"come out, please." taehyung lightly knocked on the bathroom door where jimin had locked himself in.

jungkook looked at his friend sitting on the ground with his head pressed against it oddly after seeing the older boy come out of his room in tears, but decided it was between them and that he shouldn't intrude.

soft sobs exuded from the room making taehyung sigh sadly.

"jimin," his hand lightly knocked again. "i'm sorry."

there was a soft hit against the door as if the other boy had leaned against it too.

"why are you apologizing? you're just telling the truth, i'm the one who can't take it."

both boys rested just a couple inches apart, the only thing standing between them was the wooden door.

"i was cruel." taehyung whispered, not really knowing if he could hear it or not.

"it's okay."

"it's not."

the door clicked as if it were unlocked, but jimin didn't come out.

he didn't want to leave, he wanted taehyung to join.

the taller slipped in, trying not to open the door too much since he knew jimin was close to it.

he shut the door behind him, sliding his back down all the way down until he was sitting down right beside the sad boy.

tae admired him through his crimson bangs, the red hue of his cheeks that he usually loved made him feel empty.

for once, seeing his red face hurt, mostly because it was red from all the crying.

"jimin-" he put his hand on his thigh, but said male moved it off.

"i don't want to do this with you anymore."

he frowned. "i know."

taehyung placed his hand right back where it was, where it felt like it belonged.

"i said stop, i don't want to pretend anymore."

"who said i was pretending?"

jimin froze as the younger man grabbed his hand this time, lacing their fingers together. "w-what?"

he didn't know what was happening anymore.

he had been thrown so much stuff in such a short time frame that he was mentally exhausted.

he loved yoongi, then he also liked taehyung, then he thought yoongi hated him, but then loved him back, but he was wrong, and it was too much for the delicate boy.

"i know it's painful to hear, but he could never appreciate you the way you want to be appreciated."

jimin bitterly smiled. "i know, no one can."

a squeeze of his hand made him look over to the other boy holding it.

"you have no idea how much people care about you and that hurts me."

"no one really cares about me, taehyung."

"i do."

it was more of a whisper, but it was clear enough for the black haired boy to hear it.

"but you're the one who told me in the club that love wasn't meant for everyone."

"and that still applies to me, but not you." taehyung let the older rest his head on his shoulder.

it had only been about twenty minutes since his breakdown but jimin was already starting to feel a little bit better.

"i've been in love with yoongi for years and he doesn't even remotely feel anything like that for me." jimin whispered back weakly.

"he doesn't deserve your affection anyway."

"tae-"

the frustrated man's words were cut off by a pair of lips on his own.

he instantly kissed back, adoring the feeling the younger's mouth always gave him.

it was too comforting to simply push away or ignore.

"your heart's pure gold, jimin. it's a trophy, and yeah, maybe he doesn't want it, but there's other people literally fighting their hardest for it." taehyung caressed his cheek.

"like who?"

"like me."