i have so many silent readers :( i just hope that you guys know that i love y'all too 💜
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jeongguk was quiet.

not that he wasn't usually
quiet; he was a quiet boy, kept
to himself most of the time and for
the time that they were together, he
was pretty reserved. but he hadn't
said a single word at the dining table
the following morning. nothing
unless he was spoken to.

be it the fact that he was shy
or just nervous in general, but
taehyung couldn't help feel that
there was something else. something
that lay in the air between them,
unseen, unknown yet lingering
like a soft fog that
clouded the older's thoughts.

he stared at his half full plate
of english breakfast that hoseok
had kindly cooked, smiling to himself
as he absently reminisced the chef
hobi that had whipped up all of their
main meals when they were in their
uni dorms together. his friend's food
always tasted wonderful, taehyung
wouldn't go as far as saying that
he adored it but it was a luxury to
say the least.

even jeongguk seemed to be
enjoying it; he'd already finished
his.

"so, jeongguk!"
jeongguk jumped at the
sound of hoseok's jovial
morning voice.
"how's belgium for you?"

the teen placed down his
knife and fork, looking at the
older man, alarmed from how
loud he always seemed to be.

"haven't seen much of it
yet." he mumbled shyly.

"what do you mean? you
saw brussels right?" hobi
mumbled, mouth full of
bacon. "it's stunning at
night."

yoongi sat silent next to
him.

watching.

"he was asleep, hoseok."
taehyung intervened.

"ah, that's too bad, it's
beautiful." the older shoved
a spoon of beans in his mouth.
taehyung grimaced at his lack
of manners but he simply
couldn't bring himself to dislike
hoseok. there was nothing to
dislike in the first place.
"nevermind! you can see it when
you go back. you're here five days,
aren't ya?"

jeongguk nodded.

"well, that's plenty of time. tae,
you better take him sight seeing
while we're gone-"

"gone?" taehyung asked, brows
furrowed with confusion.
hoseok hadn't mentioned anything
about going anywhere.
"where to?"

hoseok looked at his boyfriend.
the latter's gaze remained fixed
on taehyung.

"i thought i told you?"

he shook his head.

"yoongi and i are off to the
coast for three days, sorry tae,
it's a non refundable, we booked
it ages ago and i had no clue you'd
come this week-"

"oh, holiday? that's fine then."
taehyung exhaled, taking a sip of
his water.

he didn't mind too much,
but it did hurt a little that he didn't
get to spend as much time with
his best friend as possible.
he was looking forward to being
with hoseok but if that wasn't possible
then he wouldn't complain.

besides, he had yoongi now.

"we'll be returning on the day
you leave though, i'll be here to see
you off." he gave jeongguk a soft,
reassuring smile.

jeongguk smiled back.

taehyung smiled too.

until he spotted the frown on
yoongi's face and his grin
faltered, crumbled into nothingness.

he cleared his throat.

"so you're just going to trust us
with the house for three days?"
the man chuckled weakly.

"yeah, me, of course. had to
convince yoongi though."
hobi shook his head with
disbelief.

of course.

it baffled him that hoseok
could remain so oblivious to all
of this. guilt gnawed at taehyung's
stomach like a parasite, devouring
his insides with every passing
second between them.
why was it that every inch of his
skin burned to tell him, to let him
know.

to warn him.

he never would.

taehyung watched as the
silver haired man traced a slow,
veiny finger around the
rim of his glass.

his heart nearly stopped
when his gaze flickered to
him, as he stared at him
dead in the eye with that
dark gaze of his that taehyung
had hung
onto like a drug.

an opiate
that he couldn't let go of,
that he ended up chasing no
matter how hard he tried to
resist.

"s'long as you don't trash
the house." he spoke lowly.
his voice was distant,
far off. or maybe it was just
the younger hearing things again.
most likely.
"i don't see why not."

taehyung gulped.

he prayed that yoongi
wouldn't say anything, he
didn't want him to, but at the
same time taehyung wanted to.
it was all a bit strange.

too much to comprehend.

yoongi's gaze turned to the
smaller boy.

assessing.

"how's anne, hoseok?" taehyung
diverted the topic. he shivered
at the thought of yoongi staring
the teen down like that.

"well, not in the best condition,
right now. but she's dealing."

"she's ninety this year, isn't she."

hoseok gave a small nod of reply.

"strong woman, must say."
his friend spoke.
it was true, she'd
been feeble the last
time that taehyung
had seen her, could barely
walk. he couldn't
begin to imagine how
her condition
had deteriorated after
these years gone by.

"i can't wait to meet her."
jeongguk said quietly.
only taehyung could hear
the excitement in his voice,
despite how inaudibly
he'd presented it.

"if you're anything like
taehyungie, then she's bound
to love you!" hoseok exclaimed,
wolfing down the last of his
scrambled eggs. "obsessive."

"i'm not obsessive." the black
haired male scoffed.

"are too, you'd have marry that
painting it you'd had the choice."
his friend pointed an accusing
finger which had jeongguk
quietly giggling.

it warmed taehyung's
heart.

"alas my fair portrait, would
you be so kind as you give me
your hand to be united in this
sickeningly sweet matrimony?"
hoseok put on a
potently posh accent to
emphasize his ludicrous
point which only
had the teen laughing even harder.
taehyung only rolled his
eyes with amusement.

"i hope she's alright."
he spoke. he did care for
anne. she was a peculiar lady
but her intentions were always
well.

he'd never met someone
quite like her, that thought
the way she did. he'd never
met someone quite to passionate
as himself.

save perhaps, jeongguk.

"is she here?" jeongguk
asked with his curious doe
eyes. "wait a minute...
where exactly are we?"

taehyung turned to his side
and smiled at the small boy
fondly.

"we're in ypres, sweetheart."

he felt yoongi's gaze on the
side of his head.

"well, the outskirts." hoseok
added. "town centre is a ten
minute drive away. i'm sure
you'll love it, jeongguk. they
have the best ice cream."

taehyung's throat dried
as his gaze strayed over
to yoongi, across his pale
hands, his neck, his lips.
his eyes.

he was still staring at him.

"sounds fun." the small
boy smiled.

he looked beautiful this morning.
sun rays spilling over the windowsill,
splashing his cheeks with waves of
gold, illuminating the soft youthful
plains of his pretty face and red
lips. taehyung
hadn't seen him out of his
uniform that often, he found it
cute that his wardrobe
consisted of mainly black
outerwear. with the occasional
pastel pink sweatshirt.

he stared at him so long,
he nearly forgot about
min yoongi.

"how old did you say
you were?" yoongi asked
softly. beneath it all, there
was nothing but cold in his
tone that only taehyung would
ever recognise. that only
taehyung could see.
"sweetheart."

a breath left taehyung's lips
as his mind took in the question.

what he was asking of him.

"s-sixteen." jeongguk whispered,
still not quite accustomed to
yoongi's intimidating aura.
he lowered his head nervously.

yoongi smirked.

he had the information he
needed. anything that he could
use to his advantage— the glint
in his eye said so enough.

"h-how old are you?"

oh god.

no, christ no. taehyung didn't
want to be reminded.

"me?" yoongi tilted his head
and smiled at his innocent
question.

but he wasn't looking
at jeongguk anymore.

he was looking
at taehyung.

"thirty four."

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hmm theories? although I think it's pretty obvious. 😌