The next day, Taehyung stood behind the stove with a spatula in his hand. He wasn't cooking or anything. He was just heating up some leftovers for their breakfast. 

Steam arose from the stir-fried spinach dish in the pan that the raven-head had made, probably two days ago. The brunet occasionally used the spatula to move the green vegetables around until it looked like they were heated up, also careful not to burn them. Next to the spinach, there was a pot of kimchi stew boiling away. 

Why was he here preparing breakfast instead of Jeongguk? 

Well yesterday after Jimin left, Taehyung was in the midst of cleaning up the mess his friend had made while waiting for Jeongguk to get out of the shower. However, even when he was done with all the cleaning, the younger man was still nowhere to be seen.

When Taehyung went to their bedroom to check on him, he found Jeongguk asleep. It was such an adorable sight and it was obvious that the raven-head dozed off due to exhaustion because he wasn't wearing a t-shirt and was sprawled on their bed sideways with his feet dangling off the side of the mattress. 

Right away, he approached the sleeping man with quiet steps. Taehyung tried his best to move Jeongguk into a more comfortable position. Keyword: Tried. His boyfriend was all muscles and abs, making it hard to move him. 

But Taehyung managed somehow. He covered the other man with the blanket there and then found himself just watching the other sleep. It was hard to look away. Jeongguk's dark eyelashes hugged his cheeks with a small pout evident on his red lips. The older man couldn't help it as his long fingers weaved through the thick locks in front of him before trailing his hand down to the side of the raven-head's peaceful face.

It was rare for Taehyung to be the one taking care of the other like this.

Then upon hesitating a little, he kneeled down to the side of the bed to properly match Jeongguk's level. Slowly, Taehyung reached for his tattooed hands. With furrowed brows, he ran his thumb over his boyfriend's knuckles only to see that there were no bruises there. His skin was smooth and untouched.  

What about those bandages that he saw?

Maybe they weren't bandages after all. 

Suddenly feeling stupid for assuming things in the first place, Taehyung decided to drop it. He didn't need to raise unnecessary doubts in their relationship. Things between them were finally going in the right direction for once.

Anyway, getting back to why Taehyung was the one making breakfast. It was one of those rare days where Jeongguk got up later than his hyung. And the brunet didn't bother to wake him up either, wanting the younger man to get proper rest. Just imagine how tired Jeongguk must've been to pass out like that. 

But Taehyung's hopes for his boyfriend to rest vanished when two strong arms suddenly wrapped themselves around his waist from behind. He wasn't surprised. Of course, it was Jeongguk... unless a stranger just walked through the front door of the apartment and decided to back-hug him. 

The brunet turned his head to the side (just to be sure) and saw Jeongguk, freshly showered, resting his chin atop his hyung's shoulder. 

"Good morning, Sweetheart."  

Taehyung hummed in response, feeling a light blush creep onto his cheeks. Damn it, that word still got him every time. 

He directed his gaze back to the stove in front of him. The spinach was done so he put out the fire underneath the frying pan and now focused on the kimchi stew. He felt Jeongguk's arms around him tighten momentarily and just like that, his focus had drifted back to the man behind him and he remembered something else.

"How did the presentation go yesterday?"

"It was good... I got the project." Jeongguk mumbled lowly like it wasn't such a big deal.

Taehyung on the other hand, had his eyes widely opened as he turned to the side to look at the other man. "That's great news! Congrats."

Jeongguk smiled a little watching how excited his hyung was. "Thanks."

Deciding to tease his boyfriend a little, Taehyung looked back at the pot and smugly spoke, "Well you should be thanking me anyway. I did help you practice after all."

A small laugh entered his ear with, "How does drooling over me while not paying attention to a word I say called helping?"

Taehyung playfully scoffed. "Geez, don't say it like that. I didn't exactly drool over you."

"Oh yeah? I'll believe you if you can tell me right now what the presentation was about."

Oh no.

The brunet laughed nervously as he turned his head to the side watching Jeongguk smirk at him with a knowing look. Here we go again, it was time to play everyone's favorite game. The guessing game that started when Jimin asked him what the video game controller was called and he answered with 'a remote console thingy.'

"Uh... it was about," Taehyung searched the younger man's eyes for any hints but found nothing. With an unsure tone, he cringed out: 

"...something business related?" 

After those words left him, Jeongguk nodded as he tried to hold in his smile. In one swift motion, he turned the brunet around in his arms. One of his hands reached to turn the stove off completely. The kimchi stew was already boiling anyway.

So now without any distractions, Taehyung was pressed up against the counter with the raven-head in front of him. "I think we both know that you didn't pay attention."

Finally, he was ready to give up. Okay! Okay, he'll just admit it. But in his defense...

"It's not my fault you look so cute when you're talking all serious like that." 

By now, the raven-head was smiling so much. He knew his hyung wasn't one to call him sweet names all the time but when he did, it just made Jeongguk so happy. With both his hands resting on either sides of the older man's waist, he pulled Taehyung closer to him straight away diving into a kiss.

It was a short, maybe three-second kiss and when their lips parted, they still stayed close to each other. "I really don't want to go to work now..." The raven-head mumbled, his eyes staying on Taehyung's plump lips.

"Uh-huh..." The proximity between them had led the brunet to feel slightly dazed. While the person in front of him was staring at his lips, he was busy staring at the pair of eyes that was sending bundles of chills to trail down his spine.

Sometimes he wondered... how a human could have such beautiful eyes like this; that had such an effect on him; that had him weak in a matter of seconds upon looking at them. 

Taehyung didn't know if Jeongguk was talking or if he was saying something important right now. Because just like when the younger man was practicing his presentation the other day, Taehyung found himself zoning out again. 

And then all at once, he felt the deprivation of his boyfriend's touch from how they barely saw each other yesterday. 

So without thinking, he brought his hands up to the back of Jeongguk's neck.

"...yeah m-hmm, just skip work or whatever."

"What? Were you even lis-"

He didn't let the other finish as he connected their lips once again. 

This was how their mornings were on some days; them being completely horny for each other. It was understandable because most of the time when they got back from work, they were dead tired.

They hungrily kissed each other not caring that they both had to leave to work in about half an hour or so. Jeongguk's hands trailed up under the loose t-shirt Taehyung had on, caressing the smooth skin there. There wasn't even a hairline space between their bodies as they made out.

When they eventually pulled away, Taehyung's head tilted up with his eyes shut tightly as the raven-head aimed for his exposed neck that still had some light bruises scattered over the skin there. Every bite and lick presented on that area had the tugs on Jeongguk's long hair becoming harder and harder. 

Inside Taehyung's head, he couldn't focus on one thing as electric sparks jolted up within him with the intense amount of pleasure he was receiving. It felt heavenly and usually there would be nothing that could ruin their moments together like this. 

Hell, there were countless times that they'd both be late to work for getting carried away with each other. Today was probably going to be one of those days.

It would had been one of those days if it weren't for the sudden change of feelings that intruded into Taehyung's conscious. Straight away his heart was beating so fast, not in a good way. And then without even realizing it, he pulled back away from Jeongguk. 

Heavy pants filled the air between them and the raven-head spoke out in between his breaths. "Are you okay?"

As soon as those words entered Taehyung's ears, he nodded his head immediately dismissing a certain blond's words that had entered his mind from yesterday morning. 

Then he reclaimed the positions of his hands at the back of Jeongguk's head and allowed the younger man to shower his skin with those addictive touches from before. 

One bite to the side of his neck... Taehyung released a strangled groan.

Do you know what I see when I look at you right now?

A warm tongue slid down the side of his sweaty neck to his prominent collarbones, the lick turning into a bite that had him losing his balance. He clumsily moved backwards until his back hit the counter rather hardly but there wasn't time for him to address the pain as Jeongguk's body was pushed up against him in a matter of seconds.

Once again, the pleasure the brunet felt was sliced through by that same voice in his head.

Do you know what I see-

"Jeongguk-ah~ s-stop..."

The younger man clearly did not hear him and only continued to work his lips onto the other's skin. By now, all Taehyung wanted was for everything to stop. He didn't want to hear it. He thought that he could distract himself but it was impossible as it felt like he was back at that hotel's pool room and-

I see a slut.

"Stop!"

With all the strength he had within him, Taehyung pushed Jeongguk backwards. It wasn't that much force and of course, the raven-head didn't budge that much but it was still enough to create some room between them. 

As soon as the realization of what he had just done dawned down on the brunet, his eyes widened with his heart practically thumping at three hundred beats per second. It hit him harder when he saw the look on Jeongguk's face; angry, confused and most of all hurt by his actions.

Oh no.

He swallowed thickly and turned to the side finding it unbearable to face his boyfriend right now. That one fucking sentence looped around in his head over and over again; I see a slut. I see a slut. I see a slut. I see a slut-

"Hyung-"

"I'm sorry." Taehyung said a little too fast, hugging his upper body as he had his back facing the raven-head.

Since the encounter with Jil-su, the brown-haired male had really been trying to keep his mind occupied by anything else. He thought that he could pretend like it didn't happen but who was he kidding? He cared too much about what people said about him. 

And it wasn't that he was mad at the swimmer for calling him such a mean thing. No, he was mad at himself for allowing it to happen. He just hated the fact that there was nothing he could've done to stop Jil-su from saying that.

It felt like what he did didn't matter... like even if he treated that blond like a prince, he'd still be labeled as a slut. It was that feeling of how unfair it was that he wasn't even given a chance to show what type of a person he was; that he was worthless no matter what.

Some insecurities disappear over time and some stay with you forever.

This was Taehyung's insecurity; one that he hated himself for having because no matter how things were getting better between him and Jeongguk, in a blink of an eye, a total stranger like Jil-su could shatter his confidence just like that.

A hand to his shoulder had the brunet flinching. For a moment, he forgot that Jeongguk was there. Jeongguk, who now had a serious expression over his face.

"Tell me." 

It seemed as if the raven-head could already sense what was causing his hyung to act this way. He turned the older man around and took a step closer. When Taehyung still didn't dare to face him, Jeongguk raised his hand and tilted the other's head up so that their eyes met. 

Only now did he notice how glossy Taehyung's eyes were. The sight of that had his other hand morphing into a fist by his side. "I said tell me." He gritted out.

There was no escaping this. And it would only hurt the brunet more if he kept this within him. So upon swallowing thickly once with his scared eyes cowering in fear from the anger radiating off of Jeongguk, he spoke out timidly.

In three sentences.

"I met Jil-su at his hotel for an interview. We didn't get through any of the questions and he wanted to call off the interview. I confronted him and he saw the hickeys on me and he..." 

No, he couldn't say it.

It just felt so embarrassing.

But Jeongguk's grip on his chin had tightened a little bit.

He sighed.

"He called me a slut."

Right after that last word left Taehyung, he got to witness the horror of how the raven-head's expression turn into one filled with shock. 

And anger.

A LOT of anger.

The grip on his chin disappeared as Jeongguk took a few steps back, seeming to be deep in thought. A terrible deafening silence filled the apartment and Taehyung could actually hear the frightened beats of his heart as the raven-head now had his eyes piercing into him.

"What- why were you at his hotel?"

Taehyung took one step forward straight away rambling on with his explanation, not wanting his boyfriend to misunderstand anything. "Mr Han called and said that I needed to interview Jil-su at the conference room of the hotel he was staying at. When I got there, he was in the pool room so I decided to just ask him the questions there and then..." He thought about the next part of his explanation sourly.

But before he could continue, he was more concerned about the look on Jeongguk's face. Taehyung desperately took one of the raven-head's hands in his. "Please don't freak out. Jeongguk, n-nothing happened. He didn't-"

"How did he see those hickeys on you?" 

Damn it.

"Jeongguk... please."

"Answer my question."

Upon licking his lips nervously, Taehyung answered, at the same time, being filled with dread. "He pulled my scarf down and saw but-"

"He what?" A disbelief tone laced the raven-head's voice.

"I'm telling you, nothing happened. Please don't get mad."

Jeongguk scoffed. "Don't get mad? I can't get mad at the fact that an asshole you were left alone with got close to you and called you a fucking slut?!"

Taehyung actually flinched at those last words. He really hadn't expect his boyfriend to react this badly. Nonetheless, he kept his grip on Jeongguk's hand trying to get the other to face him. 

"Jeongguk please. It was just an interview so-"

"When did this even happen?"

"Yesterday morning."

Another surprised look took over the younger man's face. "Yesterday? Were you even planning on telling me about this?"

"I didn't..." Taehyung sighed, taking a step closer to the raging man. "I didn't think it mattered. I thought I would forget about it."

"Well you clearly didn't."

By now, the brunet was trembling. Was he missing something here because it felt like Jeongguk was more angry than how angry he needed to be. He hated this feeling; just hated being spoke to like this. And it just hurt more since the one yelling at him on the other end was his boyfriend.

Slowly, his grip on Jeongguk's hand loosened. His eyes stung from the unshed tears. His throat hurt from the painful lump there. With his head cast downwards, he spoke out weakly.

"I'm sorry."

"Stop apologizing."

"No, I should have told-"

Immediately, an intense warmth filled Taehyung as his front was pressed into a hard chest. All the emotions within him was silence at once and all he could feel was the other's wonderful touch. So without further hesitation, he wrapped his arms around Jeongguk's waist and closed his eyes, just focusing on the embrace flooding through him.

"I'm sorry," Jeongguk whispered, resting his chin on top of his hyung's head with his arms wrapped around Taehyung's shaking body. "I didn't know what I was thinking. I just freaked out and yelled at you. It's not your fault Sweetheart. I'm sorry..."

The raven-head stared off into a distance as he held the brunet in his arms. He shouldn't have gotten mad like this and especially not have taken it out on Taehyung. His hyung had changed a lot, for the better but inside he was still sensitive to certain things. It wasn't Taehyung's fault that that prick called him a slut.

From the moment Jeongguk saw that text, he had his doubts raised about that swimmer. But he forced himself to believe that Jil-su meant no harm to Taehyung. Although now, his doubts were proven right and it was just so hard for him to stay calm knowing that his boyfriend was left alone with the other for even a second.

He didn't like it; he didn't like Jil-su calling his Taehyung 'princess'; didn't like his Taehyung being rushed around like this; hated Jil-su seeing the bites and bruises on his Taehyung's neck.

Seeing as how things had been going on lately with Jeongguk's 'anger' problem, this didn't help at all and what had his jaw clenching even tighter were the next words that left the man in his arms.

"Jeongguk please... will you trust me to handle this on my own?"

No.

The raven-head tightened his grip around Taehyung. "Sweetheart let me handle this for you."

"Please, I need to do this on my own. I promise I won't let him hurt me."

"Hyung, you don't-"

"I can't let you fight my battles for me forever."

But I want to.

"Jeongguk... I can do this."

I know you can but I don't want you to.