¤ Together
The xx ↲

I said it's been a long time
Since someone looked at me that way
It's like you knew me
And all the things I couldn't say

▪︎ ▪︎ ▪︎

"So this is where we'll be working," Taehyung mumbled a bit awkwardly, waving his hands over his art room.

Jungkook arrived just moments before, appearing at his door with slightly damp hair. It hung over his forehead and stuck to his skin, the strands messy and out of place.

Taehyung's hands twitched to draw his portrait, needing to capture the effect. But he reminded himself that was not the goal of today. No, the goal was to better his technique when it came to drawing a muscular build.

That didn't mean he couldn't do a portrait another time though . . .

After letting the model inside, Taehyung skipped the tour of his apartment and went straight to his art room. He'd forgotten to tidy up the disarray of nude drawings, so he quickly pushed them towards the wall. While he wasn't embarrassed by the hordes of canvases, he didn't want Jungkook to feel uncomfortable. The boy was probably already uncomfortable enough.

Jungkook strolled around the room, bending down to study some of the drawings more closely. "How many do you have in here?"

"Drawings? I don't know. They just kind of pile up."

The model hummed in response, thumbing through a few more before he straightened back up. "So . . . how do you typically do this? Should I get changed here? I'm sure your other commissions don't ask such dumb questions, but I'm obviously new to this."

"I've never commissioned a model from the class before," Taehyung said, pulling out his easel and a couple of chairs. "This is new for me, too."

Jungkook took one of the chairs and sat down. "Really? I assumed all art students would be hiring out people to draw or something."

"I've never had a need to before. You're the first person I can't draw," Taehyung revealed with a slight tint of irritation.

He continued setting up his supplies until everything was prepared. Multiple sheets of paper awaited him, as did charcoal pencils with varying degrees of lead hardness. The lighting in the room was soft, helping the room to feel warm and inviting.

Jungkook reached for the back of his shirt, pulling it over his head with both hands. The action surprised Taehyung, who could only gape at the muscles now exposed to him. The guy was absolutely ripped, the sight making Taehyung's stomach clench in something he hadn't felt in a long time.

"Were you not ready for me?" Jungkook asked, a smirk dancing on his lips as he took in Taehyung's wide eyes. His hands went to the button of his jeans.

"Keep your pants on for now," Taehyung said gruffly, turning away from his shirtless model as he settled behind the easel.

"I thought you wanted to practice drawing me nude?"

Picking up a pencil, Taehyung gripped the drawing tool tightly. "But I haven't even wined and dined you yet. Are you so eager to get undressed for me? Are you getting excited?"

Jungkook threw him a glare, but removed his fingers from his pants. "It's not like I enjoy stripping down for strangers, you know. I'm not doing this for shits and giggles."

"Relax your shoulders and face me head on," Taehyung instructed as he started outlining Jungkook's frame. "Then why are you doing this? Lose a dare?"

"It's none of your business why I'm doing this," the model retorted, dropping his shoulders and swiveling towards the artist. "Just draw me already."

The scratch of pencil on paper was the only audible noise for a while. It was a comforting sound to Taehyung, one that had gotten him through some of the most troublesome of nights. It put him at ease now, tension dissipating as he continued with his work.

Every couple of seconds, Taehyung referenced the model in front of him, tilting his head to the side. His drawing needed more detail: the abdominals lacked the right amount of definition and the shadowing in between the pectorals could be better. Even his depiction of the scar on the boy's ribs didn't look realistic.

He eventually slammed his pencil down, causing Jungkook to jump.

"Finished already?" The model asked to fill the sudden silence in the room.

"Not even close," Taehyung huffed, pushing the mop of hair off his forehead. "God, why are you such a challenge?"

Jungkook hooked his thumbs through his belt loops. "I can't be too easy for you now. I'm no tease."

And even though he was annoyed, Taehyung's mouth twitched. "With a body like that, you may just be. Seriously, how can someone look like that? You must be a gym rat or an athlete."

"Neither, actually. I work in construction. There's nothing like hard labor to help sculpt muscles."

Taehyung's eyebrows shot up. "You're not in school? Here I was thinking you were some young, dumb jock."

A surprised laugh got caught in Jungkook's throat. "Nope, not a dumb jock. Just a construction worker. And I'm not that young. I'm nineteen."

Blame it on Taehyung's upbringing, but he was confused as to why a nineteen year old would be working instead of in school. Everyone he knew followed the same path, so to meet someone who strayed from his norm was new. It was exciting.

"Have you always been a construction worker?" He asked, his drawing temporarily forgotten.

"Yes, I came out of the womb wearing a hard hat and vest," Jungkook responded sarcastically. "The first sound I learned how to make was a catcall."

Taehyung laughed, raising his hands in defeat. "Okay, okay. Poor choice of wording on my part. I was just curious how you got into it."

"What's this?" Jungkook said, his lips pursing together. "Are we getting to know each other now?"

Taehyung swiped his tongue over his bottom lip. He wanted to. This person was intriguing to him and he wanted to learn more. Quite honestly, he rarely interacted with someone of a different class than himself and he was curious to hear about that sort of life.

It was a life he wish he'd been born into.

"Only if you want to," Taehyung said at last, hands selecting a new and sharpened pencil. "I should get back to drawing anyway."

Small scratches filled the room once more as Taehyung picked up where he left off. He was trying to capture the corded muscles of Jungkook's bare arm when the boy spoke up again.

"I've only been working full time for a year. I . . . I used to go here."

"Oh?" Taehyung intoned, curiosity running through him. He remained quiet, however, as he let the model figure out how much he wanted to reveal.

"I studied photography before I dropped out. But times changed, things happened, and I needed to get a job," Jungkook explained slowly, almost like he was filtering out the pieces he didn't want to share. "Construction didn't require a degree and it pays well, so it was an easy choice."

Taehyung felt bad for the guy, hearing the obvious regret in Jungkook's tone. But he knew better than to push the subject, so he instead focused on something else that interested him. "So, photography? What got you into that?"

Taehyung's reward for asking that question was a wide grin, one that reached all the way up to Jungkook's eyes. "My little sister used to play all these sports when she was younger. Juyeon was so ruthless and intense . . . a little hellion in cleats. I loved watching her expression when she played and wanted to capture it in print. So I bought a crappy camera and started there. I got more into landscapes after that, but she's always been my favorite subject."

Taehyung couldn't resist his own urge to smile. "She sounds amazing. I always wish I had siblings."

"You don't?"

"Nope," he said, fiddling with the pencil between his fingers. "I always used to say I was a lonely child in addition to be an only one."

It appeared that Jungkook didn't know how to respond, so Taehyung went back to the sketch. Things were starting to come along, but the results weren't as strong as he was used to producing.

"You're not a drug dealer, are you?"

Jungkook's sudden inquiry caused Taehyung to press a little too firmly into his paper, creating a noticeable dent. "Sorry, what?"

The model ran a hand over the back of his neck, his bicep slightly flexing in the process. "It's just that you offered me a lot of cash to be here. I don't know too many people who can throw that sort of money around."

"Your imagination may be more twisted than mine," Taehyung commented, shaking his head at the assumption. "I'm not a drug dealer, Jungkook. I'm just the product of stupidly wealthy people who give me money to avoid having actual conversations with me."

Taehyung went back to his drawing, not even able to picture himself as a drug dealer. He'd never even smoked a joint in his life, so the thought seemed ridiculous.

"Is that why you offered me so much money then . . . to piss them off?" Jungkook asked, pulling his bottom lip between his teeth.

Taehyung's pencil snapped against the canvas. As he went to pull out a new one, he considered how to respond. He didn't owe the guy anything, but for once it might be nice to tell an absolute stranger about some of this stuff.

"I mean, maybe. That's certainly a nice perk. But when I said I haven't seen a body like yours before, I wasn't lying. And the fact that I can't seem to draw you . . . it's just not coming easily to me. Things like this have always come easily and it's driving me insane."

It was a lot of personal information about himself, a lot of things Taehyung never even shared with his friends. But revealing a glimpse of himself that others had never seen was liberating.

After a long pause, Jungkook spoke up, tracing one of his tattoos with a finger. "I could never get the exposure right when I shot sunsets. My pictures would turn out too dark or overexposed, and I used to get so angry. So I get it. When it's your art and your passion, you'd do anything to get it right."

"Do you still do photography?"

A deep and heavy sigh sounded from Jungkook's throat. "I don't have the time anymore."

They looked at each other, unsure of what to say next. Neither anticipated much when they started tonight, but now it seemed like they were on common ground. Sure, they came from vastly different backgrounds, but it felt like they spoke the same language.

They understood the other's passion for his craft.

"Can I ask you a question?" Jungkook broke the stillness around them, wringing his hands together.

Taehyung hummed in affirmation.

"How'd you get that bruise?"

Almost absentmindedly, Taehyung's fingers went to his cheek. The skin was still tender to the touch and it'd probably take another week to heal. And as much as he found himself enjoying talking to Jungkook, he didn't think this was the sort of thing he should share. So he crafted the story all too easily.

"Frisbee." He forced himself to smile. "I lack hand-eye coordination."

And as Taehyung went back to drawing, he could have sworn he saw a flash of doubt in Jungkook's eyes . . . the first person to suspect that his stories may not be true.

But then he looked again and it was gone.

▪︎ ▪︎ ▪︎

》 V A L E N W R I T I N G 《

This chapter was so fun to write, finally some real Taekook conversations and banter - my fave!

How's everyone doing today? Despite everything going on in the world, my biggest wish is that you are all staying healthy, happy, and safe. You're all amazing so please continue to take care of yourselves!