Taehyung had declined Bogum’s offer to share a bed, and instead opted to spend the night in a king-sized bed with his son cuddled up in his arms. Taehyung didn’t even sleep much; he just lay awake the whole night with billions of thoughts plaguing his mind as he held his child close to him.

Everything was incredibly overwhelming.

He couldn’t help but think back to all the fun times he had had with Jeongguk which only served to make his heart ache even more. He was so sure that they could’ve been something, but then reality came and punched him in the face when he saw first-hand how little Jeongguk actually seemed to care about him. He knew it was idiotic of him to run straight into another man’s arms but he was scared, okay.

For years, Bogum had deemed himself a safe home for Taehyung; someone who’d be willing to accept his heart, no matter the condition it was in.

Maybe it’s time to stop running. Taehyung thought to himself as he lay there in the darkness. Maybe it’s best to settle down and give Yeonjun the life he deserves.
And even in the morning when he was considerably less happy than yesterday, Bogum had still been kind about it all.

Bogum had been very understanding about Taehyung’s distant attitude which was nice. He was patient and slightly condescending, but Taehyung knew he was trying his best so he just kept quiet and smiled. He had kissed Taehyung again when he saw the blonde wearing his clothes and he had even made them pancakes too. Bogum had explained that they didn’t have to label what they were and that things could go at whatever pace Taehyung decided. He'd even said Taehyung was free to call it off at any time and that he’d always be waiting no matter what.

It was quite endearing.

He’d even opened up a lot more to Yeonjun and was more lenient with him, which Taehyung greatly appreciated. He’d even managed a smile when he saw Yeonjun tentatively reach his hands out to be carried by Bogum. Everything seemed to be moving along so well, so why did Taehyung feel like he was stuck in the same place watching everything pass by?

Bogum had driven them to Beomgu’s house without complaint and even helped Yeonjun up the stairs while holding the happy little boy’s hand in his own. He had stepped up so quickly and Taehyung was overwhelmed with how natural everything seemed to be. He felt stupid for trying to fight it all but he couldn’t help it.

His heart was on the line here.

“Are you going back to work today, Tae?” Bogum asked as they drove out of Beomgyu’s house and headed elsewhere.

“Tae?” He called again when the blonde didn’t respond.

“Taehyung?”

“Taehyung???”

“Huh?” The blonde asked in confused as he snapped out of his deep thoughts.

“I asked you a question.” Bogum said, “Where do you want me to drop you off? Or do you want to come to work with me today?” He smiled happily.

“I-I should go back to work today, hyung. I have quite a few things I need to do.” Taehyung said quietly.

“Do you want me to come in and help you? I can take the day off; I’m the CEO afterall-”

“N-no it’s okay. It’s a lot of technical stuff so you’d just get in the way.” Taehyung blabbed hastily, trying to dissuade Bogum from coming with him.

He needed some time to think things out alone and talk to his friends about everything.

“Fair enough.” Bogum laughed, “But I’d like to see you do what I do though. It takes a lot more skill.”

Taehyung winced at the harsh words but continued to stare out of the window.

A couple minutes of silence passed and soon they pulled up in front of Taehyung’s shop. The blonde unbuckled his seatbelt and was about to open his door, but then Bogum grabbed his hand and began
talking to him.

“Are you going to come back to my house later on?” He asked. “We could go out for dinner since Yeonjun isn’t coming back tonight. What do you think?”

“I-I don’t kn-know.” Taehyung mumbled.

“Or we could just stay in and have some pizza. I’m sure I'll survive even if it’s not 5 star.” Bogum chuckled lightly.

“I promised Yoongi he could stay o-over at mine today.” Taehyung lied nervously, “He wanted to tell me some important s-stuff.”

“Are you lying to me, Taehyung?” Bogum asked, eyebrow raised in question. “Huh? Cmon Tae, just answer the question.”

Taehyung looked down at his lap and bit his lip.

“Please don’t be mad.” He whispered.

“You don’t have to lie to me, TaeTae.” He said gently as he took Taehyung’s chin in his hands and turned his face towards him gently. “You could’ve just said you didn’t want to. It's okay; I’m not mad. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do.” He smiled, “You can say no to anything and I won't mind at all, Tae. I’m just trying to make you happy. Your pace, remember?”

Taehyung stared at Bogum and nodded his head softly. He lent forwards and kissed him briefly, before opening his door and quickly getting out before Bogum could see him start to cry. He unlocked
his shop and went indoors without sparing the other male another glance. He let out a sigh of relief as he heard the engines rev and the car finally drive off. He took out his phone and texted Yoongi, Seokjin and Namjoon, before dragging himself upstairs to go and lie down on his bed.

He was exhausted.

“What’s the matter Taehyungie?” Yoongi asked 20 minutes later as he opened the bedroom door and saw his best friend curled up in a ball on his bed. “You had zero emojis in that text, so I know
something’s wrong.”

Taehyung didn’t respond, but Yoongi didn’t take it personally. He took off his shoes and jacket before crawling into bed next to Taehyung and bringing him into a warm hug. He felt Taehyung’s trembling figure in his arms and felt bad.

“You can let go now, TaeTae. It’s okay to cry now.” He mumbled as he rubbed Taehyung’s back.

Immediately, the blonde burst into tears and began sobbing against his friend’s chest. 15 minutes passed with Taehyung just bawling his eyes out, and in that time, both Seokjin and Namjoon had also arrived and were sat in Taehyung’s room. They all helped calm Taehyung down and brought him some tissues and water and made sure he was okay.

“Th-thanks h-hyungs.” He hiccupped as he wiped his tears.

“Do you wanna tell us what’s wrong, TaeTae?” Namjoon asked as he brushed Taehyung’s hair out of his face. “You can tell us anything, remember? We're always here for you.”

Taehyung sniffled and nodded as he sat up and looked at his friends. He took a deep breath before explaining everything to them.

“Fucking hell.” Seokjin mumbled, earning himself a flick on the head from Namjoon beside him.

“You can say that again.” Yoongi said in disbelief. “I’m not gonna lie, TaeTae, but what the fuck?”

Taehyung said nothing and stared at his bed in embarrassment.

“I honestly have no words.” Namjoon said.

“I guess that’s better than ‘Fucking Hell’.” Yoongi snorted. He scratched his head in confusion and sighed. “I don’t know where to begin.”

“How about explaining who Jeongguk is first.” Seokjin said. “Do you also know him, Yoongz?”

“Yeah. He's Minnie’s friend. Owns the really big company Minnie works in. Can’t remember what it’s called though.” Yoongi said.

“And so Tae met Jeongguk in the shop when he came in with Jimin, yeah?” Namjoon asked.

“Yeah. Then we hung out and stuff and then he took me out on a date a couple days ago. At least I thought it was a date.” Taehyung mumbled.

“And this Hoseok dude, do you know him too Yoongz?” Namjoon asked.

“I’ve never met him but Minnie says he’s a prick.” Yoongi said. “Apparently they all hate him.”

“Right. And so Jeongguk just allowed him to walk all over Taehyung like that? Classy.” Seokjin rolled his eyes.

“Th-that’s what Bogummie said too." Taehyung sniffled.

“Don’t get me started on that son of a bitch, Tae.” Namjoon said.

“Wait so I understand why you’re not talking to Jeongguk, because, let’s be honest, who the fuck would after that shitshow.” Jin said, “But why on earth are you getting involved with Bogum?”

“Literally anyone else with a pulse would’ve been better than him.” Yoongi said.

“Now you sound like you’re attacking him.” Namjoon said, shoving Yoongi lightly. “Let the poor boy breathe.”

Taehyung sighed and bit his lip.

“It’s okay, Joon. I deserve it. This is so fucked up.” Taehyung said.

“You don’t deserve to be interrogated,” Namjoon said, “But you also don’t deserve to be with Bogum. You can do much better than that, Tae.”

No I can’t, Taehyung thought bitterly, Bogum is right. I won’t find anyone else.

He remained silent.

“What does Junnie think of all of this? He's not exactly Bogum’s number 1 fan.” Jin asked.

“I d-don’t know.” Taehyung mumbled, ashamed of himself. “He seems happy enough, I guess. They seem to be warming up to each other. I can’t believe I never even asked him though. I feel like shit now.”

“Don’t beat yourself up about it, Tae. You can sit down and talk to him when he comes back from wherever he is.” Namjoon said.

“So are you and Bogum a real thing now? The whole boyfriend shabang?” Yoongi asked.

“I d-don’t know.” Taehyung said. “He says we don’t have to label it and that I can call it off whenever I want to.”

“Fucking hell that’s adorable.” Jin muttered under his breath.

“RIGHT!” Taehyung shouted in despair. “It makes everything a little easier but I'm still confused as fuck.”

“Maybe you could-”

Yoongi’s phone rang and cut them all off.
“It’s Minnie.” He said as he stood up and began to leave the room. “I’ll be back.”
He stepped out into the hallway and began to walk downstairs as he answered the call.

“Hey baby!” Jimin’s cheerful voice greeted and Yoongi felt himself blush softly.

“I told you not to call me that.” Yoongi said playfully as he put him on speaker.

“You know you love it.” Jimin laughed. “Anyways what are you doing? Are you free to talk right now?”

“I’m with Tae right now but I just came downstairs to answer your call. I'd say I have about 15 minutes to talk before Jin and Joon interrogate him to death.” Yoongi laughed.

“Only 15 minutes?” Jimin asked, and Yoongi could hear his adorable pout on the other side of the phone. “I kinda need longer than that.”

“Are you planning to tell me your entire life story or what?” Yoongi laughed. “What do you wanna tell me?”

“It’s about Guk. I wanna explain the whole situation.”

“Oh shit.” Yoongi muttered. “I don’t really have time for that right now, Minnie.”

“M-maybe you could come over later? I-if you want though. You don’t have to-”

“I’ll be there. You better not spill juice on me again like last time.” Yoongi laughed.

“Fucking hell Yoonie don’t. I'm still embarrassed by that.” Jimin squeaked.

“I’ll be there at 6pm. Get a pizza or two, okay?” Yoongi said.

“Okay.”

“And I mean two maximum. We're not having any of your over-achieving shit like last time.” Yoongi scolded.

“O-okay.” Jimin giggled.

“See you then?”

“Y-yeah.” Jimin said breathlessly. “It’s a date. No wait wait I mean-”

“Bye Minnie.” Yoongi laughed teasingly as he hung up the phone.

“Oh my gosh that was unnecessarily cute.” Namjoon said as he poked his head out from round the corner. Yoongi swore under his breath in surprise.

“What on earth are you doing there?” He asked. “Go get a life.”

“Even I'm blushing.” Taehyung chimed in. “When are you two finally going to get in a relationship?”

“Like you’re one to talk about relationships.” Yoongi teased.

“Low blow asshole.” Taehyung laughed.

Yoongi and Jimin had been nervously skirting around a relationship for a year and it was honestly quite painful to watch. They'd kissed several times and were nearly always making out with each other. They had gone on countless ‘outings’ that were clearly dates but were too shy to admit it. If you didn’t know them personally, you’d think they were engaged with the way they knew each other so well and were practically joined at the hip. Yoongi had never explicitly confirmed it, but Taehyung was sure they’d even fucked before.

“Just tell him how you feel tonight, Yoongi.” Jin said. “It’s so obvious you two like each other.”

“Cut me some slack, Jin. Not everyone is as shameless as Bogum about their feelings. I'm scared of rejection.” Yoongi said.

“Oh come on!” Taehyung whined. “I thought we’d moved on from my problems!”

“Absolutely not.” Namjoon said. “Because at least Jimin and Yoongi actually like each other. You don’t even like Bogum.”

“I don’t even like the guy and I feel bad for him being used. I know he’s apparently fine with it but it’s still a shit thing to do, TaeTae. You can figure yourself out without being in a relationship. We're still
here to help you.” Jin said.

“If you’re definitely going to stay with him then at least give him a real chance. Otherwise you’re playing yourself and him as well. Though I don't think it's the best idea to stay with him.” Yoongi said.

I have to stay with him. Taehyung said to himself. With Bogum I could settle down and be happy.

“O-okay.” He said. “I don’t want to talk about it anymore.”

“I don’t want to talk about Jimin anymore either.” Yoongi said too. “I’ll figure it out on my own.”

“That’s fine too. But promise us you’ll talk to us if you need it. Deal?” Namjoon asked.

“Deal.” Yoongi and Taehyung said.

“W-will you guys help me in the kitchen please?” Taehyung asked quietly. “I took too many days off and now I’m behind on everything.”

His friends grinned at him and began walking towards the kitchen, grabbing aprons off the back and heading towards the bathrooms to wash their hands.

“I’m not doing the ice-cream cake this time!” Jin shouted playfully.

“Not me either!” Yoongi said too.

“Not me too!” Namjoon replied.

“Please Joon?” Taehyung begged. “I have to do the sweets and make the tiny little decorations.”

“No-”

“I’ll babysit Soyoung on your next date night.”

“Deal.”

The four friends kept up their playful banter as they helped Taehyung set things up and began to gather ingredients to make cakes and all sorts of sugary treats.

Taehyung couldn't help but look at his
friends with a fond and grateful expression on his face, amazed at how much they all seemed to well and truly care about him.

He was so glad to have them in his life.

**************************
School 🤢 is starting 😖 up ⬆️ again so 🤓 updates 🤑 will be slower 🙈

Happy birthday if it's anyone's birthday today 🥳🥳

Times may be hard for some of you and I know that sucks ass but trust me when I say it'll get better one day. So stick around and wait until that day!! I promise it'll all be worth it if you don't stop fighting and keep going until everything's alright. I recommend "Grow Up" by Stray Kids if you ever need something to keep you going. Read the lyrics and understand that everything will be okay!! I know it seems a bit silly to put stuff like this in a fanfiction but you never know who needs this. This is your sign to not give up!!!

Woah eyo woah oh oh
Woah eyo woah

You fell down, it’s alright, I’ll pick you up
Did you worry a lot?
No no no, it’s your first time
That’s ok, everyone does that
That’s how it is, even adults made mistakes
Practiced and grew when they were our age
There’s still so many firsts for us
It’s alright, we just need to go through it and grow, don’t cry

If you fall back a little, just rest
You’re doing fine, when things are hard
I’ll run with you, don’t worry
Get up and roll up your sleeves, don’t give up

You’re doing fine
You’re doing fine
Have strength, just endure a little more
I’ll be next to you
You’re doing fine
You’re doing fine
You gotta take your time, you can do it
You can do just fine

Should I stop or not? Should I give up or not?
Why can’t I?
Throw away all these thoughts
In that time, just run

Feels like you’re running without knowing where the end is
It’s a cycle of having a tired body and tired heart
You’re about to give up
But you’re the one who decides the end
What’s your decision?
Just the fact that you’re running toward the end

You’re doing enough
You’re doing just fine
I know you and you’re trying your best right now
That’s all you need
Just keep your pace
Don’t be nervous, trust yourself

You’re doing fine
You’re doing fine
Have strength, just endure a little more
I’ll be next to you
You’re doing fine
You’re doing fine
You gotta take your time, you can do it
You can do just fine

Even if it’s hard and tiring, don’t give up
Don’t push yourself away, you just need time
Afterwards, when you look back
Tell yourself this

Woah eyo woah oh oh
Woah eyo woah
Woah eyo woah oh oh
Woah eyo woah

You’re doing fine
You’re doing fine
Have strength, just endure a little more
I’ll be next to you
You’re doing fine
You’re doing fine
You gotta take your time, you can do it
You can do just fine

You've got this!!!!

-BB

💜💜💜