"I-I— what do— why—" Taehyung's lack of cohesive thoughts revealed his inner mind storming with whirls of an indecipherable mess.

Overwhelmed didn't begin to express how he felt inside, but outside his face had gone blank, nothing more than quivering lips making him speak carefully.

"I said," his manager leaned forward on the lounge chair, legs crossed over as his dark socks concealed his bare feet. "You've got a gala to attend in two days."

"You want me to go in international public eye after this has blow up?" He asked quietly, genuinely confused as his manager would generally do the opposite. The two were seated alone in the apartment's study. Jin and Hoseok had left them be, with a clear notion of 'readiness' to intervene from the eldest model.

"You can't clear your schedule and hide." His manager said calmly. "The whole world will think you're succumbing to whatever lies Bogum is bringing back."

"I feel like there's something else on your mind." Taehyung murmured after agreeing with the elder. The gala was actually a good idea to show his 'unaffected' nature to the threat— although untrue, he could never actually say such. "Although," he frowned. "What effect is mine and the photographer's posting having online?"

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about." The tiredness was beginning to show in his manager's voice, the time past midnight far beyond his working hours, but urgent news called for overtime. "Wonderful publicity stunt, Taehyung."

Publicity stunt?

"Publicity stunt?" He asked in confusion, mouth ajar as the other remained unfazed with a stoic expression, reaching for his cup of tea resting on the dark oak coffee table. Taehyung continued watching the man take his time with his drink, the warm steam lifted and dissipating into the air. His manager's eyes wandered to the bookshelf a few strides away, the matching dark wood rich with red undertones and bordered with creme molding. Classics were resting on the shelves, bindings all neutral rustic covers to accent the vintage feel of the study.

"What do you mean publicity stunt?" Taehyung asked again, inwardly frustrated at the lanky man taking his sweet time before commencing with an answer.

"Inviting him to Seoul, offering him that shadowing opportunity with Elle." His manager nodded. "At first I was awfully angered you'd done such planning without notifying any staff but Elle themselves— especially when the model and company were guests."

"At first? But then...?" Taehyung pried for more clarification.

"Then, I realized how wonderful of a popularity gain it was for you." His manager continued to express disinterest, the words of praise not matching his features. "The Celebrity Prince of Korea acknowledges and helps freelance amateurs grow their experiences in the high end world."

Taehyung's brows furrowed, taken aback by what seemed like an accusation. "What— that was no stunt. I genuinely wanted to gift him with that chance!"

"As I learned." The blank face began to finally show expression, but that emotion was annoyance, clear with the downward curvature of his lips, pulled tight with disappointment as his eyes narrowed. "You've only added fuel to Bogum's fire with your actions today."

Taehyung's relaxed state, legs spread and elbows atop the settee's arms, tensed. He took in the words, trying to figure out how before his manager needed to explain.

Bogum had announced that he recognized some competitor for Taehyung's heart— not that the said man was a valid one in the first place— but Taehyung had undoubtedly sealed the rumor by expressing such a fantastical meet-up with Jungkook.

Jungkook wasn't a lover by any means, even if Taehyung felt differently than others for him, but such rumors would rise and Bogum would have his reason to ruin Taehyung through both him and someone else.

"Shit." He whispered and was grabbing his phone again in an instant.

"What are you doing?" His manager scolded, rising to his feet in protest as Taehyung elegantly hurried out of the study and to the quiet hall.

"Pick up, pick up, pick—"

"Taehyung?" The light voice peeped in and Taehyung's heart calmed gratefully in his chest, body slumping against the creme walls of the passage. "Hello?"

"Jungkook, are you alright?" He asked in a hushed tone, voice soft for discretion. "Reached okay?"

"I reached a while ago, but you weren't responding to your messages— are you alright?"

"Yes— no? Well, much better hearing you're fine, but Jungkook please be careful." His fingers danced along his hairline, brushing the long strands from blocking his tired eyes. "Sorry about dropping out of the conversation so quickly. Emergency."

The younger proceeded to ask what had happened and Taehyung peered into the crack of the door leading to the study, his manager staring at his phone in hand with great focus.

"Bogum happened." He whispered painfully slow and he heard the audible gasp over the line. "He's— just stay careful, Jungkook. When you travel home, when you are home... I would send security to help you, but I know you could do without the attention."

"I'll be alright, Taehyung." Jungkook reassured and Taehyung grimaced at how calm he sounded, expressing such a concern to the younger. "You do sound more worried than I am."

"Jungkook, this man ruined my life for a whole year before I found a chance at redemption." Taehyung justified. "That was when I had support everywhere, people thought I was uncrushable, and yet he managed to do it."

"And I'm a nobody." Jungkook sighed and Taehyung felt the small wince appear on his face. "Not saying that like it's a bad thing, but I'm not even a nobody anymore."

"Not a nobody." Taehyung agreed. "Simply unrecognizable."

The younger hummed and groaned tiredly into the phone, rummaging sounding in the background and Taehyung pursed his lips in remembrance of the time.

"Angel, oh goodness," he apologized hastily. "Get some rest, I'm so sorry. You're still packing?"

"Joon Hyung's doing it for me," the photographer mumbled and Taehyung thanked his wonderful hearing for picking it up. "I'm resting, they know I've had a long night."

"Sleep well," the model crossed his arms over his chest and smiled softly at the appearance of his mystery man flashing in his mind. "Rest on the trip home, too."

"I'll be safe, don't worry about me." Taehyung frowned and nodded, forgetting that Jungkook wouldn't be able to see him. He was better with actions than words, that was for sure. "You need to stay safe, too."

"Trust me," Taehyung laughed humorlessly. "Security is going to increase tenfold."

He wished the younger goodnight once more, his prior adrenaline fading into deep exhaustion, shoulders slumping with eyes staring wearily at the phone blinding him in the dim hall.

Jungkook's contact was open, the one picture he had of the younger staring at him, taunting him.

The door of the study opened and Taehyung cleared his throat, standing straight as his manager came into view.

"I'll report the gala details to you at the office tomorrow morning. I expect you to be sharp on time, we can't waste a second." His manager was glaring sharply at him, clearly unappreciative of his stepping out to contact the photographer. "I have further details of this—" he pointed to the phone in relation to Jungkook. "—to report in the morning, as well."

Taehyung simply bowed his head, far too exhausted to utter a word despite his worry for the reports tomorrow, both his manager's and the press'.

The clock on his phone flashed a miserable 1:04 a.m. and Taehyung forced his feet out to the foyer to let his manager out.

Turning around and leaning against the front door, his body feeling vulnerable once he was alone, Taehyung rubbed his aching head while searching for his hyungs. They must have fallen asleep, both high energy men easily crashing the moment boredom struck them.

And indeed they were deep in dreams, Jin's head on Hoseok's shoulder as they caved in on each other on the velvet maroon couch of the living room.

The model nudged them awake and sent them to Jin's room, where they would certainly cuddle together all night.

Taehyung had learned not the question the behavior— they were his friends, but also his elders. He trusted that they knew what they were doing, and he knew they meant no ill will.

He did feel slightly envious of how easy it was for them to hide the comfort they found with each other. The public already knew they were close and thought nothing of their excessive time spent together; Taehyung had always found his situation to be the opposite.

The public finding every anomaly and stretching it to make news seem dramatic and appealing— he certainly was a pawn in the celebrity world, his name and face his only gains.

His room was in the opposite direction of his fellow model's and he took his pace steadily to the bathroom to wind down for his nightly routine, sacrificing another fifteen minutes of precious of sleep to care for his face.

His face was his worth, to be fair, so he couldn't complain.

As he was dabbing moisturizer into the apple of his cheeks, his phone lit up with a new notification. He recognized the username and smiled softly.

Finishing his skin routine and washing his hands, Taehyung proceeded to quickly switch into comfortable clothes he could sleep in without much thought. He told himself he would get up and shower in the morning for he had zero energy stand for moments longer.

Sighing into the comfort of his bed, he returned to Jungkook's contact stored in his phone.

He felt so incredibly special to be the only one outside of the photographer's close circle to keep ownership of his beautiful face on the other side of the lens.

Jungkook and him had exchanged numbers; he smiled in amusement at the thought while sifting through his notifications for Jungkook's recent message because the younger continued to message him on the social media app, disregarding the option to directly contact him with his number.

"You're so cute." He chuckled and opened the message, the words staying true to the face he could clearly match to the voice now that he had an visual.

jjungkookie
I don't want you to worry so here's a little gift (?) for you

jjungkookie

jjungkookie
goodnight my prince💜

jjungkookie
thank you for today and for everything. I'll miss you but you should visit busan if I can't visit again soon !!

jjungkookie
stay safe or I'll karate chop bogum-shi's head off.

jjungkookie
I really really enjoyed meeting you and I hope I was somewhat what you imagined 😔

Taehyung slept better than he had in ages, even if it was short lived. And also, for the first time in ages, was he drifting away with a smile on his lips.

Make that two pictures of his angel.