two weeks later

"ha, i overtook you!" taehyung mocked, pressing down on the buttons of the wii-controller. after jeongguk was sure of taehyung's almost everyday-stay in the hospital with him, he asked his older brother to bring a second controller, so that the two of them can play together.

after hearing taehyung say that, jeongguk smirked. the smaller male still sucked at that game, but seeing and hearing the brunet so happy was worth letting him win.

"I WON!" taehyung shouted excitedly once the game ended. a chuckle left jeongguk's lips as he saw the ranking of the players. "you didn't, you're place seven."

"but you're on nine! i won against you, that's all that matters." boxy smile back on display, taehyung reached over to the cupboard next to the hospital bed and took a piece of chocolate. "now i deserve to eat this baby." he felt cool while saying that, even cooler when he happily chewed down on the sweet treat.

jeongguk just watched him amused, never getting enough of the younger's adorableness. it's been two weeks and a few days since the two high schoolers have met, or at least got to know each other, since they go to the same school already and probably passed each other there.

the ravenette never thought he could be able to build up a friendship with someone younger than him. see it this way, jeongguk doesn't have any friends in school. besides taehyung now.

his friends were always his two hyungs- seokjin and namjoon.

they were the only ones he spends time with, the only ones he enjoys spending time with. sure, there are people at school that he sometimes hangs out with, bust most of the time it's just them playing basketball in the school yard.

usually, jeongguk rather isolates himself from other students his age. or younger.

but suddenly he found fun in spending time with taehyung- not that he doubted that before.

it was just surprising.

"so ggukie..." taehyung squinted his eyes a little daringly, and jeongguk raised an eyebrow, noticing that the younger was hiding something behind his back.

"what is?" jeongguk asked, trying to peak behind the brunet and see what he is hiding, though all in vain, as taehyung rolled down the bed.

"unfair, you know i can't follow you." jeongguk pouted and taehyung giggled, looking at the pipes and bandages on jeongguk. "i know and i'm glad."

"you're enjoying this too much," jeongguk scoffed, taehyung shrugged.

"so, excited to see what i'm hiding?" taehyung, tippled around the whole white room, not giving jeongguk any chance to see the hidden item behind the 15-years-old's back.

"tell me."

"ta-da!" taehyung said with a wide grin as he pulled out- "a book?" jeongguk questioned, rather annoyed.

"no, no, no, this is actually my favorite book." taehyung walked back to the older's bed, ignoring his unimpressed expression. "ggukie... i want to read a little for you."

that surprised the 17-years-old. "what, why?"

taehyung bit his lip. "i feel like... you won't judge me when i tell you that i read romances." jeongguk tilted his head, amazed. he expected taehyung to be someone who is into adventures, or supernatural plots, but romances were quite surprising.

but, even though it's surprising, he doesn't judge. never would.

"do others judge you because of the books you read?"

taehyung's cheeks and ears turned red, a nervous laughter leaving his lips. "they probably would if i told them. my best friend... he's one year older than me and he is so cool, so masculine and strong and... even if he is my best friend i think he'd at least make fun of me. so would my other friends."

"because you read romances?" taehyung bit his lip, looking down. "it's because... they're gay romances." he never admitted it to anyone before. not even his grandma.

he expected jeongguk to laugh or to pull out a joke, but all the older boy did was give him a reassuring, comforting smile, instantly letting him know that everything was alright.

"let me hear a little then."

taehyung's eyes lit up hearing these words. he thanks jeongguk quietly for letting him share his secret with him and for accepting this guilty pleasure of taehyung's.

taking a deep sigh, taehyung opens page one of the book, beginning to read. his voice was quite, slow and there was a little stutter in the words at the beginning, but once the flow caught him, he read freely, expressing the characters emotions by changing his voice, sometimes making grimaces, or adding a laugh at the end.

"he saw two men on horses advancing his location in a fast speed, heard people shout at him to get out of the way, but somehow the farm boy couldn't move. his body, soul and mind like frozen."

jeongguk leaned back on the bed, taehyung's honey voice filling his mind.

"that was until someone suddenly grabbed his arm and pulled him to the side, making him crash against a broad chest, as the two riders continued their way through the crowd without any care of the world. the boy finally snapped out of his shock-stare as he felt two strong arms tightly wrapped around his waist."

jeongguk wondered if taehyung would consider getting together with a boy.

"he knows, he should free himself, he shouldn't be so close to a stranger, but he was scared to lose this feeling of sudden security once the unknown owner of the arms let's go of him.
the boy closed his eyes."

jeongguk closed his eyes.

"are you alright?"

the brunet continued reading out loud for the ravenette and jeongguk enjoyed every second of it, not getting bored at all, as he had originally expected. he was just as invested in hearing the story, as taehyung was invested in reading it.

"'your soulmates initials will be engraved into this pendant, once you get to meet them,' the old lady said. her voice and way of using words was very convincing. but the boy wasn't dumb, he knew something like this doesn't exist. soulmates. what is that supposed to mean anyway?"

jeongguk didn't know he could ever fall in love with listening to a romantic story, read by a 15-years-old in his own hospital room.

a while later, the ravenette noticed the younger boy's words getting slower, his voice wavering and he even heard a quiet yawn in between. not surprisingly at all, it was almost 10pm and taehyung had school today and will the next day.

jeongguk turned to look at the brunet, smiling fondly at how determined the boy looked in continuing to read.

"you can stop, taehyungie. you're tired."

the boy nodded, putting the book aside. "did you like the book?"

humming, jeongguk watched how taehyung arranged the spare bed the nurses had brought into the room. "i really liked it, tae. thank you for reading to me."

a wide smile formed on taehyung's lips. "i told you, books can be amazing." jeongguk hummed again, though he believes that the reason why he enjoyed it so much wasn't the book, but rather the voice of the boy.

"and you don't mind that it's... you know, boy x boy?"

jeongguk shrugged. "not at all. love is love. i'm most probably straight, but my hyungs are a gay couple and i always supported it."

"your that kinda boy every girl dreams of," the brunet chuckled and jeongguk scoffed. "that's exaggerating, buddy," he said and taehyung only giggled.

taehyung finished arranging the bed and quickly went to the bathroom to change and get ready to sleep.

when he was back, he turned the night lamp on, but the room's lights off and laid down on the spare bed, smiling to jeongguk, who smiled back.

"if you want me to, i can read to you more often."

jeongguk nodded. "i'd love that," he said. "and... tae?" he was unsure wether to ask that, since taehyung is still so young, but he was curious. "what's your sexuality? you don't have to answer if you feel uncomfortable of course."

taehyung looked down. "i know you won't tell anyone about it, so... i'm pretty much into boys. most probably. i never was interested in girls before, boys always seem more attractive to me."

oh, if jeongguk only knew that he was the first person ever hearing this. taehyung doesn't remember when the last time was, where he felt so comfortable with someone. he doesn't know why but he really trusts jeongguk a lot, for an unknown reason, he believes the older will never go against him.

"you're tired bub." taehyung snapped out of his circus of thoughts and nodded lightly, closing his eyes. "c-can you please keep that to yourself?"

"of course, don't worry. good night." the ravenette whispered, turning the night lamp off.

taehyung bid him a goodnight back and closed his eyes, slowly drifting off to sleep.