“I’m not coming!”

“Why? You said yes.”

“I changed my mind. Leave me alone.”

“Jungkook, baby, you can’t change your mind like that. It’s not just any party, okay? We already said seven people, so it has to be seven people. You can’t bail on us now!”

Jungkook groaned as he leaned his head against the door. With a defeated sigh, he opened the door to Seokjin and Jimin, who had been there for over twenty minutes, begging him to let them in.

“Fucking finally,” Jimin snarled. “Why are you being a little shit? You said yes.”

“I didn’t know to what I was saying yes, okay? I wasn’t listening. I don’t like parties. I don’t like people!”

“Sucks to be you. Now get ready.” Jimin pushed him towards his bedroom and didn’t release him until they arrived.

“Have I ever told you that I hate you, Park Jimin?”

“Every single day, love. Now shut it.”

Jungkook ignored his mocking tone and grabbed a black shirt and casual jeans from his closet.

“Forget it.” Jimin dismissed his choice with a wave of his hand. He picked a pair of black tight jeans and a blue dress shirt that would highlight his muscles.

“Hyung, that’s too much,” Jungkook grumbled.

“Oh, come on, you’ll be hot! It’s been seven months, Jungkook. You have to get laid tonight.”

“Jimin! He’s still a baby,” Seokjin scolded.

“No, hyung, he’s twenty-two years old and he’s pretending to be a baby. He’s the devil when it comes to boys. Not innocent or baby. Just the devil.”

“Just go outside. I’ll be there in five minutes,” Jungkook said, and thankfully, they obeyed without protest. He flung himself into the bed and slammed his eyes shut. Taehyung will be there too. I really don’t want to see him. I don’t know what’s his problem with me. Just fuck it, Jungkook. Don’t think about him. If you just ignore him, everything will be fine, right?

Another sigh pushed out of his mouth before he rose to his feet and got ready for the party.

. . .

The three boys soon reached their destination, and Jungkook already felt uncomfortable since the moment he stepped out of the taxi by the thunderous music that came from inside the enormous house.

“Whose party is it, anyway?” the younger asked in annoyance.

“A group called EXO is doing the party. They’re friends with Namjoon and the others, so they invited us too. All of them auditioned with us today. If we all pass, we can be good friends. Please, Jungkook, talk to people. Make new friends. Don’t stay in the kitchen again with a bottle of soju and get drunk,” Jimin pleaded, causing the younger to roll his eyes.

“Is it okay if I get drunk in the living room?”

“Jungkook! Just don’t be alone all the time drinking. I’ll help you meet someone.” Jimin gave him a smile and a pat on his back.

“Enough talking, let’s go party!” Seokjin whooped out of excitement, and they made their way inside.

Hip hop music blasted out through the house that was filled with people. It was a wild image for Jungkook that made him regret going in there. Most of them — if not all — had a drink in their hand; some were dancing on chairs and tables, some were already wasted.

This house is freaking huge! There must be at least a hundred people in here, Jungkook thought as he looked around the place. The colorful lights that swirled through the living room obstructed him from getting a clear view of the people’s faces and dizzied him. I need a fucking drink.

“Hey guys, you made it,” Namjoon chirped, grinning.

“Of course!” Seokjin returned the bright smile. “Where are the others?”

“Yoongi and Hoseok are right there with some EXO members.” He pointed towards the couch. “And Taehyung... I don’t really know. I lost him a while ago.”

Yeah, he’s somewhere licking someone’s ear and then ignoring them. Jungkook rolled his eyes inwardly at his thoughts.

“Oh, I just remembered. Jungkook, he was looking for you earlier. He said he’ll wait for you outside in the garden, but I don’t know if he’s still there,” Namjoon added. “Let’s go sit with the others and get some drinks.”

Everyone nodded except Jungkook, who blinked again and again, flustered at the new information.

“I’ll find you guys later.” Jungkook pushed his way out of the house, heading to the garden, which he could easily spot from the window wall.

Jungkook assimilated the enormous garden in awe. There was a pool in the center with grass surrounding it, and a variety of trees and plants decorated the place, along with floor lamps that made it even more beautiful. Breathtaking. A little romantic, even.

He trudged along the pool and sat down with a sigh. He glanced up at the clear sky, spotting little stars all over. He loved looking at the sky. It brought him a feeling of peacefulness that nothing else could generate.

“Jungkook?”

He snapped his head at the call of his name and his eyes instantly flew sky high in frustration. “What are you doing here?”

“Let me ask you the same thing.” The awfully familiar boy neared him with a smirk on his face.

Jungkook heaved himself to his feet. “Why are you talking to me? Can’t you just mind your own business?”

“Oh, come on, baby, don’t be like that.” He reached out to caress his cheek, but Jungkook slapped his hand away on instinct.

“You have some nerve wanting to touch me, asshole.” Jungkook stepped back, creating a safe distance between them. “And don’t call me that.”

“But you loved it when I called you that, baby.”

“That was before you played me. Now leave me alone.”

The smirk on the boy’s face got concealed by a menacing scowl in an instant. He snatched Jungkook’s wrist and yanked him towards him. “I don’t like your tone.”

“Then leave me the hell alone, Bogum.” Jungkook fought against his grip with all his might, but he didn’t yield.

“But we can have some fun like the good old times—”

“Bogum.”

The frosty, deep voice pulled their attention, and Jungkook took the opportunity to release himself.

“You heard him. Leave him alone.”

“This is not your problem, Taehyung. Stay out of it,” Bogum said.

“There are tons of other little awkward boys you can annoy.”

“We go way back with this one, though. I kind of want to remember the old times.” Bogum sent a wink at Jungkook that had his stomach twisting in disgust.

“What do you mean?” Taehyung cocked his head to the side as he narrowed his eyes at Bogum.

“We were in love once.” Bogum tried to cup Jungkook’s face, but his hands were shoved away again.

“You never loved me, you little shit. You didn’t even give me a reason. I had to walk into you and that girl fucking to realize it was over. Good thing I did,” Jungkook snarled. He took off in a blaze of suppressed rage, but Taehyung held onto his upper arm.

“Wow, Bogum. Everybody knew you were an asshole, but I never thought you were a coward too,” Taehyung mocked.

“I don’t care about what you think, Taehyung. And it’s none of your business, anyway.”

“Yeah, sure.” Taehyung gave him another disdainful smile, then laid his eyes on Jungkook. “You’re coming with me,” he murmured as he interlocked their fingers, and the other didn’t even have the strength to disagree. And so they walked away together, leaving a confused asshole behind.

They plodded in silence towards the other side of the garden and only stopped when there wasn’t anyone around. Jungkook glanced down at their still joined hands and nibbled his lower lip in sudden timidity.

The older detected where his eyes lingered and retracted his hand seconds later. He cleared his throat in an attempt to shake off the awkwardness that engulfed him. “So what’s the deal with you and Bogum?”

“You heard it already.”

“That was just the end. How long were you together?”

“One year, give or take. We met at a dance seminar in my hometown. I fell in love. He wanted to have a good time. He was flirting with a lot of girls and boys while we were together, but I only found out at the end. Someone sent me screenshots from their conversation. And then I caught him fucking someone. It was really awful,” Jungkook trailed off as he thought back to everything that happened. It still hurt. He was played so badly, and now he had fucking trust issues.

“Sorry to hear that.” Taehyung regarded him, finding the pout on his face rather cute, but he hated the gloom he identified in his eyes, despite his hair that fell into them and slightly covered them. A sudden need to brush his hair away itched his chest achingly. It was something he loved the others to do to him. He felt such comfort from this little move, and he often did it to others too, thinking they would feel the same.

His fingers twitched, craving to do this little action, but he instead clenched his fist and tore his gaze away.

As they stayed in silence, Jungkook turned his head to look at him, scanning his zoned-out face in depth. “What are you thinking?” He tilted his head to the side, still trying to comprehend the reason for his behavior and silence. “You spaced out. That’s not like you.”

Taehyung made a choked sound, trying to suppress a surprised laugh. “You don’t know me, though. How can you know that?”

“I can tell. I can tell that you never do anything just because. There’s always a reason. I can tell that you’re always prepared, always with an answer, always defensive, even. So it’s not common for someone like you to space out so easily.”

“What are you?”

Jungkook chuckled. “What do you mean?”

“How can you know that? You don’t even know me.”

“I told you I can tell. I’m good at reading people because I listen more than I talk.”

“If you’re so good, why couldn’t you tell that your ex was an asshole?”

“I don’t know. I mean, I had my doubts, but I was choosing to ignore it. And in the end, my doubts turned out to be true. But don’t change the subject. What were you thinking earlier?”

“If you’re so good, you can figure it out.”

“I can’t read minds, Tae!” The younger threw a playful punch on his biceps as he chuckled.

Taehyung, though, glaciated at the nickname. No one had called him like that in a very long time. His friends knew he hated that nickname. Too much history. But he said nothing to Jungkook. He let him call him that without protesting.

“Wait, you spaced out again!” Jungkook exclaimed, staggered. “Maybe I was wrong about you. Maybe you space out more often than I thought.”

“Yeah, maybe you were wrong.” Taehyung gave him a lackluster smile and averted his eyes again. No, Jungkook wasn’t wrong. Everything he said about him was true. And Taehyung knew it, but he didn’t want to admit it quite yet.

A thick, awkward silence poured between them again. Jungkook lay down and fixed his gaze on the sky, as Taehyung stayed seated with his knees close to his chest and his arms wrapped around them. He kept his gaze on his hands and played with them — an action he did often.

“Um, Namjoon said you were looking for me.” Jungkook rubbed his palms together as he felt an icy breeze sting his existence.

“Oh, yeah. I wanted to give you this.” He took the bracelet off his wrist and gave it to Jungkook.

The younger’s eyes widened as he jerked up. “I was looking for it everywhere! Where did you find it?”

“You dropped it today when we met in the changing room.”

“I wouldn’t call that ‘when we met’. It was more like me barging into the room while you were almost naked,” he said, eliciting a throaty chuckle from Taehyung. “Sorry about that, by the way.”

Taehyung took his hand and slipped the bracelet around his wrist, glancing at Jungkook’s entranced gaze. “There, all done. And don’t worry about you barging on me.”

“Thank you,” he replied as he rubbed his hands together again.

Taehyung cupped his hands without much thought. “Your hands are like ice cubes.” He squeezed them softly to warm them up. “Let’s go inside.”

“I really don’t understand you sometimes.”

“What do you mean?” Taehyung dragged his hands away.

“I don’t understand what you’re trying to do.”

“If you’re referring to what I did a moment ago, it was just to help your hands warm up a little.”

“Never mind. Let’s go inside.” Jungkook pushed himself to his feet with a sigh.

“Jungkook. Don’t misunderstand these things. They don’t mean anything.”

Something grave seeped into Jungkook’s eyes as he peered at him. “Yeah, you made that clear.”

“Yah, don’t get mad!” He let out an awkward laugh as he jolted up to follow Jungkook, who just took off.

“No, it’s okay, Tae. I get it.”

Taehyung’s steps faltered at his stern voice until he halted throughout. He let him go inside, and he just stood there, his mind stuck on the nickname. That nickname again.

 
Taehyung returned to the party eventually and searched for his friends. He wilted on the couch next to Yoongi and sighed, massaging his forehead.

He let his eyes travel through the crowd, and right there, almost in front of him, was Jungkook dancing and laughing with strangers around him. He could easily tell he had trouble maintaining his balance, which made him wonder how did he manage to get drunk in that short period of time. He didn’t stay outside for more than fifteen minutes, for fuck’s sake.

“Who got Jungkook drunk?”

“We didn’t really understand either. He just came in and mixed some drinks. The next thing we knew, he was out there dancing like crazy.” Yoongi shrugged.

“Don’t mind him. He gets drunk easily,” Jimin, who was next to Yoongi, said. “Oh shit, look at that!”

All the boys snapped their heads in the direction Jimin pointed at, only to see Jungkook grind against another boy.

“Damn, that’s one of the Got7 members, dude. So lucky,” Jimin cried.

“That’s Jaebum,” Namjoon said. “Probably he’s drunk as fuck. He’s not like that normally.”

“Well, so is Jungkook. Look what he’s doing. Oh my God, is he kissing his neck!?” Seokjin’s eyes swelled at the unexpected sight.

“He is! I’m so proud of him,” Jimin chirped, but his excitement was cut short by Taehyung’s death glare.

“Are you shitting me? He’s your friend! You’re supposed to look out for him, not let him ridicule himself. When he’s sober, he’ll regret it so bad.”

“Wow, Taehyung, relax. He’s their friend. You don’t know him like they do,” Namjoon said, trying to calm him down.

“Whatever. I’ll go get a drink.” Taehyung stood up and stormed off right away. He took a bottle of soju as he stared at Jungkook, who was still dancing with Jaebum. He couldn’t suppress an eye roll at the irritating scene. He gulped down his drink and riveted his gaze ahead again.

He panicked slightly as he couldn’t spot Jungkook anymore. His frantic eyes searched around and caught that guy dragging him upstairs as Jungkook giggled nonstop. A groan spewed from his mouth, then he drank as much as he could from his soju in one go. He slapped the half-empty bottle on the table and left the party for good.

⚜✳⚜