Sparkling snowflakes descended gently and evaporated as they landed on the ground. It was expected to snow heavily later at night, so Jungkook had already changed the tires of his car with the help of a professional. 

He stood outside of the bar Merlina and peeked through the window in search of Min Heo. He called him two more times before eventually visiting him. Something just didn’t seem right.

A few minutes later, he emerged from the back of the bar with a cloth in his hands. And Jungkook swept inside at once. “Min Heo-ssi.”

The said man flinched at the call of his name. He didn’t even glance at him before starting to wipe the tables. 

“Min Heo-ssi?” Jungkook called again as he approached him. “Why are you avoiding me? What happened?”

Min Heo threw a discreet look towards the bar, finding one manager staring at them as he had expected. He straightened his back and fixated his gaze on Jungkook. “I’m sorry,” he whispered, meant for only him to hear. Then, he plastered a scowl on his face. “Can you stop bothering me? I have nothing to say to you. Don’t call me and don’t come here ever again. Leave now. Leave!” He neared him to jostle him, using it as a coverage to slip a note into his pocket. Pushing a detective could get him in trouble, but he had to risk it. There was no other way to explain why he acted like this. 

Jungkook was seasoned enough to comprehend that there was a reason for his pretended aggressive behavior. And he also perceived it when Min Heo slid something into his pocket. So he played along. “I wasted my precious time coming here. You’re useless. You don’t know anything. As for pushing me, I’ll let it slide because I’m too busy to deal with you too.” He stormed off then, heading to his car. 

Once he got in, he took the item out of his pocket; it was a handwritten note. 

I don’t know if I’ll have the chance to give you this. I’m sorry. They found out that we talked the last time and threatened me. Jong Hoon’s men can protect me, but I’m the only one who can protect my people. I can’t put them in danger. They monitor my phone too. That’s why I couldn’t even text you. I won’t be able to help you. I hope you understand. 

A sigh tumbled out of Jungkook. There’s a snitch working at the bar. I’m sure that’s how they found out. Fuck. We’re back to zero, then. 

He folded the note, placed it back in his pocket, and drove off. A drear oppression had settled over his chest since he woke up that day and it only worsened with the results of his visit to Merlina. 

Something just bothered him. Like a persistent itch he couldn’t get rid of. That unknown feeling festered every time Taehyung wandered in his mind, causing him to think it had something to do with him.

But that thought was absurd. 

He was the one who called off their deal. He was the one who told him he couldn’t stand seeing him anymore. Why was he thinking about him, then?

“Just shut up,” Jungkook murmured to himself. “You told him he was just your informant. You stopped talking to a bunch of informants and you didn’t mind. It’s no different.” He nodded reassuringly, but it didn’t make him feel any better. “You won’t call him. You won’t go see him. It’s that simple. It’d be like you never met him.”

God, if someone saw Jungkook at that moment, they’d definitely think he was deranged. He didn’t remember talking to himself out loud before. Was he actually losing his mind because of a mere informant?

He returned to the station and worked for a few more hours in silence. Even when someone talked to him, he replied shortly and focused on his current task. Or at least, he pretended to focus as his mind was unwittingly traveling far afield. 

With most of the chatter now quieted down as the end of their shift was approaching, Jungkook glanced at his partner, observing him. “Hyung.” 

“Hmm?” Namjoon resumed typing for a stretch and hit enter, then turned his attention to him. His brows slightly wrinkled as he took in the hesitation blanketing his traits. 

“What do you do when you want to call someone but you shouldn’t?”

Although surprised at the unexpected inquiry, Namjoon shrugged. “You don’t.”

“You drink!” Seung Ho chimed in. 

And Hoseok snorted, shaking his head in playful disapproval. “If you want to call that someone, there must be a reason. So you just call.”

“You guys are not helping.”

“We need the context to give you specific advice, Kook,” said Namjoon. 

“Never mind. Seung Ho wins. I’ll go to the bar.”

“Will you take your car?” Namjoon questioned. 

“Why?”

“Because when you don’t, it means you’re planning to get wasted. Are you planning to disappear again? At least give us a heads up.”

Jungkook stayed silent, gazing at him idly. “I won’t take my car, but I won’t disappear. Don’t worry.”

“Stay out of trouble, Kook,” Hoseok said. 

“I’ll see you tomorrow.”

🥀

Jimin was seething with blazing fury upon seeing Taehyung’s bruised cheek, and that overpowering feeling only deepened when he narrated what happened. Yoongi was just as enraged by the situation, but his anger was mostly directed to Jin Mo and his insensitive persona. 

“I can’t believe that asshole dared to hit you,” Jimin snarled. “We’ll be on standby the next time you’ll meet him and I’ll beat his ass if he does something to you.”

Taehyung smiled. “Thanks. But he calls me so fucking randomly. I don’t know when he’ll ask me to meet him again.” A deep sigh escaped him. “Anyway. What about Sa Rang?”

“Her phone is clean. It’s like she’s not using it at all. There isn’t any deleted message. But I have her call records. She calls this number often.” Jimin passed him a list with phone numbers and pointed at the one he mentioned. “I tried, but I can’t track the number. It probably belongs to Chae Yeon, though.”

“Did she talk to Jungkook at all?”

“No.”

Taehyung’s face darkened as he slipped into a state of intense thinking. “I don’t understand. She knows who I am. She thinks I want to hurt Jungkook. Why hasn’t she said anything to him then? Did Chae Yeon tell her not to? And if yes, why?”

Yoongi let out a sound of consideration. “We have to find out how they know each other and what their relationship is. It’s a little hard to believe that the wife of the chief of police is working for a boss of a crime organization.”

“Well, it’s possible if she’s just an informant. I doubt she deals with anything illegal. She just doesn’t seem like it,” Taehyung said. 

“Just because she’s Jungkook’s mother doesn’t mean she can’t deal with anything illegal. You just don’t want her to, right?” Jimin guessed, and by Taehyung’s lack of eye contact, he knew he was right. 

“I just... don’t want him to... I mean, he’s been through a lot already. Imagine if his mother turned out to be a criminal while he’s a detective. He’d be devastated.”

“Why are you sympathizing with him?” Yoongi asked with a puzzled frown. “Did you catch feelings yet?”

“Yah! Stop saying stupid things. I just care a bit like a human would.”

“Well, you’re rather sulky today,” Jimin observed. “You’ve been here since morning and he hasn’t called you even once. Did you fight?”

Taehyung’s shoulders sank with gloom at the remembrance of yesterday’s events. He had to think of a way to fix the mess with Jungkook, even though he didn’t want to. “He called off our deal. He doesn’t want me to be his informant anymore. He says he can’t trust me.”

“Shit, that’s not good,” Yoongi sighed. 

“What am I supposed to do?” Taehyung suddenly exclaimed, catching them off guard. “I couldn’t tell him where I was yesterday and what I was doing! I couldn’t tell him I was following his mother. I couldn’t tell him who really hit me. I couldn’t tell him I was feeling guilty about lying to him for fucking everything. Of course he can’t trust me because I can’t tell him anything!”

Jimin and Yoongi exchanged a tentative glance at his outburst, and although the mention of guilt rose a slew of questions within them, they kept their mouths shut about it. 

“We can think of a solution together, Tae,” Jimin uttered. “Give him some time for now.”

“I want to get angry, but I can’t. Because he’s right,” Taehyung said in a subdued tone, as though he were talking to himself. “He can’t stand seeing me. He can’t stand being near me. I’m just his informant. How could he say that after all the time we spent together? And why does it bother me?”

A quick, teasing answer that he indeed caught feelings dangled on the tip of Yoongi’s tongue, but he smothered it with a cough. “I bet he was just frustrated. Maybe he didn’t mean it.”

Taehyung’s pout didn’t yield at his supposition. “I’m going home.”

“Don’t you want to hang out a bit more?” Jimin suggested. “Let’s do something fun.”

“Thanks, but I’ll pass. Maybe next time. Bye, guys.”

His friends reluctantly said their goodbyes too, as Taehyung was already trudging towards the exit. Ah In had informed him that Jin Mo wanted to see him before leaving, but he didn’t go. He was still mad about his behavior, although he should have been used to it by now. 

He drove slowly as the roads close to the mountain were already cocooned in a thick shroud of snow — the isolated landscape was frosted with gleaming whiteness. 

At the end of the long ride, he parked and scuttled into the building, taking shelter in its warmth. 

His mind was stuck on Jungkook throughout the evening, trying to produce a plan to gain his trust. He ignored a call from Jin Mo and ate noodles for dinner, as he was too bored to cook. 

His phone ringing a while later again had him groaning. And his frustration only surged when he saw Soo Gun’s name on the screen. 

“Hello, Soo Gun-ssi.”

“Hey, angel. I’m at a bar at Songpa-gu. Wanna come?”

“At Songpa-gu? Why there? Can’t we meet somewhere else?”

“It’s close to my house, that’s why. And I already ordered drinks. Just join me.”

Taehyung wavered in a moment’s contemplation. “Fine. Text me the address.” He ended their call, his hand falling limp onto the couch. Why there? What if... Come on. There’s no way I’ll run into him. 

He swiftly got ready since he didn’t want to give Soo Gun reasons to get angry and called a cab as it was still snowing outside.

Because of the icy weather, Taehyung thought, and the late hour, the usually teeming streets of Songpa-gu weren’t that crowded. He peeped into the bar Soo Gun said was at and regarded the few customers for a spell. 

The universe was just so fucked up sometimes, he reflected. 

An awfully familiar presence was sitting at the counter alone, drinking shots. It was the last person he wanted to see at that moment, and he had to walk into that bar and hang out with fucking Soo Gun, as Jungkook would be just a few meters away. 

He conjured a ploy in a hurry. He would chat with Soo Gun for a bit and then coax him to go to another bar. 

And hopefully, Jungkook would never know he was there. 

He silently stepped into the dimly lit bar and stole towards Soo Gun once he spotted him. 

“Why are you so late?”

Taehyung quelled an irritated eye roll. “My taxi was late. It’s snowing, so I couldn’t take my motorcycle.”

“Hmm, okay.” Soo Gun passed him a drink and curled his arm around his shoulders. 

“Thank you,” he uttered with slight discomfort as he felt Soo Gun dip his face into the side of his neck. 

“You smell so nice, angel.”

Taehyung faked a smile, his hand unconsciously setting on his chest in need to push him back. He was good-looking, thickset, and young. Why did he feel such revulsion when he touched him? Was it because of Soo Gun’s awful personality? 

Thankfully, Soo Gun retreated after leaving a kiss on his neck and grabbed his vodka. They chatted for a while, although Taehyung drank more than he talked. He couldn’t handle him without the alcohol’s help. He threw the suggestion to go to another bar, but Soo Gun reclined sharply, saying there was no reason to leave. 

Soo Gun gradually became coarser in the way he touched him. He kissed his neck more often and forced their mouths together, too. His hand moved dangerously close to his crotch, and Taehyung grasped it instinctively. “Not here, Soo Gun-ssi. People are watching.”

“I don’t care. Let them know you’re mine.” He tugged him closer and latched his mouth onto his neck again, sucking harshly as his other hand went straight to his crotch this time. 

“Soo Gun-ssi, wait, wait,” he frantically spewed as he pushed him away, but Soo Gun grasped his hair in a bruising hold and yanked his head back. 

“Shut up. Don’t act like you don’t want this. I’ll fucking devour you tonight. We’ll have so much fun.” Soo Gun sucked his skin between his teeth, his hand groping his crotch roughly. 

“Oh, what the fuck?” Derin muttered upon spectating the scene with a moue of disgust, but then the guy’s attempt to jostle him away came to his focus and concern seeped into his eyes. “Yah. Where the hell is Hae Dong?”

Jungkook lazily glanced behind him to see what got him so worried and his eyes bulged at once. At first, he thought he was imagining things. That he was just delusional. But it only took him a couple of seconds to realize that it was indeed Taehyung who struggled to tear himself away from the unfamiliar man. 

He exploded out of his seat and sprinted across the bar, knocking over a chair at his passage. 

His blood boiled furiously as he clawed at the man’s shirt and wrenched him away hard enough to send him to the floor. A livid glint hardened his eyes as he grabbed his collar and delivered a ferocious blow to his face. 

Hae Dong hauled him back when he was about to hit him again and strove to restrain him. 

Soo Gun’s guard appeared and helped him to his feet. “Who the fuck are you?” Soo Gun growled. 

“I’m sorry, Soo Gun-ssi. Don’t mind him. You should leave for now,” Taehyung forced himself to say. 

“This fucker isn’t going anywhere,” Jungkook snarled. He ceased fighting against Hae Dong’s grip and contained himself despite his raging nerves and the alcohol that addled his senses. “He’s coming—”

“Yah!” Taehyung spat rowdily. “Shut up. And leave me alone.”

“We should leave, sir,” Soo Gun’s guard whispered. “You should keep a low profile, remember?”

Although Soo Gun wanted to beat that guy to a pulp, he knew Ji Myun was right. “I’ll call you,” he said to Taehyung and took off. 

Jungkook attempted to charge after him, but Hae Dong was fast enough to ring his form with a hasty arm. “Stop, for fuck’s sake. Do you want Derin to call your father again?”

Jungkook’s eyes were trained outside, watching through the window as that man got into a car and left. Then, they caught Taehyung rushing towards the door, and he pitched forward. Hae Dong released him since he also saw that older man leave and sighed once Jungkook bolted out of the bar. 

Jungkook caught up with him and spun him around with an abrupt pull on his shoulder. “Who the fuck was that, huh?”

Taehyung felt a horrendous feeling well up in his chest as he gazed at his turbulent eyes, intense enough to quicken his breath. He walked away without a word, but he was soon brought to a stop as Jungkook grasped his jacket and blocked his way. 

“This is what you do to get information? Letting any fucker touch you like that? And especially when you don’t want to?” Jungkook’s growling voice spewed savagely from his lungs as his senses were blinded by unreasonable outrage. 

And Taehyung’s self-restraint abandoned him throughout, leaving him all alone to break down. Why were tears pouring down his face without end? Why was he so emotional suddenly? He had done it countless times before. He let others touch him, even if he didn’t want to. He gave himself to others even if he didn’t want to. And he was okay with it. What the hell happened now? 

But then, through his wrenching distress, he realized. It was okay as long as no one knew about it. It was okay as long as no eyes were on him. But in that bar, people saw him. Jungkook saw him. And he couldn’t bear the degradation any longer. 

Taehyung felt gentle hands embrace his wet cheeks, and a mellow, mildly restless voice curled around his ears right after. 

“Don’t do this anymore to get information. I’ll give you the answers you want, okay? I’ll find out anything for you. Just don’t do this again, hmm?”

Taehyung cried harder at his words. He didn’t deserve these words. Didn’t deserve his affection. Didn’t deserve his touch, comfort. 

He didn’t deserve anything from him. 

His heart sobbed along with him. It screamed at him to accept Jungkook’s touch and melt into it — melt and cry in his arms. It ached for his embrace. For his warmth. But Taehyung’s brain resisted. His brain fought against his desires again. And it won this time. 

Taehyung gathered any ounce of self-control and twined his wrists with his wan hands. He dragged them down until they slipped through his grip. And then he rotated in the opposite direction. 

“Tae.”

His heart ached again. Deeper. Harsher. Tears continued to leak out of his glazed eyes absently. He stepped forward. A tug on his coat held him still. Right then, that pain converted to sudden exasperation that prickled through his insides, mounting so high it exploded out of him in a screaming tirade. 

Taehyung violently whipped his hand away as he cried, “Why do you care, huh?” The words were muffled by a sob that came along with them. His aching, flooded with tears eyes peered right into Jungkook, registering a fog of concern in his gaze that fueled Taehyung’s rage. “I’m nothing to you!” As if he consumed all of his strength to howl at him, his shoulders drooped and his head hung low in despondency. “So don’t care about what I do.” His voice traveled in a hoarse whisper. 

“I can’t—” Jungkook tossed off and puffed out a sigh. “I can’t ignore you. I tried. I really did. But all I could think about today was to call you. I can’t ignore you. I... care.”

“You care about my information,” he gritted out in a voice raw with hatred, although he was unsure if it was directed at Jungkook or himself. His attempt to leave was disturbed once more, as Jungkook clutched at his forearm. “Just don’t touch me!” Taehyung thundered, jerking his hand away with such force it caused him to stumble. 

Jungkook’s gloomy eyes hung upon him as Taehyung slouched away. He matched his lethargic steps unconsciously. Smoky gems of snow, as soft as an angel’s wings, showered down their figures while they walked from a harrowing distance. 

Jungkook yearned to tell him a myriad of things. But mostly to apologize. It was the first time he had that need. He believed it was the only way the oppression that burdened him would wear off. 

His gaze didn’t lose Taehyung from its aim in the slightest during the thirty-minute walk to Taehyung’s house. It was simply riveted on him, saddened and dismal. Following him was beyond his control — it happened automatically. As if he couldn’t do otherwise. As if he didn’t have another choice.

As if the right way were towards him. Taehyung. 

Taehyung was well aware of the distant presence that trailed behind him. He had no more strength to fight him, though, and tell him to leave. So he figured Jungkook would do it on his own at some point. 

Taehyung’s tears had dried on his cold cheeks as he stepped into the building. The trudge to his apartment took longer than usual by his languid steps. He stood immobile after he closed the door behind him, staring at the floor in a melancholic haze. He shuffled towards the intercom and lifted a weak hand to press the camera icon. 

The view of the entrance was displayed on the small screen. Jungkook was just standing there. He gazed at the screen until it shut off on its own. His need to shower was immense as the feel of Soo Gun’s mouth on him left something revolting behind. 

His movements were lifeless during the process. Even standing at that moment seemed too exhausting, as the heaviness cloaking his existence couldn’t diminish at all. It suffocated him. He felt like crying again. But his eyes had drained out of tears. 

Beads of water dripped from his wet hair as he padded to the living room. He halted, though, and turned his head towards the intercom. He won’t be still here. 

He touched the camera icon, and his puffy eyes mildly became rounder by the idle upward twitch of his brows. What is he doing? He monitored in a maze as Jungkook paced, alternating between doing faint hand gestures, as if talking to someone, and rubbing his biceps. 

It dawned on him; Jungkook wasn’t wearing a coat. He was wearing just a cashmere sweater. And it was snowing heavily outside. 

He pressed the phone icon, and Jungkook’s voice sounded from the speaker. Although it was just a faint murmur, he picked up on a few things. 

“—mean it. I was frustrated, ...  I said it. You’re not nothing, you’re not just my informant, you’re—okay, ...  label this, I’ll call you a friend if that’s what you want.” A gleam of a smile distorted Taehyung’s flat lips as he watched him run a hand down his face. “That’s not a nice way to say it, Jungkook.” His chest lightly quivered with a frail chuckle at Jungkook's mumble. 

Taehyung tapped the key icon. He saw him jolt at the buzzing noise, then freeze up. The noise died after five seconds, and Jungkook was still there, motionless. 

“Come upstairs.”

Jungkook pushed the door when he buzzed him in again. How did he know I was still here? He questioned in his head. He couldn’t hear me, right? 

He used the stairs, unwilling to wait for the elevator, which was on the sixth floor. He found the door a mite open when he reached his destination. He shut it with a soft thud and pattered towards the living room where Taehyung was sitting. 

A feathery blanket overlaid his form, and he seemed to hug his knees underneath it. 

Jungkook took his seat across from him, cogitating his expression with fleeting glances. It was like a blank page, he concluded. No emotion could be perceived on his gorgeous features. It disclosed nothing of his thoughts or feelings. 

His eyes also assimilated the brute redness that covered the left side of Taehyung’s neck, awakening sparks of his previous rage. 

“I only let you in because you would freeze if you stayed there longer.”

Taehyung’s voice sounded as cold as the crispy snow that earlier dropped onto his exposed skin in a wet touch. But it was also just as faint, weak, harmless. 

“I left my coat at the bar,” Jungkook drawled, and a sudden realization hit him seconds later. “Along with my keys, phone, and wallet.”

“Tell me what you have to say. I’ll listen. Then I’ll drive you to take your stuff. And I’ll never see you again.” There was a stubborn determination that roughed up the edges of his timbre, the same that twinkled for a moment in his gaze. Taehyung was serious. He had made up his mind. 

He would give up his mission. And, as he said, never see him again. 

Jungkook’s head buzzed with the speech he had rehearsed, but the moment he locked eyes with him and unfolded his mouth, his mind blackened throughout. The prepared sentences became scattered words, and his short-circuited brain couldn’t piece them together if he didn’t draw his gaze away. 

“What I said yesterday... I didn’t mean it. I was just frustrated. You’re not obligated to tell me everything. It irritates me that you don’t, but that’s not your fault. I shouldn’t have put it on you. It’s my problem. My fault. I acted rashly when I called off our deal. I was just...” His chest deflated with a stuttering breath. “I don’t know. I just shouldn’t have done it. And I shouldn’t have said all those things.”

Taehyung eyed him tacitly as his impassive veneer seemed to fracture a tad by a sense of softness. “That’s not what you rehearsed earlier.”

Jungkook’s eyes flitted all over the floor in surprise, tinged with embarrassment. “You... heard that?”

“Yeah. I didn’t think you’d still be there forty minutes later. But you were. I saw you talk to yourself and I got curious.”

There were no words to describe how much Jungkook wanted to vanish by his vast abashment at that moment. Out of all people, Taehyung had to see his delirium. “Can you pretend you didn’t see anything? This is so embarrassing,” he breathed out. 

“It doesn’t matter. I’ll never see you again, anyway, remember?”

Jungkook’s head perked up, his mouth opening with a vexed protest ready to erupt from him. But it closed again as a cloud of remorse carpeted his traits. “Okay. Obviously you’re mad. What I said wasn’t nice. I—”

“What wasn’t nice? You’re talking, but I don’t understand what you’re talking about.”

“It wasn’t true that I can’t stand seeing you, okay? That I can’t stand being near you. That you’re just my informant. We’re somewhat close. There, I said it.”

“Okay. And?”

“And what?”

“And what about it? Yes, it wasn’t nice. I already know that. You know it too. And what about it?”

Jungkook conceived the hidden implication of his remarks. He forgot to actually say the words ‘I’m sorry’. He couldn’t believe he forgot about the most important part of his speech. “I’m sorry. I don’t know why it bothers me so much that you don’t tell me anything. But as I said before, it’s my problem. I’ll handle it.”

Taehyung’s facade died out of his face, and he let his exhaustion surface along with the dejection that had nestled against his heart. “Thank you for apologizing. But why... Why do you want to keep our deal? Is it because of my information? You’ll have to keep seeing me this way.”

“It’s not about the deal,” Jungkook said in a quiet tone as his eyes crawled to his crimson neck and then dropped to the floor. “I’m tired of fighting with myself. I’m tired of denying the truth. I realized when I saw you earlier. I care about what’s happening to you. I want to help you because I want you to be okay. We’re not strangers anymore. We’ve shared things. Even if I hated the idea of sharing things, it felt nice when I shared them with you. I feel like you always get me. And I want to understand you too.”

They held eye contact in the prolonged silence that followed. His beautiful words stole Taehyung’s ability to produce a response. He felt an eager urge to decrease the space between them. To sit beside him would be enough. But he didn’t have an excuse to do it. 

Maybe he didn’t know it, but Jungkook felt the same urge gnaw at his chest. 

Taehyung’s phone rang, and he flinched at the noise. He suppressed a sigh once he glanced at the name and snatched it from the table. “I have to take this.”

He received a nod from Jungkook and retreated to his room. “Yes—”

“How do you know Jeon Jungkook?”

His heart pranced at Soo Gun’s rowdy question. “I—What?”

“That guy from the bar was Jeon Jungkook, a fucking detective. How do you know him and why?”

“He had arrested me before. That’s how I know him.”

“And why did that fucker meddle? Are you two close or something?”

“No, of course not. I’ve only talked to him when he interrogated me. I don’t associate with the police. And I didn’t enjoy what you did in that bar, by the way. I clearly told you to stop.”

Soo Gun snorted. “You’ll do whatever I want because you’re mine.”

“I never was yours and I’ll never be,” Taehyung spat out. His chest swelled in a burst of confidence and determination. He had enough of him. “I don’t tolerate this behavior. No means no. But you kept throwing yourself at me. I’m done with you.” He hung up and flung his phone onto the bed after putting it on silent mode. 

Since he couldn’t give up the mission, he would get rid of Soo Gun, so there wonʼt be a mission in the first place. Jungkook would be thrilled to make such an arrest. He was sure. As for Jin Mo, he didn’t have to know.

It was a perfect plan. 

Only seconds later, he discerned the screen of his phone light up with an incoming call from Soo Gun. He pivoted on his heel and trod back to the living room. 

Jungkook sat upright in his seat once Taehyung slid into view. There was a much more mellowed aura rolling off him, as if a gigantic load were lifted from his shoulders in the span of a minute. This simple fact raised a colorful brooklet of relief within him that flowed through his concerned nerves in soothing wavelets. But soon a flare of nervousness outplaced it as Taehyung perched next to him instead of returning to his seat. 

Taehyung decided to take the risk, hoping Jungkook wouldn’t question him about the change of his seat. It felt indeed different to have him next to him. His warmth was so intense it could reach him even without touching him. 

“So you care about me?” An affected nonchalance coiled around Taehyung’s question, although his stomach did a tiny flip of anxiety for his reply. 

“Yes,” Jungkook said, the syllable nothing more than a whisper. 

“In what way?”

“I guess in a... normal way? What kind of question is that?”

Taehyung let out a silent tsk sound. “Fine. There’s no need to be so prickly about it.”

Jungkook could hear the pout in his voice and his gaze shifted to him in an instant, wanting to have a glimpse. It felt like everything glaciated the moment their eyes connected, like Jungkook’s breath momentarily. It was ridiculous how cute and hot he was at the same time with his little pout. And unfair. No one should look that pretty while pouting. 

His regard swam down his porcelain skin and fixed on the mixture of purple and red that stained his neck. His hand ventured towards him absently. His knuckles smoothed over the large mark in a velvety, dragging caress, sullen eyes pursuing the movement. “Why did you let him do that to you?”

Taehyung’s eyes matched his gloom. Although his soft-spoken inquiry dragged up the memory of that loathsome moment, his touch remedied some of the revulsion he experienced. “I couldn’t stop him,” he whispered. 

Jungkook’s movements halted as he perceived the rather tender manner he caressed him. “Sorry. You told me not to touch you.”

Taehyung sensed his knuckles slide down his skin until they withdrew, and he grasped his hand, letting them rest in the space between them. “If I want anyone to touch me right now... it’s you.” Since I met you, it’s always you. Why? This thought bloomed in his mind, but he kept it to himself. 

“I shouldn’t,” Jungkook uttered and slithered his hand out of his grip. His heart was doing that thing again. It pounded violently against his chest, feeling like it would jump out of its place. It was too much for him. 

“Jungkook?”

“Hm?”

“Can you accept my offer for this night? Just for this night.”

It was tempting. The images of that night were still vivid in his mind. Taehyung’s fiery kisses, his sexy body, his sinful sounds. All of his stunning perfection. Just the thought of a repetition of that night had heat surging throughout his body. 

It truly tempted him. Stirred impulses almost irresistible. 

“It’s not a good idea,” Jungkook said, his gaze anchored on the floor. “It will only complicate things. I don’t like complicated. I don’t want complicated.”

“I don’t want complicated either,” Taehyung’s deep voice released with a breathy element. “But I want you.” He couldn’t help but notice how his whole body tensed at his words, and he instantly regretted them. “I mean I want to have sex with you.”

Silence engulfed the room as Taehyung observed his stock still figure and unreadable expression. It was sudden to hurl his desire like that at him, and he knew it. But he couldn’t keep it hidden anymore. It was too overwhelming, too intense, too tremendous to conceal. 

“Do I sound desperate again?” Taehyung asked, a bitter smile stretching on his lips. “Because I think I am. For you.”

Jungkook arose, as though someone yanked him from his seat. “Don’t go there, Taehyung. I told you it won’t happen again.”

“Because you don’t want to or because it shouldn’t?”

Jungkook took off towards the door without a word. 

“Alright, I’m sorry,” Taehyung hastened to say. His remark slowed Jungkook’s gait until he stopped. “Forget that I asked. Forget what I said. I’ll call you a taxi if you want to leave. It’s snowing too much to drive you on my motorcycle.”

How could Jungkook forget it? If he didn’t flee, he would have yielded. He would have devoured his lips right there and then. He had become this weak when it came to Taehyung. And he didn’t like it one bit. 

“Call me a taxi. I’ll wait outside.”

“It’s freezing outside!” Taehyung snarled as he jerked up and charged towards him.

Jungkook only managed to open the door a notch before it was shut again by a forceful hand. His back brushed against Taehyung’s chest. They remained unmoving, bodies in contact, hearts malfunctioning by the proximity. 

“Can you stop running away?” Taehyung’s throaty drawl seeped through gently, eyes grazing over the silky slope of his neck. “Just a no is enough. Then, we’ll pretend I didn’t say anything and we’ll move on. Why do you have to run?”

“Because I don’t want to say no.”

Time froze again. It was so silent they could hear the battering of their hearts roar in their ears. 

“Then say yes.” There was a blatant eager hue that colored Taehyung’s subdued voice. 

“I can’t. That’s why I’m running away. So just let me leave.” Jungkook used the last traces of his composure to indirectly deny his offer, although his enlarged crotch only made it more difficult. 

“Who says you can’t? If you want to, you can.” Taehyung took a tiny step, pressing his body just a tad harder against him. He nosed around that delicious neck, then positioned his mouth an inch away from his ear. “Just fuck me already.”

The situation was such an ardent recall. Only the roles were reversed. The previous time, Jungkook was the one enticing him further and further, and Taehyung was having trouble controlling himself. 

Suddenly Jungkook’s hand clawed at his waist, swiveled him, and pinned him to the wall as his other cradled the back of his head to protect it from the collision. That was it. Jungkook was about to kiss him. He was about to surrender to his suppressed longing for him and fuck him until morning again. The intensity of his gaze had Taehyung’s stomach flipping in an uncontrollable frenzy of lust mixed with excitation. It unleashed a sinful promise of want, stimulating fierceness, and rapture. 

“I don’t fuck anyone twice.”

Or maybe it was all in Taehyung’s head because the sternly spoken declaration disillusioned him rather cruelly. And Jungkook’s departure left him roiling in a maze of bitter disbelief and miffed puzzlement. 

───⭒───༺🌑༻───⭒───

Jungkook admitted that he cares! 🎉🥂 And Taehyung went all in for him😅 You thought they would have sex again, didn't you? Both will explain their actions in the next chapter. I can't wait!

Thank you for all the love in this book. It means so much💜