ariana absolutely slayed this new bop, she made 'my favourite things' shine in a whole different light and i'm absolutely loving it.

yOu LiKe My HaIr? GeE tHaNkS, JuSt BoUgHt iT ~

AND chapter 50 everyone. we earned our half-century ✨
~

To Taehyung's surprise, his boyfriend who he had supposed wouldn't be the most welcoming person towards his old friends, had found himself mingling rather well with the seven males. Not only did he halt the use of chilling glares every time one of them would dare to speak to the blond in the span of only a week, but Jeongguk was also beginning to spend more time with them than he did with his own partner.

At first, the blond hasn't minded too much, the exhilaration of seeing his friends yet to wear off as he vouched to enjoy every second of his stay before he was whisked back to the mansion. But now, a fortnight into their visit and Taehyung wasn't having it.

Not only did the elder awaken at ridiculous hours at the break of dawn - he may have exaggerated a bit there - to trudge down the stairs to where the group of boy's had decided to camp at, to do God knows what with them, leaving a rather huffy and moody Taehyung without his regular morning cuddles and smooches.

It was now early afternoon, a few hours past noon and everyone had gathered around in the living area to dine on the takeout pizza and garlic bread that Haechan had been generous enough to cash out for.

The television, despite having been on, is paid no attention to as the animated figures of blue-pigmented creatures that were shockingly alike to a human pranced across the screen.

"Fuck, "Renjun groans, cheeks bulging as his eyelids flutter closed, "it's so good."

Jisung, who sits beside him on the couch, crinkles his nose in disgust at the elder's appalling manners before promptly turning his nose and sipping carefully at his cup of soda.

Chenle, Jaemin and Jeongguk sit far from the others, seated on the deserted dining table that holds the empty takeouts boxes and soda bottles, conversing heatedly with one another and occasionally glancing up to survey the room.

"Tae?"

The said boy is snapped from his trance which had compromised of glaring irately at the trio, plastic cup squeezed horrifically within his palm.

"Yeah?" he stammers, blinking as he turns to face his friend.

Jeno peers him at his strangely, lips curled in a worried frown, "You good?"

"Yeah, of course."

"Are you sure? I called you like five times and you didn't hear me, what's wrong?"

Sighing, the blond casts a heavy, swift gaze to the three males before plastering a bogus smile to his lips as he giggles, "S'nothing! I'm fine, stop worrying mum."

Pursing his lips, the dark-haired male follows the boy's gaze, a knowing smirk tugging at his lips as the cogs in his mind turn, "Ohh, I get it, your jealous."

"No!"Taehyung squeaks, the flush of his cheeks giving all away, "No way, what the fudge!"

Snorting, the boy tilts his head in a reprimanding shake, sighing heavily, "Oh God, don't be like that, it's pretty obvious kudos to how you keep glaring at them every five seconds."

"Am not!"

"Sure," Jeno drawls, seemingly enjoying himself as he speculates the blond's despair, "keep telling yourself that. Now, I'm guessing you're jealous because he's been getting a bit soft with them lately?"

Opting to drop his facade and seek answers to pry his lover from his friend's arms, Taehyung nods meekly, "A bit, yeah I guess. What are they even talking about?"

Jeno merely hums, shrugging, "Who knows? But I'm sure it's nothing big, don't worry about it, it's obvious the guy's all over your ass."

Flushing a dark crimson, Taehyung curls his lips over the curves of his teeth, scowling inwardly as he sighs, "Yeah...yeah I guess."

But if anyone else had heard the blond mutter his words, it sounded awfully as if he were trying to convince himself so, than merely answer his friend.

&&&

It's around seven in the morning, on a weekend mind you, when Taehyung is jostled awake by a loud grunt at the other side of the room. Awakening to such sound doesn't do the boy well, horrific conclusions of a robber or even worse a murder spiralling within his mind as he feigns slumber, breathing shallows as he stills his prying eyelids.

"Fuck." a male sighs, and the blond is thankful to recognise the voice as his partner's, shoulder's slumping back into the comforter.

He doesn't flutter open his eyes nor does he topple from the bed to shower the mafia leader in instant kisses for his daily dose of embraces, instead opting to lay immobile upon the bed in hopes of digging a dart into the voluminous board of possibilities of what he could possibly be wanting to do so early in the day.

Taehyung waits a few more minutes, growing increasingly bored and languid as the seconds' ticks by as he perks his ears for any sound of movement or conversation when a pair of boots trudge over to his side of the bed and the sensation of thin yet soft lips flutter across the fringe matted to his forehead.

"Love you, angel."Jeongguk murmurs into his hair, fingers prying at the boy's honey locks until it was brushed back to expose his forehead.

Leaning down to paste a final kiss to his temple, fingers caressing the skin at his jaw, the elder pulls back to tuck the blond mindfully into bed before striding out of the room.

Taehyung doesn't realise that he had been holding his breath all along until a few seconds pass after his lover's departure, the door squealing softly behind him, exhaling heavily once he's certain that the elder was gone or at least far from his vicinity.

Where had he gone?

Tuning his ears even harder than before, body propping forward as if it would enhance his hearing regarding the raven-haired male's whereabouts, Taehyung faintly catches the tell-tale sound of feet tip-toeing down a flight of stairs.

Cherry lips jutting into a full pout, the blond huffs, increasingly agitated at the knowledge that Jeongguk had left him for what he was certain was to meet his friends who slept downstairs, in the very morning when no one was awake. What was he doing, so early in the day?

And then, as if this time the male had certainly overstepped the limit, Taehyung scowls heavily, any thought of respect for the elder's privacy vanishing from existence as he stamps to his closet to shimmy on a pair of jeans and swap the other's shirt for a long-sleeved one of his own.

"Hmph." Taehyung mumbles hotly, "What's so interesting about them that made him wake up so early?"

Maybe he was being irrational, to leave the comfort of his warm bed to bring a stop to the ridiculousness of the past week, but the nostalgic feeling of insecurity and self-worth seems to burn at his lungs as he sighs shakily. Jieun had certainly scorched a mark upon his chest, and it didn't seem to budge anytime soon, but he couldn't possibly think that his own friends would do that to him? Would they?

They wouldn't. Taehyung thinks, though the pinch of doubt remains. And if so, there wouldn't be any harm in checking either way.

Heart feeling a tad less tight than it had before, he pries the door open, mindful to swing it back as hastily as possible to decrease the rather irritating wail it would generally elicit before inching down the stair, eyes wide open for any signs of curious eyes.

Standing in the safety of the hall, Taehyung can briefly hear the sounds of his friends snoring as if their lives depend on it in the guest room that would only accommodate two and the other's camping out on the sofa and mattresses the blond had whipped out.

There's no sign of Jeongguk, at least not in the living room after the blond had slyly peeked into to examine his drooling and languid friends splayed over the expanse of the room, limbs hanging upon the floor.

It's only then does he notice that there isn't five heads in the living room, in fact it's far from five, but three frames that heave themselves on the floor and sofa.

While Mark and Haechan had jumped at the offer of the spare bedroom, the rest of the males were expected to spend the nights in the living room, yet as of now he could only spot a drooling Renjun, wrist hanging loosely over the couch, an open-mouthed Jisung and a mumbling Jeno perched nearby.

Jaemin and Chenle were nowhere, their mattress and spot on the sofa deserted and poorly subsisted with a pair of pillows stuffed beneath a thick, woollen blanket.

And it didn't take a genius to connect the dots from there on, Taehyung's frown deepening as he sifts past the strewn blankets and pillows, marching into the hall and feet propped against the stairs to prepare his mount.

He's a few steps up the stairs, mood dampened terribly when he hears indistinguishable chatter. It's rather quiet and hushed, and Taehyung has to strain his ears to even catch the breathy sigh that follows soon.

He's certain that everyone in the living room had been asleep, their behaviour as disgusting as some of them had been, giving it all away. His parents weren't at home, having scheduled the previous night as a date night, wherever they were now wasn't too much of a mystery credits to his mother's slurred giggles the night before informing him that they won't be home till later the next afternoon.

So, if all weren't either up to repulsive adult business or succumbed to the lethargic heave of their eyelids, who was awake conversing at this hour?

His feet find themselves tugging him unconsciously in the direction of the hushed talking, although he is still mindful to slip across the floorboards as quietly as possible, keeping generally on the slabs of carpet to muffle his steps.

He stops at the door of the laundry room, brows pulled into a confused furrow as stares quizzically at the slab of wood that separates him from the interior of the room. He can clearly hear what was being said, however, which momentarily shifts the oddness of the area of what was most likely a rendezvous.

"What he doesn't know won't hurt him." a voice coos, Taehyung recognising that the owner was most certainly his green-haired friend.

"I guess," a man who the blond knows is immediately his partner, "but...I just know that he wouldn't like this."

This time, it isn't Chenle who answers but Jaemin, a strange tone that Taehyung can't put a finger on evident in his generally sweet voice, "Of course he wouldn't, but he won't know would he?

"Yeah."Jeongguk mumbles so softly that Taehyung has to lean and press his ear against the door to catch the man's words, "Yeah."

Pulling away, a thoughtful expression over his pretty features, Taehyung nibbles at his lower lip as he edges away from the door, heart much too heavy to listen even further as he finds himself trudging upstairs and into the safety of his room.

He doesn't return under the covers to sleep, no his mind is buzzing too much to harness his thoughts into a tolerable state before shutting it all out, instead, his sits on the rim of the bed, gaze unfocused upon the floor as he mulls over what he had heard.

What didn't he know? And why couldn't he know? What so secretive that the trio had to awaken so early and squash themselves into the limited space of a darn laundry room to talk about?

What were they hiding?

~

ik for a fact that at least one of you will figure out what.

bit of a short one, but i've been feeding you well, your welcome, you deserve it for the amount of support you never fail to shower me with <3