[ fairly long chapter because i haven't updated in like more than 2 weeks, forgive me 🥺 ]

[ chapter 43 ]
princes & princesses

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

AT first, taehyung thinks he's joking, playing a foul joke on his heart. one where his cheeks would ache with pearly whites and requited promises for only the skies to turn grey and forks of mockery slit the curves of his lips, drooping into a bottomless pit of misery that would forever fold his frown.

with this in mind, he steels himself, cramming his expectations into the smallest jar he could imagine even if his heart soared in his throat and his fingers refused to settle at his sides.

"you're lying..." he says, slow and heavy as if he were trying to convince himself of the inevitable truth.

but jeongguk rolls his eyes and his lips twitch, and taehyung cannot see an ounce of double-meaning in his features, no matter how long and hard he stared.

"why, you're not happy i like you back?"

"no." he denies, shaking his head and stepping back as if the distance would clear the onslaught of questions in his mind, "no, it's just..."

"unexpected?"

a nod.

jeongguk sighs, shoving his hands into his pockets as he kicks a nearby stone briefly.

"i'm sorry-"

raising a palm, he shakes his head, "no i get it, i'd be freaked out if i were you too. to be honest i'm surprised you're even talking to me."

"why didn't you say anything?...the day i told you liked you."

taehyung regrets his words the very next second, guilt sour in his mouth as he watches jeongguk's face crumble, feet faltering back.

"it's fine," he says once the silence between them swells along with the discomfort across the younger's face, "you don't need to tell me."

"no," he frowns, "i owe you an explanation."

shaking his head, he shrugs, "you don't owe me anything jeongguk, honestly."

taehyung thinks that if it weren't for the gravity of their conversation he may have laughed at the bemusement that blooms across the younger's features, brows furrowed and lips pursed.

"what do you mean?" he asks, throwing his hands in exasperation, face taught with a strange look of both madness and befuddlement wrought together, "i've been nothing but an asshole to you, heck i didn't even give you the closure you deserved after flat-out rejecting you!"

ouch.

the words, from jeongguk's mouth himself, hurt more than he'd admit, bombing down the bolted walls that had shielded his heart, now an exposed writhing red midst the debris of the blow.

he visibly flinches back, a second too late to mask the
hurt expression across his features, throat swelling with discomfort.

"i'm sorry," he hears the younger apologise, "i didn't mean it come out like th-"

"no, no, don't apologise. you're right, it hurts but i mean, it's true y'know? t-to be fair, i shouldn't expect anything of you. i couldn't have forced you to like me back."

"no, but i should've let you down better! i was so ignorant to how you felt!"

he's right. the truth is as clear as the pain that fills jeongguk's eyes, colourless and trembling behind its chained bars. taehyung knows he deserves more than stuttering nothings or teary apologies.

but even so, why does it hurt?

so vividly as if jeongguk's pain was his own? his stained cheeks wet against his, the red of his chapped lips mirrored.

it was if every insult and depreciating snarl jeongguk had ever heard were meant for him as well, tearing down any self-worth that remained.

so without thinking twice, he careens forward, arms folding him to his chest. he feels the tremors in jeongguk's bones, let's him hold him a little tighter when the sobs fall across his shoulders and upon his own.

"shh." taehyung consoles, fingers falling from his spine and down to the other's hands, "it's not your fault."

but jeongguk cries and shakes his head, unscrewing his fists, indifferent to the red crescents that blots the cuffs of his button-down as he clasps a hand around taehyung's palm and bringing it to his cheek.

"don't you see taehyung?" he cries, pressing the elder's fingers into his skin until it's hard enough to leave an imprint, "i'm a monster! all i do is hurt the people i love! you deserve more than some fucked up asshole with daddy-issues since birth, all i am is more baggage."

taehyung's never seen this before.

never seen jeongguk so fragile in his arms, skin brittle glass left at the verge of a single fatal drop, the last of its days. a thousand pieces of broken.

"shh." he consoles, fingers running across his back, "remember what we promised at the hotel?"

a sniffle.

"c'mon baby," taehyung whines, pouting to ease the tension crushing their bodies, "that was such an iconic moment. we bring this up like every time one of us becomes an emotional mess!"

the amused half-snivel and half-laugh he earns in return is an answer enough and the sound warms taehyung's heart, cheeks filling briefly.

slipping a finger beneath the younger's chin, he straightens his face so their eyes meet, thumbing the trail of salt from his cheeks.

"your shit is my shit okay?" he says, "anyone has a go at you, that's a fight with me, like all jackie chan style and shit."

jeongguk's lips twitch and for a moment taehyung thinks that this is what he wants more than anything else in the world. the two of them wrapped in each other's embrace, warmth sweeping across his skin in a way no heater ever could.

"i'm sorry." jeongguk apologises again, and this time taehyung makes no move to stop him, instead he presses his face against the other's chest, listening, "i haven't been the kindest person towards you, even from the start. but somehow you're still here, and i...i'm grateful."

taehyung rubs his back in response, fingertips nudging the back of his collar. he hears jeongguk exhale shakily above him before palms are falling to his hips, drawing him impossibly closer.

"you guys, all of you, have seriously just made me a lot happier, and that's not saying enough...after yugyeom and hanuel, i didn't think i was worthy of having friends but you've shown me otherwise. so thank you."

there's a crack in his voice as he speaks and his own heart hurts where it's pressed against jeongguk's. taehyung lets his lips graze the younger's collarbone in comfort and he's rewarded with a gentle squeeze of his hips before he presses his cheek into jeongguk's shoulder again and waits.

"you've made me smile more than i ever have in my life silver," he confesses quietly.

he feels a blush rising to his cheeks and he bites back his smile, gently shoving the male back.

"okay, now you're just being disgusting."

jeongguk laughs and taehyung decides he likes this jeongguk better; smiling, all teeth - bunny teeth included, forward in all their glory - and his eyes bright. he swears he'd do anything to keep him this way.

he hears jeongguk teasing him, something about asking him if he thought something a little more fancier was disgusting - yes, wiggling eyebrows and smirk included -, when any thought of common sense tumbles out the window and his fingers are flying to the younger's jaw before he knows it, his tilting close.

their kiss is short and yet when they pull apart, taehyung can still feel the imprint of jeongguk's lips, soft and moulding across his.

jeongguk's eyes are wide when they meet his and taehyung thinks he looks adorable like that and it takes all his will-power to not swoop back and slot his lips back to their rightful place, fingers tangled in his locks.

"was that our first kiss?"

the question catches him off-guard and for a moment all taehyung does is stare with wide eyes before they squint and he cocks his head, mumbling a shy, "yes."

there's a brief silence and for a moment he fears the worst. what if jeongguk hated that? maybe his confession was a one-time thing and he's taken it back?

"why didn't do we this earlier?"

"huh?"

jeongguk smirks, a hand rising from his waist to cup his cheeks, "if i knew how good you tasted i'd have done this a long time ago."

before he's given a chance to answer, face burning, there are smooth lips against his own, whisking any words from his mind until the only thought that remains is jeongguk, and only him. jeongguk holding him flush against his chest, lips bruising, keeping him there until he doesn't know whether he's breathless because he's finally kissing the man he'd dreamed of for months or because every breath he exhales is stolen from his lips, leaving him starved and gasping for more.

"j-jeongguk." he breathes once they pull apart, a string of silver roped between them.

he's sure his cheeks are flaming red at this point, and the thought only burns his skin even further as he eyes the sight of an equally breathless jeongguk; hair tousled, coloured cheeks and swollen lips.

"yeah, baby?" he murmurs, nosing at the space between his shoulder and neck, lips curling against the elder's skin at the breathy gasp he'd returned with.

taehyung feels his breathing hitch when jeongguk's tongue swipes teasingly down at his skin, spine curving forward as his hips involuntarily buck against the younger's.

"what are we?" he manages, screwing his eyes closed when teeth are grazing his skin.

he feels jeongguk tense in his arms and for a moment a surge of fear pulses across his veins. he'd done it now, he'd gone too far.

before he can voice out an excuse, there's a final kiss left to his skin before jeongguk raises his head, eyes burning as they meet his.

"what do you want us to be?"

the words make him squirm, uncomfortable and burdened with decisions. he wants to shout, indignant to be put in such a discomforting position and he's almost tempted to say something smart in response, in hopes of turning their chairs.  instead, he's coyly tucking his chin down, refusing to meet the younger's eyes.

"hm?" jeongguk prods, a finger slipping beneath his chin to meet his eyes, "why so shy doll?"

lips unconsciously pouting, he whines as his cheeks colour at the nickname, "you're such a jerk."

they both know there's no bite to his words yet jeongguk feigns his hurt, bottom lip jutting out in a pink pout, "you wound me, princess."

"i'm a guy," he snaps, willing the heat in his cheeks to pacify, "not a princess."

"and?" he retorts, eyebrows raised, "you're the prettiest person i've seen, fit to be a princess."

"prince."

"princess."

"prince!"

"priincess."

"i'm leaving." taehyung huffs, successfully wiggling out of the other's hold.

eyes widening, jeongguk throws a hand out to hold his wrist, "okay, sorry! you're a prince! not a princess."

biting back the smile that threatens to break across his face, he settles with a speculative sweep of the younger's face, lips pursed and eyebrows pinched.

"well then, since i'm prince," he says slowly, "and you've been so rude to assume otherwise, you do owe an apology, am i right?"

he watches as jeongguk's eyes narrow, suspicion slipping across furrowed brows that raise inquisitively up at him, "and what may i do to cleanse my sins and capture your highness's heart once again?"

taehyung can't help the giggle that slips past his lips when jeongguk drops to a deep bow before he straightens again and raises his wrist where his lips brush affectionately across.

"take me to my apartment at once then peasant, piggyback ride included."

the fingers on his hand fall to his waist, pulling him flush against the younger's chest until their hips lock and he's staring right into jeongguk's eyes; an onyx of galaxies only he could name.

warm lips on his own.

"your wish is my command, my prince."

~
[a/n]

word count: 2031

i hope all of you are having a wonderful start to the year, if not i hope you know that you can grow from your mistakes and events and become a better, stronger version of yourself! i believe in you!

taekook's been definitely having a wonderful start of the year. that little cuddle at the gda's was so boyfriend, my heart just jumped out of my chest. not to mention drunk flirting on weverse, we've been fed well my fellow taekookers. 🤧✊

and yoongi just absolutely killed the comeback, he's honestly so talented and i'm so proud of him and the rest of the band! black swan was also so beautiful, it was so entrancing and endearing to watch, the lead moves like clay, he's so talented. (i'm saying 'so' so many times omg).

btw, i've been trying to change up my writing lately to be a bit less 'long' and almost 'heavy' if you get what i mean? what do you think, my previous writing or this? i'd appreciate it if you gave me your opinion on which style you like better, thank you so much! 💞