It hurt more than he believed it should have.

To know that Jimin, his next door neighbor for quite a while now, had all along been this person who shared such significant similarities with Taehyung. He wished he could have been happy at the thought. Jimin lived close, he was right here, they could talk and maybe be actual friends.

But when it all boiled down to it, again, it was a matter of trust. A matter of feeling betrayed, lied to, fooled, and by someone who seemed to strive to win Taehyung's trust, and for what? To be found out by his own mistake, and to try making up excuses.

Whether or not he had a valid reason, it didn't change Taehyung's feelings. Nothing would change how much it hurt to lose faith in being able to rely on the people he knew, or thought he knew.

Park Jimin. His kind, cheerful neighbor who never missed an opportunity to say hello. All this time, right under his nose. All this time and Jimin had undoubtedly known about Taehyung's condition, but tricked him into believing he was just like everyone else, a normal, day-to-day adult just trying to enjoy life.

All this time. In the same apartment building, one door to the left.

Then there was Jungkook. Evidently now, if he weren't already so sure of it, Taehyung knew there was something up with him, too. That shameful reaction at his question proved it. He wasn't sure to what degree the boy played dumb about certain things, or perhaps it had nothing to do with Taehyung himself or his blood. But then again it wouldn't make sense as to why Jungkook would have a reason to hide it, or look so guilty when asked about it.

Regardless, knowing that yet another person was keeping something from him didn't sit well with Taehyung. But at this point he could deal with it a little better - this was the norm for him now. His trust issues. They were as close a friend as Yoongi.

Yoongi. Yoongi would be visiting.

Right now, that was one of the only things keeping Taehyung sane. His best friend, his anchor throughout high school, the one person who stood by him through that last year more than anything, that hellish last year.

It was all he wanted to think about. To the best of his ability, Taehyung strove to block out his other thoughts, his hurt feelings knowing for certain now that Jungkook, too, had something he wasn't telling him about. He tried not to think of it, to forget about kissing him, as much as that hurt as well.

Even with how tense the atmosphere between them had become, Taehyung and Jungkook finished baking the several recipes they had begun and had everything stored away carefully by the end of the day. The subject from earlier that day had been dropped. And to his own surprise, Taehyung didn't fully ignore the other boy, though for a while he couldn't hide his upset disposition.

"Yoongi said he's stopping by tomorrow," Tae thought aloud. "Didn't say a time, 'cus he doesn't know yet, but he'll be staying here, you know, so we're gonna have to figure out who's sleeping where."

"I'll sleep on the floor," Jungkook said immediately. Taehyung shot him a weird look. "Well, I'm the one who's intruding. It's only fair."

"Either that or Yoongi and I squeeze on the same bed but I'll leave that up to him."

A forced chuckle spilled out of Jungkook's mouth at the comment. He didn't know how to respond. Or if he should respond at all.

"Did you want any of the sugar cookies before I put them away?"

"Hm?"

Taehyung held open the plastic container filled with the freshly made cookies. Jungkook shook his head, struggling to hold together his smile.

"No thanks, I'm alright."

"Suit yourself. If you end up changing your mind, I'm putting them on top of the fridge. But don't eat all of them."

"I won't. Not a big fan of sugar cookies."

The rest of the day went by at an odd pace. The two both went in to work late that afternoon, performing together at The Fermata Pavilion until the cafe's closing time came around. By this point Taehyung had noticeably stopped making an effort to talk to Jungkook - at least, Jungkook noted, nothing more than terse responses to anything he would say to the boy. Then again Jungkook didn't say much to him. He didn't have anything to say. Taehyung hadn't wanted Jimin's apologies, and he doubted Tae would want his, either.

Even though Taehyung didn't have knowledge of what Jungkook was hiding. He only knew there was something, as Jungkook wasn't as good an actor as he wished he were sometimes.

He thought about how he could fix it. How he could talk to Taehyung, when the right time to talk to him would be, if he should come up with excuses and explain himself or just accept whatever backlashing Taehyung would give him for keeping his secrets.

Like Jimin. He didn't know what was up with Jimin, what that boy had done to enrage Taehyung so, but at the core of it he knew it revolved around not telling Taehyung the truth. Which is exactly what he was doing.

That night, Taehyung elected to sleep on the couch again. So Jungkook was back to the boy's room, staring at the ceiling and dreading future days.

If things could have just gone differently at the start maybe he wouldn't be in this situation.

***

Neither of the boys had set alarms the previous night, as the two didn't have any classes scheduled that day. On top of that, Taehyung had gotten the 'ok' from Mr. Oh that he (and probably Jungkook) wouldn't be working today, as Tae wanted to make sure he would be able to give his friend a warm welcome whenever he should arrive. Thankfully, it was never too difficult to find someone to cover for him. There was always someone looking for extra hours.

That being said, they both had the entire day free.

Seven a.m. and the two were both still asleep.

And it was at seven a.m. that a certain friend of Taehyung's happened to arrive in Busan.

If it hadn't been for Yoongi's wish to surprise his friend, he would have never have gotten up so early. But intentionally, he hadn't told Taehyung when he would be stopping by, and Tae knew him well enough to straightaway doubt Yoongi would be there before the afternoon at least, if not much later.

But here he was now, standing at the door to what he believed was Taehyung's apartment. The boy had texted him the day before with directions to the apartment building, along with the number of his place. The issue was, Tae hadn't double-checked his own text message and the last digit of the number was incorrect. Off by only one, but incorrect nonetheless.

Yoongi, needless to say, was ignorant to this fact. He was too busy trying to tone down his smile as he knocked at the door he stood in front of, glancing down at the large suitcase he'd lugged from his car. He overpacked. He knew that much. Did he care? No. Not one bit. All he cared about was seeing his best friend again after what felt like ages.

As there hadn't been an answer at first, Yoongi knocked again. This time, he heard movement from inside the apartment. His smile threatened to widen again.

Smoothing down his hair, Yoongi straightened his posture as the door began to open slowly.

It wasn't Taehyung. Yoongi could decipher that from first glance, even before this person fully lifted their head to make eye contact.

And eye contact was made. For all of a split second, before the color in this handsome stranger's face drained instantly, he gasped, and darted back inside like he'd just seen the face of death, and slammed the door shut without but a moment's hesitation.

Dumbstruck. For a short period of time Yoongi stood still. What was that about?

"Uh, excuse me, sir-" He knocked gently on the door again. "Do you know where-"

"Go away!!"

A panicked cry. Yoongi drew his head back in shock. What's he sound so scared for? "I'm sorry, I don't mean to disturb you so early in the morning, I'm just here to visit my friend Tae and-"

"He's not here!" The stranger exclaimed. He sounded choked up. Crying, or on the verge of tears now. "I'm sorry, Taehyung must have given you the wrong address-"

"Oh, do you know Taehyung?"

"N-no! I don't know, Yoongi, go away-"

The mention of his name didn't go unnoticed by Yoongi. "Hold on, what?"

"Left, he's to your left, just go, leave me alone!"

It struck him as odd. Beyond odd, this stranger's behavior. But Yoongi had a feeling he wasn't going to get any answers just standing there - not to mention it wasn't his biggest concern right now. Maybe he's talked to Tae, maybe Tae's told him about me...

Shrugging it off as best he could, Yoongi sighed and picked up his suitcase to move it over to the next door. There, regathering the energy in his smile, he knocked on the door several times and waited patiently until, once again, he could hear movement from the inside.

The door opened.

Surely enough, he had it right this time. There stood Taehyung in front of him, dressed in a loose-fitting t-shirt and baggy sweatpants, bedhead indicating he had probably just woken up to answer the door. However all traces of sleepiness were shaken from his body at the realization of who was standing in front of him.

"Yoongi!!"

Joy erupted from his voice like a fountain, his face lighting up like a sky of stars and his body bursting with enthusiasm like never before. He seized his friend by the wrist at the same time Yoongi took hold of his suitcase, then yanked him inside the apartment and shut the door behind them.

Then Taehyung hugged him. A full, unrestrained, so-thrilled-to-see-you-I-couldn't-put-it-into-words embrace that nearly knocked Yoongi's breath right out of him. But within seconds he was hugging Taehyung back just as tightly, both laughing because neither could contain their emotions.

In the midst of their embracing another door opened. The door to Taehyung's bedroom, out of which Jungkook poked his curious little head and witnessed the scene. At first he didn't make himself known.

"Yoongi, why didn't you tell me you were gonna be here so soon??"

"That would have ruined the surprise, Tiger," Yoongi smiled.

"Have you gotten more handsome since I last saw you? You need to stop doing that, Yoongi."

"Oh, come on, you're being dramatic."

"I'm not!" Taehyung protested. He placed his hand under Yoongi's chin, then gave his round cheeks a squish. "You really have."

"You're the one who keeps getting more handsome, Tiger." Giggling, Yoongi mimicked his friend's action. "You're probably just sayin' that 'cus you missed me~"

"I did, I missed you so much, Yoongs."

With that, a hug was reinitiated. And because of where he was standing, Yoongi could now see directly over Taehyung's shoulder and across the room where another boy was standing. "Oh, hello."

For a moment Tae was puzzled by Yoongi's seemingly random greeting. He pulled back from the hug, turned slightly, then laid eyes on Jungkook who stared back at him dejectedly.

"Oh, uh, Yoongi-" Taehyung put on a smile and glanced between the two other boys. "This is my..." He paused. "-roommate, Jungkook. Jungkook, this is my best friend Yoongi."

"Roommate, you never mentioned a roommate." Regardless of the unexpected occurrence, Yoongi proceeded to greet Jungkook in a natural, polite manner. "It's nice to meet you, Jungkook."

"...nice to meet you, too."

"Hey, do I-" Yoongi made an inquisitive tilt of the head, narrowing his eyes as he scanned Jungkook's face. "Do I...know you from somewhere?"

"No."

"Oh, okay, sorry." He laughed it off. "Thought you looked familiar but now that I think of it I wouldn't know where I saw you. Sorry 'bout that, I'm old."

"Yoongi," Tae said, "you're the same age as us."

"Meh. I feel eighty."

"Did you eat breakfast before coming here? My roommate and I made a bunch of desserts yesterday, I wanted to surprise you, too."

"Desserts?" Yoongi turned to his friend with an eager smile. "Anything strawberry-flavored, by any chance?"

"Of course, Yoongi, I know you."

"Taetae, you're amazing."

From that point on and for hours on end, it seemed to be just Taehyung and Yoongi. Taehyung and Yoongi, in their own world. Taehyung and Yoongi, talking and giggling, enjoying each other's presence to the fullest extent. Taehyung and Yoongi, indulging without a care in the baked goods that Taehyung and Jungkook had spent a fair amount of time making together.

It hurt. So. Bad.

Naturally, as it was so plain to see, Taehyung was even more overflowing with happiness than when Yoongi had texted him the day before, and not an ounce of that happiness had anything to do with Jungkook.

A part of him felt he deserved it, going back to the whole secret-keeping issue from before. But at the same time, it also didn't seem fair. Because oddly enough it didn't feel like that was the reason he was being neglected right now. Taehyung truly did seem so caught up in talking and spending time with Yoongi that he failed to remember Jungkook existed.

And seeing how happy Yoongi made Taehyung. Just seeing that, how obvious it was. It burned, a layer of venom that seeped into his skin and shrouded his heart, a cloud of deep-seated jealousy.

After a while he couldn't take it.

"I'm going for a walk."

Before even announcing this, Jungkook doubted Taehyung would even acknowledge him. Shockingly, the other boy did, but it could barely be considered that.

"Oh, okay, see you."

And that was that. Shrugged off, like a speck of dust.

Jungkook left the apartment and stopped to breathe deeply.

"I guess that's all I am to you..."

*
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end of chapter eighteen.