Water filled the bathtub slowly from the bottom, the gushing transparent liquid rushing out of the silver faucet into the white ceramic space in a nice, soothing way- the sound of the running water fading into the background imitating some sort of white noise that made it convenient for one to do anything in the bathroom, especially when they don't want anybody else in the house to grow 'suspicious' about what they're up to in there. 

With darkness slowly devouring what was left of the evening sun, the night was now apparent in all its snow-filled beauty. The snowflakes showered the city tonight, some of its shiny crystal-like patterns reflecting off Taehyung's sparkling eyes as he sat shirtless, comfortably in the small compacted space of the windowsill of that one window in the bathroom. His bare back rested against one side of the wooden window frame, legs loosely hugging his chest as he gazed out into the winter wonderland that seemed to have taken over Seoul. 

The window was left open just a little- chilly breezes entering from outside in exchange for the puffs of smoke leaving Taehyung's parted lips. He felt the cold wind occasionally caress his naked chest but the warm fog pouring out of the bathtub from the hot water filling it blanketed him with just the right amount of heat he needed. It also gave the bathroom a hazy atmosphere, unconsciously calming his buzzing mind.

Ever since they left Hoseok's about two hours ago, Taehyung had been restless, wanting the night to end fast so that he can wake up tomorrow and get that stupid interview over with already. He hated it- hated this feeling of nerves overwhelming him. He didn't even care if he was well-prepared or not... just wanted it all to be over. It was weird 'cause he'd never felt like this before. Yes, he's experienced nervousness in the past for class presentations, minor job interviews and some other things but this time, it was different. 

He had a throbbing headache, was feeling fatigue and incredibly nauseated.

Was this normal?

He figured taking a hot bath would relax him a little; those fragrant bath salts still unused in its packaging, the peppermint tea he made himself in Jeongguk's favorite coffee mug that had lost its heat now, abandoned in one corner of the sink, the fashion magazines he loved to leaf through for fun arranged neatly on an IKEA rack near the door... there were a ton of things in here, ready to help him ease his stress yet Taehyung found himself seeking comfort in the vape Jil-su gave him as an alternate solution- one method more powerful and effective than all the shiny bubbles floating in that tub, than all the tea he could drink, than any intriguing fashion column about the latest clothes trends now in style.     

Taehyung took in another drag of the liquid-based 'stress-releaser', then calmly breathed out, the concentrated smoke leaving his lips and diffusing into the night air outside. He blinked slowly, watching the scenery out the window with a blank mind, glancing towards the tub every now and then to check the height of the water. 

Still halfway to go... 

A few subtle knocks on the door then tore Taehyung's gaze away from the running water. He didn't react at first, heavily dazed from the nicotine he'd been inhaling along with the fruity tinge of an apple-y flavor. 

"Tae..?" a soft voice called from the other side.

It was odd how Taehyung remained calm with Jeongguk realistically standing close to him as he held the vape in his hand. Well yeah, the bathroom door was in the way but the old Taehyung would've freaked out nonetheless... 

He propped himself off from where he was sitting, bare feet landing on the carpeted ground with a soft thud. Taehyung smoothly slid the vape into the back pocket of his pants before taking a few steps in the direction of the door. He didn't open it just yet and answered, "yes, Jeongguk?"  

"Oh it's nothing, really. Just wanted to tell you that I'm heading out to-"

The door abruptly ripped open and soon Taehyung was looking right at Jeongguk who was affirmatively ready to go out- dressed in a plain hoodie and some ripped jeans, hair pulled up into a messy bun revealing the undercuts on the sides of his head. The younger didn't get to finish what he was saying and it looked like he wasn't going to bother continuing it. Even in his half-conscious state, Taehyung saw the way Jeongguk's eyes zeroed in on his shirtless torso before quickly glancing up to meet his gaze. 

Taehyung would've flinched to this, the usual shyness working inside him (he wasn't one to walk around shirtless, you see) but there was a more pressing matter that had to be dealt with first. 

"You're going out? Where?" 

His abandonment issues.

"Just to the store. We're out of eggs," the other explained.

Instead of nodding or giving a logical response to when someone tells you they're going out to buy some groceries, Taehyung- 

"Why?"

"Um..." Jeongguk looked baffled, raising a hand to the side of his neck before scratching the back of his head. "I just told you... we're out of eggs," he spoke with confusion whirling in his tone. 

Taehyung sheepishly grinned at his dumb mistake.

"O-Oh. Right, sorry..."

To be honest, a part of Taehyung was stalling Jeongguk's departure on purpose. 

Mm-hmm, so adding to the billion other insecurities Taehyung had, he now got extremely conscious of whenever Jeongguk left to go somewhere. To no one's surprise, this started on the night they had that big fight- y'know the night he destroyed the apartment... It's fine when Jeongguk left in the morning to go to work... it were those times he left at night either to work out, meet his friends or buy stuff like this that triggered that fear inside Taehyung.

Still, he couldn't be a baby about it. Stopping his boyfriend from going out like this just seemed downright ridiculous and childish.

"Hey, do you need anything while I'm there?" Jeongguk suddenly asked.

Taehyung heard what he said but was severely distracted by the unwell feeling from before returning to him. That one voice at the back of his head was telling him to ask the other to get him something- 

Something for your headache...

Something for the nausea...

Say anything!

"N-No... just-" Taehyung nibbled on his bottom lip, the pang of his already thundering headache acting up. "...just-" he repeated.

Damn it! The nauseous feeling from before was all he could taste now- that bile rising in the back of his throat, stomach churning uncomfortably. His gaze momentarily fell to the ground between them.

Again, "just..."

"Taehyung, are you-"

"Just remember to take a jacket with you." He finally managed to say nonchalantly, smiling up at Jeongguk.

There was an obvious confliction in the younger's eyes whether to believe his façade or not. He eventually asked, "are you really okay?"

"Yeah, m'fine..."

Fortunately for Taehyung, he let it go. Mirroring his smile, Jeongguk then muttered a quick, "be right back, kay?" before he turned around and walked away, the last trace of him made known through the sound of the front door clicking shut.

And Taehyung heard it, although he never moved from his spot. An attempt to wait for the sick feeling inside him to pass failed miserably and in the very next second, one of his hands flew to the doorframe to balance himself as his legs felt like jelly. He panted, eyes starting to get watery...

The water in the tub began to overflow.

Taehyung placed his hands on his knees, bending over, facing the ground as he tried to collect the non-existent strength left inside him. He dragged himself to where the toilet bowl was. He didn't throw up but the gagging went on for a while.

In the midst of everything, he hurried over to where the tub was, turning the faucet to stop the water flow. Next, as if on cue, a wave of exhaustion took over his body. Taehyung immediately slumped down on the ground with his back against the tub. He focused on his breathing, glistening chest rising and falling.

Suddenly, he was feeling a bit better...

And suddenly he was hunched over the toilet bowl again.

Morning arrived right on time as the sun shone brightly in the blue sky.

The company building, also the venue of Taehyung's interview, stood tall and mighty within the perimeter of its wide and spacious compound. Multiple young, professionally dressed, enthusiastic-looking job seekers marched through the front doors of the place, seeming ready to do a good job today. And even if they were nervous, they knew they couldn't show it... which probably explained the red, slightly peeled-off skin on the sides of their fingernails from how they've been picking at it but you never know, that could mean a lot of other things...

Fifteen minutes remained till they'd start doing rollcalls for all the interviewees but those fifteen minutes seemed like a lifetime to the couple sitting in a tinted sports car parked quietly, a good distance away on the side of some street there.

"Tae-ah, you're gonna be late..." Jeongguk murmured as soon as Taehyung's lips left his to shower kisses along his jaw now.

Taehyung hummed absentmindedly to that, stubbornly burying his head in the crook of his boyfriend's neck loving the smell of cologne radiating off him. There was a slight discomfort from leaning over the gear compartment separating the driver and passenger's seats but the wonderful scent invading his nostrils made up for it. Taehyung wondered if any of Jeongguk's co-workers had ever gotten this close to him to be able to smell this too? Ugh, why did he think that? He hated the idea of it and his body corresponded accurately as his hand tugged Jeongguk's tie down urgently. It took less than a second for him to unbutton the first two buttons there before dragging his lips over the other's exposed skin.  

It was when he bit down hard on that one spot above Jeongguk's collarbone that he felt a hand land on his shoulder, gently pushing him back a little. His out-of-focus gaze slowly settled over Jeongguk who sat in the driver's seat, looking hella sexy with his neatly styled hair all ruffled and messy now (courtesy of Taehyung, of course), not to mention the black ink on his chest peeking out from under his shirt a bit, topping all this with how shiny and swollen his red lips were from their previous make out session- oh damn.

Taehyung wanted to jump him right then- not in an assaulting way or anything but now that the topic's come up, ripping Jeongguk's shirt open certainly wouldn't count as an 'attack' right? 

Disappointment flooded Taehyung next as he watched Jeongguk button his shirt back, at the same time telling him that, "as much as I'd like to continue with this, you're gonna be late to your interview," he glanced to his wristwatch after fixing his tie with, "there's only ten minutes left till-"

"But I wanna stay here with you." It slipped out before he could've stopped himself.

Jeongguk shot him a playful smile. "I love that you said that but we both know you're stalling right now." A concerned look had his eyebrows furrowing as he took one of Taehyung's hands in his. "Hey, what is it... still nervous?"

A sigh got kicked out of Taehyung as he slumped into his seat, feeling his head collide with the headrest in an unsubtle way. He was pouting now, taking a moment to gaze out the window at the company building he had to go into shortly. "I'm worried..." He mumbled, dropping his head to stare at their intertwined hands resting on his lap. 

"About what?" Jeongguk eagerly asked. "Why don't you tell me exactly why you're worrying."

Taehyung stared at him for two seconds before chuckling. "I don't think it matters..." he shrugged. "I'm probably just overreacting-"

"No come on, tell me. I promise I'll give you a solution to all your worries."

Seeing Jeongguk care this much made the hesitance in Taehyung disappear instantly, although now he just felt embarrassed to state his worries. "You're gonna laugh if I tell you." 

"I swear, I won't." 

Fine.

After taking in a deep breath, Taehyung- "I'm scared I'll fall."

"Uh..." Jeongguk struggled to hide his smile. "Really? That... that's what you're worried about?" It was very obvious how hard he tried to hold in his laughter. Taehyung saw this and groaned, pulling his hand out of his hold to cross his arms over his chest. 

"See you're laughing. You think it's ridiculous. This is why I didn't want to-"

"No no," Jeongguk immediately stopped him. "Just-" he sighed before softening his expression to say, "tell me why you think you'll fall."

"Because I'm clumsy- I mean, you've seen the amount of times I've fallen down. Seriously, I could go into that interview and just fall flat on my face," Taehyung vented on, then continuing with, "and everyone's gonna stare at me... and I'm not gonna get the job... and soon you're gonna leave me 'cause I'll be a jobless loser... and then before you know it, everything and everyone will be dead-"

"Woah Taehyung, slow down." Jeongguk had an almost-mortified expression on at his boyfriend's detailed prediction. "I highly doubt that you falling today is gonna lead to the end-of-human-race, although an apocalyptic future does sound pretty cool... also, I won't leave you if you end up jobless." Jeongguk spaced off a little, like he was visualizing something. "I kinda like the idea of you staying at home all day. It makes me feel better knowing you're not being in contact with anyone else while I'm out. Y'know I'd buy you anything you want and you could just rest all day, write a book or two- oh and didn't you say you wanted a puppy?"

"Okaaay..." Taehyung smiled sarcastically, nodding slowly. "Looking past your weird desire to turn me into your trophy wife, are we just assuming that I end up jobless now..?"

"Ah sorry- got ahead of myself there but look, what I'm saying is it's not the worst thing if you fall down. You could just get back up and- okay no, I promised that I'd give you a solution so..." Taehyung watched as Jeongguk leaned in closer to him, emphasizing him to, "Walk. Very. Slowly." 

"Jeongguk, you-"

"Alright, I solved your first problem. What's next?" 

Taehyung breathed out in disbelief but continued to express his next worry anyway which was, "I'm afraid that I won't be able to answer the questions being asked."

This had Jeongguk tilting his head to one side in confusion. "Why are you worried about that? I'm pretty sure you studied harder than anyone in there."

"No it's-" he sighed before confessing that, "what if I can't speak properly? You know how nervous I get around people I've never met before. I spent the first half of our relationship stuttering like a fool..."

"I think it's cute whenever you stutter," Jeongguk casually remarked and Taehyung rolled his eyes because he needed to pretend that those words didn't just make his stomach flip.

"Well of course you'd think that. We're a couple. To you, everything I do is cute." 

He was right about this and Jeongguk could only chuckle before inadvertently glancing to his wristwatch. They were running out of time... "Okay Taehyung, listen to me," Jeongguk said in all seriousness. "I can't guarantee that all your worries will fade away but you should know, everyone in there are just as nervous as you are, and if I could hold your hand and walk in there with you, I would. I'd willingly stay by your side throughout the interview if it's possible..." His hand found Taehyung's again and he smiled encouragingly. "But we both know that this is something you need to do- on your own. 'Cause you're brave and you can do anything you put your mind to."

It was hard to say anything to that. Taehyung felt his heart throb at his boyfriend's nice and comforting words. He wasn't used to receiving pep-talks like this in the past so it sure felt good to have someone here with him in times like these.

"You really think so?" he asked in a tiny voice, feeling much better than before.

Jeongguk squeezed his hand once. "I do and tell you what..." he smirked, lifting Taehyung's hand to his lips. "If there's a chance you actually start to freak out in there, you can look forward to a surprise later at home. Think of it as your reward for getting through the interview."

Taehyung was really intrigued by this- eyes wide with curiosity as he asked, "what surprise? Tell me-"

"You'll just have to wait and find out." Jeongguk replied, planting one kiss onto the back of his hand with their eyes boring into each other.

Huh... Taehyung was definitely less worried about the interview now but seeing that oddly familiar dark look in Jeongguk's eyes had him feeling nervous for a whole different reason. A snippet of some memory suddenly played in his head- a hazy scene of Jeongguk shirtless, each sweat droplet rolling down his tattoo-covered skin as he peered down at him- the feeling of a tight grip on his hair at the back of his head- wait.

"...Tae?" A voice called him.

He was beyond dazed. "Huh?"

"You need to go now or you'll be late," Jeongguk alerted, letting go of his hand with a final I love you, you're gonna do great.

He heard this but more memories started to pile on top of the other from 'that night' and- oh no.

Don't fight it, you know you want me to.

Is this how you imagined it?

Isn't this what you wanted- you're so reckless...

I'm scared I won't be able to control myself... feel tempted to lock you up... be your everything, forever.

Oh god.

Though with everything coming to him at once, Taehyung forced himself to snap out of it.

"R-Right, bye..."

Still, it didn't stop him from internally freaking out.

Oh god, oh god, oh god!

Taehyung, still dangerously in-shock, quickly slid his bag strap over a shoulder and stepped out of the car, avoiding Jeongguk's mindful gaze as he did. He jogged in the building's direction, scared to look back knowing very well that the other was watching him from the car. In a robotic stance, Taehyung walked into the place just in time, receiving his ID for today and turn-number before taking his seat where a lady in-charge had guided him to.

Now along the row of interviewees who looked to be doing some last-minute preparation for the interview, Taehyung stood out- an anomaly who stared off into space. 

Why?

Just why did he have to remember everything right now? So that night actually did happen? It felt like a dream before... Taehyung remembered the silly conversation they had about getting a puppy but that was it. He figured he'd fallen asleep after that. Although he was starting to question just how drunk he was that night to not remember such an event. Also, why didn't Jeongguk say anything the next morning? Maybe he didn't think it was a big deal? 

Yeah. If Jeongguk didn't remind him then maybe there was no need for Taehyung to suddenly bring it up now. Moreover, two days had gone by... it'd be awkward right?  

Fuck! No, no! There wasn't anything that could assure him right now. No matter how he looked at it, he was going to be a nervous-wreck facing Jeongguk later.

It was starting to be too much now for an overthinker like him. On top of that, he had to stay sharp and prepare himself for the interview. He couldn't afford any distractions. Just for these three hours, push everything else aside, he told himself. The deep breaths were helping at first, until it didn't. Out of force-of-habit, Taehyung sought one relief- something instant. With clear intentions, he casually glanced to a side exit leading out the building. Then upon internally cussing himself, he reached into his bag for something.  

Expecting to feel the metal-y surface of his vape, Taehyung was in for a real surprise when he felt no such thing. Heart racing, he rummaged through his sling bag again and again only to reach the same conclusion, that it wasn't there. 

Which was odd because he distinctly remember putting it in his bag before leaving the apartment this morning.

So if it wasn't at home and it wasn't in his bag, then where-

Taehyung gasped.

"Shit..." 

On the other side of the city, Jeongguk silently sat in his car in the parking-basement of his father's company. A serious look painted over his face as he stared at a vape in his hand, wondering how the hell did it get in his car.