Taehyung shut out everything that happened with the younger the moment he woke up the next morning. He had to give his everything to his trial, and wasting his time on thinking about how Jeongguk played him wouldn't help him to do that at all.

Thankfully, he had collected enough evidence to prove that the offender had indeed stolen from his client's store. He managed to convince the jury, and so they sentenced him to six months in jail, and he was also obligated to pay a fine.

Feeling relieved and content with his win, he decided to go to his friends' house. He knew if he just went back to his house he would get depressed and endlessly think about a certain boy. And since he didn't have something urgent to do, he drove there leisurely.

Hoseok was surprised to see him since, after what happened yesterday, he thought he would need some time alone, but he welcomed him with a warm hug which he gladly returned. "You seem okay, Tae. That's really good," he said as they walked inside.

Taehyung hugged his other friend as well before they all sat in the living room. "I won the trial, that's why."

"Well done, Tae! I'm so proud of you." Namjoon ruffled his hair, a grin decorating his lips.

"I'm proud of you too!" Hoseok chirped as he caressed his shoulder.

"Thank you, guys. At least something good happened in all this mess." He smiled bitterly, memories of what happened yesterday slamming into his head without wanting to. He took a moment to glance at his friends who had sympathetic smiles on their faces. "Did you know too? That Jeongguk was playing me?"

"No, Tae, we had no idea," said Namjoon.

"Yeah, if we knew something about it, we would have told you right away. I really want to punch his stupid face."

"He'll go to jail, anyway."

"What? Why?" Hoseok asked, confused.

"He was caught on camera. He was the one who hit the man. And I have to tell that to the police because I found out about the CCTV by myself. I can't lie under oath."

"He deserves it. Maybe in jail, he'll get his shit together," Hoseok spat out, still furious at him for hurting his friend.

"He... doesn't deserve to go to jail," Taehyung whispered, keeping his gaze down.

"Tae, he played you. He treated you awfully and he lied to you countless times. He has to learn his lesson somehow," Namjoon said, making sure to keep his tone soft.

"We talked yesterday. I went to his house to give him the USB with the video. I don't know why I did that, to be honest. Anyway, he admitted it, of course, but he said that although it started as a game, he really cares about me now. He said he was scared he would go to jail without a good lawyer to represent him and that's why he came up with his plan.

"He said that everything changed after we had sex in my office. It was the night you guys went for beers and Jeongguk didn't come. He didn't think about the plan anymore. He also said that I can quit being his lawyer and he won't give a fuck about that. It's not about being on my good side, it's not about the trial, it's not about if he will go to jail or not, he said. It's about me. It's all about me and how amazing I am, he said."

Silence fell upon them as the two boys were throughout dumbfounded by everything they just heard. They shared a hesitant look and then riveted their gaze on Taehyung who had his head lowered. "And... do you believe him?" Namjoon whispered.

The lawyer let out a quaky sigh as a tight-lipped smile crawled over his features. "I don't know. Should I believe him?"

"We can't tell you what to do, Tae," Hoseok said.

"Would you believe him? If you were in my place, would you believe that it started as a game but it wasn't anymore?"

"That can happen," Namjoon voiced out, faltering. "I mean, since he got to know you and spent more time with you, he could genuinely care about you. You're a lovely person, and although Jeongguk is an ass, he's not some heartless monster. He pretends not to care, but he's a good kid who just has been through stuff, as we can all tell. Honestly, I believe he grew fond of you and cares about you. Hoseok, what do you think?"

"I don't know. What if everything he said yesterday was a lie too? I know he said he doesn't give a fuck if Taehyung quits being his lawyer, but what if that's a lie too? What if he thinks that Taehyung won't do that and just said it to make him forgive him?"

"I told him that he will have to stay in jail until his trial, and do you know what he said? He asked, 'So I won't be able to see you anymore?' Why would he continue to pretend until the end? It just didn't seem like a fixed question. And he seemed to be truly sorry. That's why I don't know what the hell to believe anymore."

"You should take your time to think about it. Even if he's telling the truth now, don't forgive him right away. He has to earn it." Hoseok gave him a sweet smile as he patted his back.

"I know. I'll wait until his trial to talk to him about it again. He will be in jail, anyway."

"When will you tell the police about what you found?" Hoseok asked.

"We'll go there together on Monday. I wanted to give him today and the weekend to spend time with his friends, who are probably going to stay in jail until their trial as well. I'm sorry, Hoseok," he said with an apologetic expression as he thought about Dohyun.

"Is there a chance he will end up in jail for good?"

"Depends on how good his lawyer is, but he'll probably be sentenced to community service or worst-case scenario in some jail time with the eligibility of probation."

"How about the others?" Namjoon asked.

"Same applies to Yoongi and Jimin, but for Jeongguk, it'll be hard not to get jail time. He assaulted someone, and if he's convicted of aggravated assault, he could go to jail for up to twenty years. If he's convicted of assault, he could go to jail for up to two years. I have to prove that he didn't intend to hurt the victim, and I don't know if I can do that because I don't have any actual proof."

"But he's a minor," Namjoon uttered.

"True and maybe that's the only thing that can help him not to get a lot of jail time."

"It sounds really bad either way," Hoseok murmured, sighing.

"It is. It'll be really hard. And if I lose this case, I won't ever forgive myself. I told him many times that I'll make sure he won't end up in jail. He can't end up in jail."

"You... You really care about him," Hoseok ventured in a mellow tone, raising a sad smile from him.

"I do. Even though he played me and lied to me, I miss him already. I don't want to talk to him. I just want to see him."

"We can arrange that," said Namjoon. "We can call everyone here, but we'll tell Jeongguk that he's not allowed to talk to you at all."

"You honestly think he's gonna listen to that?" Hoseok scoffed at his suggestion.

"Look, if Jeongguk truly cares about Taehyung, he will do anything to be close to him even if he's not allowed to talk to him." Namjoon cast a glance at the lawyer then. "Should I call him?"

"Isn't he at uni now?" Hoseok asked.

"If he doesn't answer, yes, probably. What do you say, Tae?"

Taehyung pondered on it, not sure if it was a good idea, but he knew his friends would keep Jeongguk away if he tried to talk to him. "Let's see how much he cares."

The two boys grinned at his words, and he couldn't help but copy their smile. Namjoon took his phone out of his pocket and called him. He waited for a while, and when he thought he wouldn't pick up, he did.

"Namjoon hyung?"

"Hey. Are you at uni?"

"No, I skipped. What's up?"

"Wanna come to our house with the others?"

"Um, didn't Taehyung tell you what I did?" Jeongguk asked in a quiet tone, utterly confused by the sudden proposal.

"He did."

"And you don't hate me like he does?"

"He doesn't—uh, never mind. Wanna come or not?"

"I'm really not in the mood."

"Taehyung will be here."

There was a moment of silence as Jeongguk was once again staggered to the core. "Does he know that I'll be there too?"

"Yes."

"And he doesn't mind? I'm sure he fucking hates my guts. There's no way he will stay in the same room with me."

"Look, he doesn't mind, but there's one condition. You're not allowed to talk to him at all nor touch him of course."

"Can I... can I at least look at him?"

Namjoon's eyes popped at the question as he glimpsed at Taehyung. He met his gaze right away, brows drawn together, and a wordless question in his eyes.

"Hyung? Can I?"

"Oh, um, yes, you can. But if you try to talk to him, we'll throw you out, just so you know."

"It's okay. I won't try anything."

"Are you saying that seeing him is enough for you?"

"Of course it is. I don't know if you know, but I'll go to jail soon. I wouldn't miss a chance to see him even if I'm not allowed to talk to him or hug—uh, scratch that. What time should we come?"

Namjoon's jaw fell open as he realized what he was about to say. "Um, come when the others finish their classes."

"Okay, see you then."

With that, they hung up, and Namjoon was left staring at his phone in shock.

"What the hell did he say? Why are you so surprised?" Taehyung asked, anxious.

Namjoon told them everything the younger said, and they were just as astonished as him. They continued chatting as they decided to cook something for all of them to eat.

🥀

Jeongguk arrived first outside of the house but waited until the others would be there too. His pulse was irrationally fast and his mouth felt dry. He couldn't stay still by his nervousness. Inside that house was Taehyung, and although the thought of seeing him exhilarated him, it saddened him at the same time. He was still feeling awful about everything that happened, and he was sure he would feel that way for a long time.

It was about ten minutes later when the four boys got off the bus and shuffled towards him. "Kook, how are you?" Jimin asked with hesitation.

"Fine," he dryly answered and spun around to ring the doorbell but stopped when he felt a tug on his jacket.

"Before we go inside," Seokjin ventured, a veil of remorse spreading on his face. "I'm sorry for telling him everything. I know you hate me and you're mad at me, Kook. But I'm really sorry."

Jeongguk heaved a deep sigh as he lowered his head. "I don't hate you. And I'm not mad at you." He pivoted on his heel to look at his hyung. "I mean, I was mad at you. But Taehyung would have found out about the plan sometime, anyway. Honestly, I had completely forgotten about the plan." A bitter chuckle tumbled out of him as he shook his head. "I'm so stupid."

Everyone froze at his words, eyes widening in surprise. "But... But that's why you continued sleeping with him, right? I mean, because of your plan, right?" Seokjin felt his heartbeat increase in anxiety.

Jeongguk snorted, averting his gaze elsewhere. "No. I continued sleeping with him because I wanted to. Because I couldn't stop wanting to. It stopped being about the plan without even realizing it since we had sex in his office. It was when we said to go for beers but I didn't come, remember? Anyway, I just never thought about the plan after that night. And I was pissed at you, hyung, because I wasn't expecting you to just tell him everything out of the blue. I just don't understand why you did that."

"I—we were sitting with Namjoon and Hoseok, and Taehyung was telling us about you, you know. He was telling us how nice and sweet you are and that he thinks he has feelings and I—I couldn't just sit there and listen to him talking about that when you were just playing with him, it was—"

"W-what?" Jeongguk whispered in a trance, cutting his fretful explanation off. "He h-has what?"

A mask of terror flashed up onto Seokjin's face when he comprehended what he just blurted out and to who. "Shit, I shouldn't have said that."

"You think?" Jimin scowled at him as he nudged his shoulder.

"I-I have to..." Jeongguk muttered and jolted back, ready to ring the doorbell.

"Kook, wait." Dohyun grasped his hand. "What are you going to do?"

"I have to know if it's—if it's true."

"What will change if you know that? What will happen if you talk to him? Taehyung won't answer you, and Namjoon will kick you out. You're not thinking clearly right now."

Jeongguk exhaled a shaky breath as he took some steps away. "I need a moment. You can go inside."

"We can stay with you," Jimin said as he reached out to caress his shoulder, but Jeongguk drew back.

"No, I want—I just need a moment alone."

The boys nodded, still unsure, and rang the doorbell a few seconds later, as Jeongguk disappeared from their sight, hiding in a narrowed alley between two buildings.

"Hey," Namjoon said smilingly, but when he scoped their gloomy expressions, he couldn't help but frown. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Seokjin forced a small smile as he inched closer and pecked his lips. They greeted the other boys as well and sat in the living room.

"Where's Jeongguk?" Hoseok questioned with knitted brows.

"He, um, he'll be here in a bit," his boyfriend answered, draping his arm over his shoulders.

"Ask if he's okay," Taehyung whispered into Hoseok's ear, but to his dismay, Dohyun managed to hear him as well.

"I heard that, Taehyung," he said in the same way, a small smile tugging at his lips.

"Never mind." Taehyung sighed as he shrank in his seat, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Are you guys hungry?" Namjoon asked after a moment of awkward silence.

"Yeah, but we should wait for Jeongguk," Yoongi said, and most of them nodded at his words.

"Let's have a drink until he comes then. Baby, come help me with the drinks." Namjoon grabbed his boyfriend's hand and dragged him to the kitchen.

"Don't ask me anything," Seokjin uttered before the other got to say anything. "I already screwed everything up with my big mouth. Twice!"

"What do you mean?"

"I said don't ask me anything!"

"Okay, I just wanna know if he's okay." He wrapped his arms around his waist and pressed a kiss on his lips.

"He just needs a moment. He's outside. I apologized for telling everything to Taehyung and now I feel like shit because he said he had forgotten about his plan for a while now."

"Do you think he's lying?"

"Honestly, no. The Jeongguk I knew would be furious and wouldn't talk to me at all. But he said he doesn't hate me and he's not mad at me. That... That's not like him."

"He's not lying?" Taehyung asked under his breath with a sorrowful expression, startling the two boys.

"Tae! What, um, uh, someone should really shut my stupid mouth," Seokjin murmured in dejection.

"Tae, what did we say before? Even if he's not lying, you shouldn't forgive him right away," Namjoon reminded him softly.

"Is it bad that I want to?"

"Yes. Whatever happened between you two seems to affect him. It seems to shake him up and he needs that," said Seokjin.

Taehyung nibbled his bottom lip as tears stung his eyes, but he refused to cry. The doorbell echoing through the house had his stomach lurching and his heartbeat speeding up at the thought of seeing him.

"Remember that he needs it, Tae. Don't talk to him," Seokjin said and started setting the table.

  
"Kook, everything okay?" Dohyun asked as the boy took his seat next to him.

"Yeah. Where is... you know?"

"In the kitchen," Hoseok replied as he was able to hear his whispering question.

"Did he win his trial today?"

"Yes!" Hoseok chirped and didn't miss how Jeongguk cracked a smile in an instant.

"That's good. He must be happy."

"Guys! Everything is ready." Seokjin's voice was heard from the kitchen, and the boys moved there a moment later.

Jeongguk fiddled with the hem of his shirt as he trailed behind his friends. He didn't raise his head in the slightest and sat quietly at the table like everyone else.

"I'm glad you could join us, Jeongguk," Namjoon said with a warm smile.

"Yeah, it's nice to see—" The moment he glanced up, his eyes fell on the lawyer, who was already staring at him, and his words caught in his throat, his breath getting trapped somewhere in his body. He had to whisk his gaze away to function and resume what he was saying. "It's nice to see you too."

The tears that stung Taehyung's eyes before slipped down his cheeks as he dropped his head. His expression remained blank nonetheless, and he clasped his hands tightly.

"Tae," Seokjin said in a hushed tone, almost inaudible, as he placed a soothing hand on his forearm.

"I'm fine." He wiped his tears and sniffled, forcing a smile to his face. He took a fleeting glance of Jeongguk once he lifted his head, and it was enough to detect his downcast eyes which were anchored on him.

It was too much for Taehyung, honestly. He thought he could handle seeing him, but the moment their eyes locked, all he wanted was to run to him and crush him in his hug, to caress and kiss him for hours, and to bring his smile back. That pained him the most. His weathered, saddened face.

"Let's drink!" Jimin exclaimed, breaking the tense silence that had enwrapped them for a while.

Namjoon passed them their drinks, but when he placed a soju in front of Taehyung, he shook his head mildly. "I want a beer."

Taken aback by his request, Namjoon hesitated but gave him what he asked for. "Since when do you drink beer? You never liked it."

"It's not that bad after all." Taehyung chuckled, glancing at the curly-haired boy once more who was still looking at him through soft eyes.

"Okay then." Namjoon sat back down, and everyone finally opened their drinks. "Let's hope our friends won't end up in jail." He raised his soju and waited until they did the same.

Most of them chuckled at his unique toast and clinked their drinks together. "Why are you bringing this up so suddenly?" Yoongi asked, confused.

Namjoon's smile faltered. "Jeongguk didn't tell you?"

"Tell them what?" The said boy was just as baffled as the rest of them.

"I mean, all of you will stay in jail until your trial from Monday. Right, Tae?"

"What?" The three nineteen-year-old boys asked in unison as Jeongguk just ducked his head. All eyes went on Taehyung then, waiting for him to explain.

"I found a camera across the ice cream store. The video shows that Jeongguk hit the man. And I have to let the police know because I can't lie under oath. I can go to jail if I do that. On Monday, we'll go to the police station, and once I tell them what I found, they will arrange a trial date fast, and the trial will take place soon because I'm sure they want to close this case as soon as possible. In the meantime, you will be questioned again and probably kept in prison as well until your trial. I'm sorry, guys."

"But I don't understand. Why aren't you going to the police station now?" Jimin asked tentatively.

"I want to give you some time to spend the weekend as you like, say goodbye to your friends and boyfriends."

"Oh my God, you're so nice," Dohyun uttered.

"Thank you, Taehyung. We really appreciate everything you do and we understand that you don't have a choice. Don't feel sorry about telling the police what you know," Yoongi said, thankful.

"Don't thank me. It's the least I can do. And I'll try my best to help you." Taehyung focused his eyes on Jeongguk and his lips unconsciously twitched into a smile.

Seeing the fond, small smile Taehyung was giving him, his eyes darkened with heartache. He felt another surge of remorse and sorrow course through him that managed to blur his vision with the unexpected wave of tears that flooded them. "I-I c-can't." He burst out of his seat, breath rushing in and out of his lungs, and he scrambled out of the door.

Shocked by his sudden flee, the boys didn't seem able to utter a single word. It was several seconds later when Taehyung jumped to his feet, ready to run after him.

"Taehyung, remember what we said, remember what—" Seokjin gave up on what he wanted to say as Taehyung dashed towards the exit and threw the door open.

⚜✳⚜