

"And Taehyung has the same one?" I nodded. He reached to put the bracelet back on for me. He held my hand and noticed the ring. Rubbing it, he said:

"Wow, this is nice too." His voice quiet and steady.

"Hm-mm Taehyung has one too, they are engraved as well. Isn't it sweet?" I smiled, thinking of the thoughtful fans.

Jin mixed the food in the pan. He was quiet for a long moment before asking:

"So why are you wearing them? Now I mean, why are you wearing them now when they are not here to see them?" apart from the raised eyebrows, his face was completely emotionless.

"Oh, Taehyung is being silly, he wants to wear them...what can I do?" I smiled and rolled my eyes, pretending to be exasperated. I hadn't thought about the guys noticing and what they might think about us wearing them... a worry crept into my spine.

"I see." His attention on the food, he said: "hey do you mind telling everyone that dinner's nearly ready?" he changed the subject suddenly, looking away.

There was something in his tone that made me wary.