"What'd he do?"

"Nothing."

Yoongi sighs, partly in relief and partly because he felt bad for Jeongguk. He watches the younger organize his things in his closet with a distant expression.

"Stop looking at me like that, hyung," Jeongguk says looking up at Yoongi from where he kneels on his closet floor. "I already told you he didn't do anything."

"Sorry, I'm just worried about you," Yoongi shrugs. "Last time you went to see Jimin you were so bruised up you couldn't work for a week~"

"Shut up, hyung," Jeongguk says looking away. He stands after lining his shoes up against the wall. "I already told you not to talk about any of that here."

"I just don't understand~"

"You don't have to understand," Jeongguk says. "You don't work for Jimin, alright? You work for me. Have I ever hit you?"

"No,"

"Then you have nothing to worry about."

Yoongi looks down as Jeongguk brushes past him, not bothering to say anything else.

"Can you please stop acting like this, Yoongs, it's freaking me out." Jeongguk says snapping him out of his thoughts. "I have to meet Taehyung in an hour and I need your help picking my cologne. I'm torn between two new ones I got yesterday."

"What happens if Jimin finds out you're dating Taehyung?" Yoongi asks, he can't resist the question. It had been worrying him since Jeongguk left to see Jimin this morning. "What if he tells Doyun and he makes you leave again?"

Jeongguk deflates at the questions, pouting as he leans against the doorframe of the bathroom. "Jimin doesn't care about those kinds of things. He didn't care when we were dating."

"Because we dated for two days before we knew it wasn't going to work out," Yoongi says rolling his eyes. "If you have feelings for Taehyung like you say you do, shouldn't you be at least a little worried?"

"I'm not worried," Jeongguk says. "And I'm not leaving, Yoongi, not again. I promise."

"You can't make those promises, Jeongguk," Yoongi says looking down at his hands. "I just want you to be sure that this is what you want."

"This is what I want, hyung, I'm positive." Jeongguk says firmly. "Now, can you please come sniff my wrists? I'm gonna be late if I don't leave now."

"You're infuriating, do you know that?" Yoongi says walking over. "You're lucky I love you."

"I love you too," Jeongguk laughs as he pulls Yoongi into the bathroom with him.

Jeongguk decides to go with a more warm and delicate cologne rather than his usual light and refreshing one before leaving.

Taehyung was wanting him to come over to his apartment to talk so he finally decided to go. He was, admittedly, avoiding Taehyung at all cost for the past few days. He wanted to give him space to figure out what he wanted, and he didn't want to persuade his decision by being around him.

When he gets to Taehyung's apartment he knocks at the door, waiting patiently for it to open.

"Hey, Jeongguk, I'm glad you came," Taehyung smiles as he lets him in, closing the door behind him.

"Yeah, I'm sorry I couldn't make it the last few days," Jeongguk says putting his hands in his pockets. "I've been working."

"I understand," Taehyung nods before gesturing to the couch. "Here, sit down."

"Thanks," Jeongguk chuckles, sitting down with him. "What's been going on? Any news about your dad's case?"

"Not yet, I haven't been subpoenaed so I haven't really read up on it much," Taehyung shrugs. "I'm sure I'll have to take the stand sooner or later. But I don't want to talk about that, I actually have good news."

"Okay," Jeongguk nods. "What's up?"

"I decided to end things with Namjoon," Taehyung smiles. "I know you said not to~"

"You didn't break up with him because of me, did you?" Jeongguk asks, shifting towards him on that couch. "You didn't."

Taehyung's smile falters slightly. "Things weren't working out between us anyway. He was getting way too controlling, so I decided that we shouldn't see each other anymore."

Jeongguk looks off in thought, his expression not what Taehyung was expecting after telling him the news.

    "I thought you'd be happy," He says looking at Jeongguk in confusion. "You said you wanted to be with me."

    "I told you not to throw your relationship away over me," Jeongguk says looking at him. "I didn't want you to give up what you've been building with Namjoon because of me. That's why I terminated our contract."

"I'm not following, Jeongguk," Taehyung says. "Do you not want to be with me?"

"Of course I do, Taehyung," Jeongguk says, there was no doubt in his mind that he wanted to be with him. "I just...I don't want you to jump into this because you think it'd be any different with me than with Namjoon."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't want you to be with me because you think I can fix you."

Taehyung's face falls. "Are you saying that because of what Namjoon said?"

    "No, Taehyung," Jeongguk says, immediately recognizing the hurt in his eyes. "I just don't want you to expect too much from me. If we ever were together I'd want to be your boyfriend, not your therapist."

    "You're sending pretty mixed signals right now, Jeongguk," Taehyung says looking down at his hands.

    "I'm just want to offer a disclaimer," Jeongguk says. "I didn't mean to hurt your feelings."

    "You didn't," Taehyung says, but it's pretty obvious that he did.

    "Are you sure you're ready to walk away from your relationship right now? With everything that's going on, maybe you need that familiar support system." Jeongguk says thoughtfully.

    "You just said you didn't want to be my therapist," Taehyung says looking at him, cracking a small smile. "Don't try to analyze me right now."

    "I'm not, I just want this to be what's best for you," Jeongguk says. "It just seems like this is happening kind of fast."

    "When Namjoon asked me out I waited three months before I said yes. And another four before I even agreed to be his boyfriend." Taehyung says. "I've never done anything fast when it comes to relationships. But this feels too right not to go ahead with."

    "I get that," Jeongguk says looking away. "I just don't want you to regret it once we get to really know each other. Outside of therapy."

    "Hey," Taehyung say, taking Jeongguk's hand. "After all the shit I've told you, there's nothing you can do or say that's gonna make me regret this."

Jeongguk meets Taehyung's eyes. "Don't say that."

    "What? Are you living a double life?" Taehyung asks, humor shining in his eyes. "Do you have a wife and kids somewhere that no one knows about?"

    "No," Jeongguk says, laughing despite himself. "I don't know...I didn't really expect you to take my feelings seriously."

    "Why wouldn't I?"

    "Because you're a great guy and I'm just some random person you barely know."

Taehyung smiles, taking Jeongguk's face in his hands. "You're ten times better than I'll ever be, Jeongguk."

Jeongguk can't help the smile that forms on his face as he looks at Taehyung. There were too many emotions stirring in his chest for him to pinpoint one. He was happy, undeniably happy. But he was also scared, worried, and guilty.

Not only did he feel guilty about Namjoon, he was guilty about his own feelings as well.

He knew he should've just terminated their contract without any explanation, but there was some part of him that was drawn to Taehyung. He wanted to be selfish for a change and keep him in his life, but now all he felt was guilt.

He didn't want to make things harder for him, all he wanted was to be able to protect him.

What was it about Kim Taehyung that made him want to protect him?

    "Are you having a crisis right now?" Taehyung's voice says bringing him out of his thoughts.

    "Yes," He says honestly, not bothering to elaborate further.

    "Then we might as well have a drink," Taehyung says standing. "I think you need time to think about this anyway. Which I'm fine with, you know I won't pressure you."

    "Have you been drinking a lot lately?" Jeongguk asks out of curiosity.

    "Jeongguk," Taehyung says in a warning tone. "Therapist mode off, activate potential boyfriend mode please."

    "Got it, activating," Jeongguk says making him laugh as he walks to the kitchen. "Maybe you should tell me what's off limits to talk about so I'll know. And so you won't have to keep telling me."

    "Nothings off limits, limits are for therapy mode," Taehyung says returning with a bottle of liquor and two glasses. "You don't have to walk on eggshells, I won't fall apart completely if you say anything mildly uncomfortable."

    "Got it," Jeongguk nods as Taehyung sits beside him, leaving little to no room between them. "So, uhm, do you have any friends?"

Taehyung laughs a little at the random question. "Yeah, Seokjin and Hoseok. I work with them at the café. Do you?"

    "Not really," Jeongguk shrugs, watching Taehyung pour their drinks. "Besides Yoongi I don't really talk to anyone."

    "That's understandable, if I didn't work with Seokjin and Hobi I probably wouldn't have any friends at all." Taehyung chuckles as he hands Jeongguk his glass. "Alright, what should we toast to?"

    "Uhh, casual day drinking?" Jeongguk asks. "Being that it's barely three o'clock."

    "It's five o'clock somewhere," Taehyung says clinking his glass against Jeongguk's.

Jeongguk turns away slightly as he downs the shot, frowning at the sting and sitting the glass on the table. "Oh, that's bad."

Taehyung shrugs, unaffected by the burn of the alcohol. "You can use my lips as a chaser if it ever gets too bad." He says, winking playfully at Jeongguk.

    "I'll keep that in mind," He chuckles, sighing as the burn starts to die down. "I can't even remember the last time I had a drink."

    "So, Jeongguk," Taehyung starts as he refills their glasses, leaving them on the coffee table for whenever they decided to take another drink. "You know a lot about me by now, I wanna know about you."

    "What about me?" Jeongguk asks sitting back in his seat.

    "I don't know," Taehyung chuckles. "Tell me about yourself."

    "There's nothing to know really," He shrugs. "Hmm...I'm from Busan. All I really do is work...I don't really have any hobbies. And I'm allergic to grass and daisies."

    "That's depressing," Taehyung says shaking his head. "There's more, you just don't want to get into it."

    "Are you analyzing me now?" Jeongguk asks, quirking his eyebrows.

    "What made you get into surrogacy?" Taehyung asks. "It's an interesting line of work."

    "Should we do another?" Jeongguk asks instead of answers, sitting forward and picking up his glass.

    "Okay," Taehyung chuckles, grabbing his glass as well. He watches Jeongguk take the shot before taking his, laughing a little at the face Jeongguk makes as he forced the shot down.

    "Alright," He says clearing his throat, his cheeks flushing slightly just from two shots. "I didn't really plan on becoming a surrogate partner, I was kinda just...I don't know. It just kind of happened."

    "How long does it take to become one? Jimin said you were one of the best." Taehyung says, he means it as a compliment but Jeongguk's expression switches immediately. "You don't have to answer, I was just curious."

    "I don't really like talking about it," Jeongguk shrugs. "I like that I can help people, it's the only thing that really keeps me going."

    "That's really sweet, Gguk," Taehyung says. "I know you've made a difference in a lot of people's lives."

Jeongguk nods, smiling uncomfortably. "Yeah, I hope so."

Jeongguk's glad that Taehyung doesn't linger on the subject any longer, happily answers all of his other questions. It feels like they're playing a one-sided game of twenty-one questions but the smile on Taehyung's face and the light blush in his cheeks makes him want to continue.

Maybe it's the alcohol galavanting through his bloodstream—or maybe it's the fact that he was able to have such a comfortable conversation with Taehyung about the small things that make him who he is—but he hasn't felt this content in a long time.

He never wanted it to end.