By the time Jin drags me up the stairs and into the kitchen, Yoongi seems to have either left, or given up becoming presentable and gone back to sleep. The house is actually oddly silent. I think that this is probably the first time since coming to this house that it has been so quiet, and I realize that all the boys must be elsewhere.

Jeonguk is still downstairs gaming. I'd tried to get his attention, ask if he wanted to come upstairs with us, but he'd been in the zone, and clearly deaf to my voice. I don't know if Jimin is still here, and from what Jin was telling me, Taehyung is out on a date with his girlfriend.

"Where's Namjoon and Hoseok?"

"I think they're still here somewhere, " Jin replies.

Clearly he is well at home in the kitchen, because he scurries about grabbing this, and that, with practiced ease. He hands me an apron, and I smile as I realize that the front of it is decorated with letters that read 'kiss the cook'.

"It was a gift from my girlfriend, " Seokjin explains sheepishly, and I take it without question. 

"You have a girlfriend?" I tease, trying to lighten the mood which has derailed into something sad, something tense. "I bet she can't wait to wife you!"

"Had, " he mumbles, eyes for a moment filled with a strange sort of faded sorrow. "She had terminal cancer. It was the reason I became a doctor, but she passed away before I could finish my residency."

"I'm so sorry, " I place my hand upon his hand where it rests against the counter. "I didn't know. I didn't mean to open old wounds."

He smiles faintly, plush lips barely moving at all. 

"It's fine, " he tells me softly. "Really."

The air has adopted a strange stillness, like something is coming, something big. I become aware of just how close Seokjin and I are, and of the way his eyes dart to my lips. 

"He's going to kiss me, " I realize, startled.

For a moment, my eyes flutter in indeciscion. I could let him. Jin is a very attractive man. And despite how I feel about Jeonguk, I find it hard to believe in a day where we could actually be together. 

All things considered, maybe it would be best to let go. 

To move on.

But the second he closes his eyes, my choice is made for me, and a part of me breathes in relief when that choice is to step away. I just can't do it.

Somehow, somewhere along the way, I think I've come to fall in love with Jeonguk. God help my soul, but I don't want anyone else. And the thought of possibly kissing his older brother leaves me with a bad taste in my mouth, even if I have to move on…

Not like this.

Jin's eyes flutter open in confusion, but then, recognition and horror in equal measure descends upon his features.

"Hyung?" 

Jeonguk's voice, trembling with anger and fresh tears, shatters whatever tension had been left. He stands in the kitchen's doorway, unnaturally still and stiff.

"Kookie... " Jin's face is twisted with guilt and regret.

I watch in horror as Guk's eyes harden, and it hits me like a ton of bricks. This is my fault.

He doesn't even give Jin a chance to explain.

Instead, he grabs my wrist, and drags me to the door. For once, I protest weakly.

"Nothing happened Guk, please don't fight with your brother like this."

He clenches his jaw, and the hand currently wrapped around my wrist becomes nearly painfully tight. I am easily overpowered by Jeonguk and his mass of muscles.

At the door, he shoves his shoes on. When I hesitate to the same, desperate for him to go back and speak to his brother who is clearly in pain, he hoists me over his shoulder.

I squeak indignantly.

"Put me down!"

He bends over to retrieve my shoes before carefully opening the door and crossing the threshold. He pays mind to neither me, nor my fists as they pound at his back, demanding that he release me as he closes the door behind him.

To my utter astonishment, he carries me nearly all the way to the bus stop before I finally manage to wriggle loose, long since having given up on beating my way out with my clearly ineffective fists.

"Why are you so upset?" I exclaim angrily, snatching my shoes. "You can't just go around manhandling people like that!"

Jeonguk steps back, eyes wide and hurt. 

This is the first time I have ever raised my voice at him.

I swear inwardly, realizing that I've gone and royally fucked up twice over now. He's going to lock up, to freeze and push me away, possibly even run away. I reach out hesitantly, an apology on the tip of my tongue.

But that apology dies in my throat when I see the way that Jeonguk is looking at me.

"Would you let Jin manhandle you?" He challenges quietly.

"No, " I confess.

My heart is like a hummingbird in my throat, beating so fast that it can only be a desperate bid for escape as the distance between us lessens. I drop my shoes, startled by the intent in his eyes.

And I freeze when his body collides with mine.

It isn't gentle. It isn't practiced or polished. And the way that he presses his lips to mine, invading my mouth with teeth and tongue, isn't the result of experience. As his arms wrap around my waist, holding me so tightly I'm afraid I might break, I forget that I ever even needed to breathe in the first place.

Raw and heady, he is desperate, and I whimper beneath his kiss. He groans, one hand reaching up to latch itself within my hair. I gasp as he yanks my head back with that very same hand, the feeling of his petal-soft lips against the skin of my neck almost more than I can take.

I know that there are a million questions I want to ask, but for the life of me, I can't remember why it's so important. And when his teeth scrape against the column of my throat, I moan, unable to keep the sound locked away inside any longer.

"Guk, " I sigh as his lips depart from my skin, leaving heated marks in their wake. "We really need to talk."