"No. No way!" Jimin crosses his arms over his chest.

"Why not?"

"Because," Jimin snaps at Yoongi from across the limo. "I'll admit it was kind of fun the first time, but I'm not doing it again."

On the way back to the cabin, Yoongi had come up with a brilliant plan to continue their fancy friendship celebration by persuading everyone to go skinny dipping in the hot spring as soon as they got back home.

"It's too cold," Jimin adds, eyebrows furrowed with frustration. "I honestly don't understand you guys sometimes. There's better things you could do than die of hypothermia!"

Namjoon chuckles, lovingly amused at Jimin's over-exaggeration, because he knows it's coming from his heart. "It's fine, 'Min," he smiles warmly. "We were all fine after doing it the first night we got here. The water keeps you hot enough."

Jimin shakes his head with disapproval. "But see? We already did the let's-get-naked-and-go-skinny-dipping thing. You guys really want to do it again? Why don't we just go back and watch a movie?"

"We can do that literally whenever." Yoongi answers. Jimin wants to retort, but he's coming up short for better reasons as to why he thinks this is beyond ridiculous.

"Yeah, and we always watch movies," Namjoon contends further. "Skinny dipping in the snow is not something we could even do at home. Why not let loose and do something we never get to do?"

"Gotta live a little," Yoongi says, then pats Hoseok on his thigh. "Especially before Hoseok settles down."

Hoseok nods at first, but then makes a face as if he's a little offended.

"Right?" Jin snorts. "I mean, really, who knows how long it will be before we can all be young and reckless like this. We're not getting any younger."

"I won't be the only one getting married," Hoseok says suggestively.

"Well, now I dunno about all that," Jin mumbles, making a grimace face and waving a dismissive hand in front of himself. "No settling down for me."

"Listen." Hoseok smiles at Jimin reassuringly. "You don't have to go down to the spring if you don't want to this time."

"No, it's okay. I'll go--" Jimin tries to argue but Hoseok shakes his head. He knows Jimin well enough to recognize when he's needlessly sacrificing his own comfort.

"Really," he smiles genuinely. "I won't be mad or disappointed at all. You did it once, that was enough for me."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course!"

"I just really--"

"Jimin," Hoseok laughs. "It's okay, seriously."

"Okay..okay," Jimin mumbles, guilt written on his face. "I'll make sure the fireplace is going for you guys," he says with a lighter tone.

Hoseok sends Jimin a nod of approval from across the limo. "Perfect!"

Meanwhile, at the other end of the limo, Taehyung—still slumped back in his seat, inwardly pouting for whatever reason (certainly nothing that has anything to do with his uncomfortable feelings regarding Jeongguk potentially hooking up with some random person)—rolls down the window to let the cold air smack some sense into him.

Why should I care that he exchanged numbers with someone? He's not interested in me.
You could just ask him if he is!
But I already know the answer, he made it clear earlier. I just keep reading into something that isn't there and I don't know why. I guess that dream made me delusional. From now on, when something weird happens, I'm ignoring it.

The limo comes to a stop in front of their cabin. During the time it takes the driver to make his way around the car, Taehyung gets a sudden, uncontainable urge to act out, like he needs to do something a little crazy to take his mind off things.

It's lucky for him that he was the last to get in—he has the seat right next to the door the driver is coming to.

The moment it opens, Taehyung bolts out of the vehicle, mind gone completely blank as he makes a run for the hot spring.

His lungs are full of icy air when he arrives at the stone steps of the hot spring. He turns around and sees the others catching up to him, so he starts shedding his clothes, tearing each piece off and carelessly tossing them aside. By the time the rest arrive, he's hopping on one foot to take his shoes off.

"Damn, Tae! It wasn't a race this time!" Jimin huffs, trying to catch his breath. "Why'd you take off like that?"

"I don't know," Taehyung giggles for some reason, dropping his last sock and shoe to the ground. "Just felt like it," he shrugs, then immediately leaps into the spring pool.

The sudden change of temperature from winter air to naturally-heated water hits him like a brick, bringing a sobering wash of burning heat to his face and body. It feels like it's remarkably hotter than it was last time, but Taehyung welcomes the burn. In fact, he revels in it, imagines his troubles melting away.

Whatever it takes to get his mind off Jeongguk.

While the rest get undressed, Taehyung lets his body sink down until his chin is touching the water and focuses on the steam swirling around him in order to keep his eyes from wandering off to a particular person. Not that it matters anyway, it's too dark to see anything with all the lamp-posts off. And since they're all controlled by a panel inside the cabin—and no one was currently there to turn them on—the only light shining on their exposed bodies came from the crescent moon, slowly rising in the sky. Offering just enough illumination that the shapes of individuals could be made out, but also keeping their more private, intimate details hidden in the veil of darkness, untouched by the moon's rays.

"You're really not going to come in?" Yoongi asks Jimin, who is just standing there while everyone else hastily removes their clothing.

"I'm really not. I'm tired of being cold," Jimin reminds him, keeping his eyes turned away from him as he undresses. "I only came here to bring these," he mutters, holding out a champagne bottle and a couple of glasses he snagged from the limo. "I'm going back as soon as you take them."

"That's a shame," Yoongi says, tilting his head as his pants drop to the ground.

"I'm sure it is."

"You're going to miss out on a lot of fun."

"I'm sure I will."

Yoongi chuckles a little, taking the glasses and bottle from Jimin. "Anyone ever tell you that you're a stubborn pain in the ass?"

Jimin gives in to Yoongi's goading by finally looking at him, but only so he can glare at him. "You. All the time."

Right at that moment, Namjoon and Jin jump bare-bodied into the spring, splashing water at Jimin's feet and making him jump back a little.

"Oh look," Yoongi smirks. "You're wet."

"I swear," Jimin sighs with a shake of his head, trying to hide the smile tugging at his lips. He's just tipsy enough that he's not completely annoyed by the thought of committing himself to some foolish acts, but he's already shivering—he really hates being cold.

"Okay," Yoongi drawls, deciding to leave Jimin be. But, not before he can seek out one last reaction from Jimin by shamelessly dropping his boxers down to his ankles right in front of him. "You know where to find us."

"Seriously?" Jimin exhales, immediately clamping his eyes shut and keeping them that way until he hears Yoongi make his entry splash. "I'm so glad I can't see shit," he mutters to himself as he turns on his heels to leave.

In the midst of their soaking and talking, laughing and playing, Namjoon's phone starts to sound off in the distance, buried somewhere beneath his pile of clothing. He lets it go and misses the call purposely, but the second it stops ringing, Hoseok's phone goes off.

They exchange looks and Namjoon's shoulders slump.

"Seriously?" he groans. "They know I'm on vacation. What could they even need us for this late at night?"

"I dunno," Hoseok frowns with concern. "But it must be important if they're calling both of us. We should go."

"Alright, let's go," he grumbles back. "Sorry to cut it short, guys."

Namjoon and Hoseok climb out of the hot spring and collect their things. Wearing only their shoes and long winter coats, they rush back towards the cabin to take care of business.

A few moments later, Jin wades over to the steps, saying something about how the steam could potentially cause him to break out and he couldn't risk that since he's scheduled for a big photo shoot the day after they get back from their vacation.

Supposedly over being in the water, Yoongi also gets out and goes back to the cabin with Jin, leaving Taehyung and Jeongguk in the spring by themselves.

Grreeatt.
Naked. In a hot spring. With Jeongguk. Under the night sky.
It's totally fine. Totally fine.

With everyone gone now, there's no distractions to keep his mind at bay like he originally planned.

To escape the awkward silence closing in on him, Taehyung dips down until his shoulders are hidden under the water. He can't figure out what else to do with himself now that he's directly across from Jeongguk on the other side of the circle-shaped hot spring.

It feels like he shouldn't be here, like it's not good for his own state of mind.

It's when he starts subtly studying Jeongguk, while trying to come up with a believable excuse as to why he needs to leave, that guilt trickles into his consciousness. It looks like Jeongguk's really enjoying his time, relaxing with the back of his head resting on the rim of the stone wall, gripping onto it with his arms stretched out to allow the lower half of his body to float in the water while he stares up at the stars.

Jeongguk gets so stressed easily with school and his family life. Maybe Taehyung should just stay quiet and deal with himself, so that Jeongguk can experience a moment of peace.

There's little ribbons of steam swirling off of Jeongguk's bare chest as it peeks out of the water, and it causes Taehyung to fall into a moment of weakness. Jeongguk has such a toned chest. Taehyung thinks back to how firm it felt against him during their kiss—or whatever that was—on the couch. Not to mention his abs he's worked so hard for. Those very defined abs that lead to his tiny waist. The tiny waist that blooms into giant thighs...

Taehyung gulps at the wrongness he feels about the path his thoughts are leading him down, wishing he could rip his eyes away from the water droplets gliding down Jeongguk's sharp jawline all the way to his neck.

Taehyung gets a rush of tingling through his spine, brought on by his curiosity about what Jeongguk's skin would feel like, taste like—

Fuck.
Thought you weren't going to do this anymore...
This is bad...this is so bad. I don't even know what to talk about or how to act around him anymore... The last 24 hours have been so frustrating. Damn this—

Just then, Jeongguk stands up in the water. He turns to his side to grab his champagne glass sitting next to him just outside of the spring. He picks it up and frowns when he sees that it's empty.  "Well that sucks." He looks at Taehyung and then let's out a little laugh.

"I'd give you mine, but it's empty, too." Taehyung speaks without hesitation.

Relief simmers in Jeongguk's eyes. "Hey, you're talking to me again."

"Was I not talking to you?" Taehyung stands in the water, mumbling while trying to come off like he's surprised.

Jeongguk's brows knit together, hurt flashes across his face.

There's that guilt again.

"You haven't since we left the restaurant."

"Oh," Taehyung gazes down at the water at Jeongguk's disappointed tone. "Sorry, I didn't realize..." his voice trails off.

It's so dark, he realizes can't even see his own body. Which thankfully means there's no way he'd be able to see Jeongguk's.

JUST TELL HIM HOW YOU FEEL—
NO.

An unexpected giggle from Jeongguk makes Taehyung suddenly look up at him, sees him staring back at him with his nose scrunched up like he's amused.

Taehyung knows that look, and he's relieved to see it. "What?" He asks warily. "What's so funny?"

Instead of verbally explaining, Jeongguk moves in the water, taking a few steps closer to Taehyung until he's right in front of him.

They're within arms reach. And Taehyung is all too aware that even though he can't see it, he knows Jeongguk is naked. And right in front of him.

Trying to prevent himself from becoming affected by their close proximity, Taehyung goes to take a step back, but stops when Jeongguk suddenly reaches his hand up above his head.

"You have a twig in your hair," he chuckles, his affinity for Taehyung's messy cuteness alight in his eyes as he carefully untangles it from his wet locks.

Once it's free, he holds it out to show Taehyung. "I don't know how you managed to do that," Jeongguk teases. And damn it all, he's smiling and his eyes are glowing with warmth, sparkling brighter than the stars—and Taehyung basks in it. Wants to soak it up like he's the sun, because seeing Jeongguk like this is relieving and it ushers in pure happiness.

Taehyung's lips pull into a grin. "Damn trees," he laughs, taking the twig and tossing back into the pitch-dark woods surrounding them. The silly face he makes gets Jeongguk to crack up with laughter.

"Can't they keep their twigs to themselves?" Jeongguk adds and they both erupt into a giggle fit.

And it's not really that funny, but eventually they'll be laughing harder because they know it's essentially over nothing.

And, that's just how easy it is for those two; it's always been like this. Naturally enjoying each other's company and finding humor in anything like they are the only ones to understand and share each other's special kind of humor.

When they finally calm down from their little bout of playful laughter, Taehyung absentmindedly runs his fingers along the surface of the water, watching the steam dance between his finger tips.

He doesn't really realize it, but for that brief moment he feels at ease, like things are back to normal. For once on this trip, he feels no tension in his head, heart, or body.

"This is amazing, I can't believe how many stars we can see out here," he says wistfully, eyes filled with wonder as he tips his head back so he can look up at the sky.

"Yeah, it's really... beautiful," Jeongguk says quietly. The soft way his voice comes out when he says the last word commands Taehyung's attention be returned to earth, and his eyes back to Jeongguk's.

And there it is again. That dreamy-faced look Jeongguk had before he kissed him on the couch, the same one from outside of the restaurant, too.

It's spellbinding, whatever it is. And it seems like each time he looks at Taehyung like this, they suddenly become trapped in each other's eyes.

Taehyung wonders if it's just him that feels like he's supposed to move in closer, like they're two magnets closing in on each other, pulling in towards the other until they're stuck together and there's nothing either of them can do to stop it.

Jeongguk doesn't move, but the way his dark eyes are transfixed onto Taehyung makes his pulse quicken, a tingling sensation rise in his chest.

He wants to kiss Jeongguk—No, he doesn't.
Yes, he does.
No. Yes.

NO.

YES.

"We should..." Jeongguk whispers, his voice sounding strained and uncomfortable as Taehyung watches his lips barely move. "We should... go in."

And like that he moves away in the water, breaking the spell and releasing Taehyung from his consuming gaze. All he can do is stand there and blink as he faults himself for Jeongguk's sudden departure.

Foolish Taehyung, you got all weird when you know he doesn't like you and it made him uncomfortable!

"Come on, Tae," Jeongguk's firm, calm command cuts through Taehyung's inner shaming. "We can't stay out here."

"Yeah, m'coming," he mutters back, trying to maintain his composure like his soul isn't currently trying to exit his body.

They climb out together at the same time, making sure to keep their eyes to themselves as they quickly throw on their shoes and coats. Though, it wouldn't really matter—they can barely see anything at all, now that there's a stray cloud covering the little bit of moonlight.

"Ready?"

Taehyung nods at Jeongguk with chattering teeth. "Ready."

And unlike before when they raced back to the cabin through the snow with laughter, this time they run back in silence.

——————————————————-

As soon as they're back into the comforting heat of the cabin, Taehyung and Jeongguk find the guys down in the den watching a movie with a fire lit in the fireplace. They agree to join them once they're finished with their showers.

It was a much needed steamy shower in which, Taehyung—so done with himself for once again misinterpreting and complicating things—doesn't allow himself to think a single thought about Jeongguk, other than he hopes he doesn't get sick from being out in the cold.

Afterwards, Taehyung dresses himself in his warmest, most comfortable pajamas then goes to the den to join the rest of his friends. When he gets there, he sees them all crowded around the entertainment center with Jeongguk crouched down in front of it.

"What's going on?"

"The movie just randomly stopped playing," Jimin explains. "We're trying to figure out why."

"Right in the middle of it," Hoseok huffs, then plops down in the closest chair. "Just when it was getting to the best part!"

"The DVD looks busted," Jeongguk announces, holding the disc for everyone to see. Taehyung can see the giant scratch on it from where he's standing.

"Well, that's a bunch of shit," Yoongi grumbles. "Who keeps busted DVDs in the vacation home you're renting out to people? That's not very good hosting."

"Well, I guess it's our fault too for not checking it," Namjoon reasons.

The room goes silent for a moment of group brainstorming until Jeongguk lights up with an idea.

"Hey, Tae, would you be willing to run to my room and grab my laptop please? I just remembered I have this movie downloaded on there. I can just stream it to the tv," he explains eagerly and Taehyung nods. "I'll check these cords here first to make sure they'll work," he adds further,
but Taehyung's already left.

Moments later, Taehyung cautiously opens the door to the room Jeongguk shares with Jimin. It's pitch dark so he turns on the light, and sees Jeongguk's laptop sitting open on his bed.

Humming a song stuck in his head, Taehyung walks over to an outlet on the other side to carefully unplug its charger first. When he yanks on the cord, the black screen flashes and his desktop comes into view. Taehyung had thought his laptop was turned off, but figures the screensaver must have timed out and went into sleep mode.

Then, for some reason, Taehyung sits down on his bed and pulls the computer to his lap. He's seen Jeongguk's laptop a hundred times. Usually when he's over at his place studying for school. He still has the same old wallpaper he's had for over a year—an artsy aesthetic photo Taehyung took of some wild purple Aster flowers they randomly found down by the Han River last spring. Jeongguk claims the photo is peaceful, and it helps him stay focused.

It's then that Taehyung's eyes happen to fall on something on his home-screen that he's never seen before.

Wait.
Is that—

Taehyung quickly shuts the laptop like he just saw something he really shouldn't have.

Was that... what I think it was??

Curiosity getting the better of him, Taehyung slowly opens the laptop again. Biting on his thumbnail, he watches the screen flash once or twice like it's glitching out a little.

Taehyung's heart tries to pound right out of his chest when the wallpaper reappears, and his eyes immediately confirm what he thought he saw before.

I shouldn't be looking at this! This is an invasion of his privacy—
BUT WHAT IS THIS!?

Taehyung stares at an icon down in the bottom right corner that's shaped like a little yellow folder. He reads and re-reads the Hangul underneath it, trying to be sure he's not imagining things. Because it feels like he's been doing that a lot lately when it comes to Jeongguk.

태형.......태형.......태형

There's really no mistaking it....

Why is my name on this?

The question echoes over and over again in Taehyung's head, wearing him down. His hand moves, and before his moral conscience can even try to tell him not to, he clicks the icon.

The folder opens up, showing two more icons. One of them looks like a little piece of paper, and has a the title that reads To Taehyung. The other icon Taehyung recognizes is a video file, with the title being just a little x.

Oh, is he beyond curious now.

Heart beating with nervous anticipation, Taehyung tries to click on both of the icons, but each one brings up a little screen asking for a password.

They're protected!? Does that mean he doesn't want anyone to see it!? No—but—Why!? What is it?

The possibilities of what remains locked away swarm loudly in Taehyung's mind, the dire need to know begging him to get answers.

Taehyung shuts the laptop closed. The buzzing flies of his intrusiveness becomes swallowed, eaten up by the massive guilt he suddenly feels about invading Jeongguk's privacy.

He'll be so upset with me for looking, I shouldn't have done this.
Why is it so wrong?? It's literally your name on it.
That doesn't mean I'm allowed to just snoop through his stuff!

Taehyung decides then that he must force himself to forget what he saw. As much as he wants to know what that letter and video file is, he has to pretend like he never saw it, or else Jeongguk will think Taehyung betrayed his trust.

And losing Jeongguk's trust is the last thing Taehyung would ever want. He wouldn't be able to live with himself.

He gets up from the bed, shuts the light off,
and closes the door behind him. Putting on a calm face he walks casually back to the guys, carefully holding the laptop—and all of it's secrets—under his arm.