Third Person's P.O.V.

"So, where should we go?" Taehyung asked with eyes trained on the road, while Jimin and Jungkook shared a glance in the back seat.

"This was your plan" Jin shrugged, eyes tracing the speeding view outside the window.

"Uhh..."

Jin realised that Taehyung had fallen quiet and turned to check what the issue was.

"What?"

"It's my first time driving around Seoul" he looked embarrassed but tried to do it away with a chuckle "it's the reason I wanted you to come along"

Jin blinked at him understanding now that Taehyung wanted him to show him around Seoul, and then he broke out in a laugh.

"What?" Taehyung turned to look at him, seeming clueless about why Jin was laughing all of a sudden "what's so funny? Why are you laughing?"

"You made a really bad decision to ask me to come along...all I know around this city is my father's company and a few golf courts"

Taehyung looked at him as if he was still guessing that Jin was messing with him.

"But didn't you grow up here?" Jimin asked, peeking from in between the seats, being confused too.

"Well...I did live here during my childhood but I didn't grow up doing the things you'd expect"

Taehyung took a glance at Jin, realizing yet again that there was a side to this quiet, easily annoyed person that he knew nothing about and hoped that it wasn't his own selfish actions three years ago that had made Jin like this.

"Great" he smiled turning his gaze towards the road "so it's a day out in Seoul for both of us!"

Jin tried to understand if he was making fun of him but was met with hazel eyes glinting at him as Taehyung smiled at him.

"Well, I know some really good diners...the food is to die for I swear" Jungkook piped from the backseat, getting excited the moment he mentioned about food.

"I know a few cool places where we can have some fun," Jimin spoke, winking at Jungkook as he giggled to himself.

And that's how the most eventful day in Jin's life began.

From grabbing a view from the Seoul Tower to spending hours at the Lotte world to hopping around museums and trying ghost walking...they had a blast the entire day. He had never thought he could have such a wonderful carefree n fun day.

Jin had even informed Hoseok, who in turn brought Namjoon and Yoongi along. They had lunch together and Jin wasn't sure about the way Taehyung instantly became friends with them, so much so that Jin had to stop Hoseok time and again from spilling all his childhood stories to Taehyung, Jimin and Jungkook.

"He's always been like that...a total stick-in-the-mud kinda person" Hoseok said pointing at Jin who stood with Yoongi and Jimin at a distance waiting to get their order of waffles "he doesn't live beyond the rules his family decides for him".

"He's got reasons Hobi, you know that" Namjoon reminded Hoseok, making Taehyung and Jungkook to turn to the other now.

"I know...but this isn't how a nineteen year old is supposed to live!" Hoseok's anger was palpable "no late nights...no drinking...no dating...heck he even has restrictions on speaking! Can you fucking believe it?!"

"What?!" Both Jungkook and Taehyung sounded surprised.

"Seokjin belongs to one of the elite and most respected families, they still follow the traditional ways...pretty harsh ways...he was sent away for three years because he went against his grandpa's wishes" Namjoon informed as he tried to stay optimistic "I am happy for him though...at least he's back and is doing what he likes."

"I knew it!" Taehyung's exclamation made all three of them flinch in surprise "it wasn't me who made him run away...thank god" he sighed in relief, for years he had regretted his actions and prayed to god he would do anything to redeem himself. Finally, he felt at peace to know that it wasn't his fault that Jin had fled from the country.

"Why would he run away because of you?" Namjoon was confused now.

"Dufus he's the guy who locked Jin in the locker room" Hoseok told Namjoon, and Taehyung gave a sheepish smile at the blatant accusation "I heard you're his roommate now?"

"Yeah he's such a clean frea-" "He's living the literal dream" Hoseok grinned and giggled to himself "not many of us have the luck to share a room with their crush"

"What?!"

And Hoseok knew he shouldn't have said that when he saw the three look at him in absolute shock.

"Oh...you didn't know" he realized the blunder he had already done because he had really thought that Jin must have made a move because it has been more than a month that he had been sharing a room with Taehyung "f-forget about it...just pretend you didn't hear me...okay?"

And Taehyung was literally struck dumb at what he had just heard, his brain couldn't process the piece of information...not even in his wildest dreams had he ever guessed that Jin could have a crush on 'him'!

-

It was a day that Jin had never envisioned and he found himself really happy after a very long time as he sighed watching the night sky while they sat on a ferry that was crossing the Han river.

However, he was a little sad that the day was ending now and that the others weren't here currently.

The ferry ride was his idea though but Jimin had severe motion sickness and the others wanted to drink. So, they decided to meet after the ride again.

"This would be perfect if they served some beer" Taehyung tsked beside him while Jin was still lost in the vastness of the sky full of stars. He looked to see Taehyung gazing up at the sky as well, but he must have sensed Jin's eyes on him and turned to look as well.

Taehyung knew he needed to talk to Jin, he was still sceptical about the info he had learnt from Hoseok and was eager to know if Jin really had a crush on him.

"Don't you think we could use some drinks right now?" He smiled before adding "and the bulgogi my eomma makes" he licked his lips remembering the taste "gosh I miss her...she nags all the time and scolds like there's no tomorrow but she's still the best eomma in the whole world" he gushed, closing his eyes as he thought of her.

"Why didn't you stay back with them then?" Jin had gotten a little quiet to hear him, "although you sound like you're already drunk" he chuckled seeing Taehyung acting all babyish.

"Nah...I'm just happy" Taehyung corrected him "why is it that the moment people talk from their heart these days...others think that they're under some influence? Is it that lame to speak what you really feel?"

Jin went silent at the question because he didn't really have an answer to that. The people he grew up around were all cold blocks of stone, who never really spoke about anything other than work and they believed that as the right way to be.

He searched his pockets for the chocolate bar he remembered carrying, and pulled it out to unwrap.

"It's not lame" Jin replied, voice soft against the wind that threaded through their hairs as his gaze fell to the wooden floorboards of the ferry "it's rather lame to keep everything bottled inside...it does no good anyway."

He was about to take a bite from it when Taehyung attempted to snatch it away, and it created a scuffle as they both pulled at the chocolate bar. Neither of them were ready to let go and Jin tried to save his treat, desperately twisting around to get Taehyung's grip to lose, who on the other hand moved closer to take a bite. The others on the deck saw them fighting for a chocolate and just passed by, pretending to not notice the lame fight between the two.

But the friendly fight came to an end as Taehyung uttered the next words.

"Then why didn't you ever tell me that you had a crush on me?"

Jin froze, his entire world seemed to have gone blank and he couldn't process anything at the moment. The chocolate bar was still in his grip but he hardly remembered about it.

"Are you spacing out again?" Taehyung spoke leaning closer to check, his face mere millimetres away from Jin's and he could sense how Jin was debating about his next step. He moved in just a bit and felt their foreheads touch and Jin sprang from his seat, instantly turning to walk as far away as possible from him.

"Oi! Come back here" Taehyung hollered, following after him "Jin...wait! I gotta talk to you"

And Jin debated if he could jump off of the ferry because the current level of his embarrassment was literally killing him!

"You know I can't believe it though...I don't think anyone would...especially with how mean you are to me" Taehyung spoke chasing after wherever Jin went to stand, whose sweaty hands and nervous fidgeting made it pretty evident of how desperate he was to hide himself right now and how Taehyung was prepared to face anything but make him talk anyway.

"Do you think you can keep looking away from me all night...all week...all month...huh??" He chased after him still "we share a room Jin...you gotta face me sometime" he smirked, making a quick cut around Jin to place himself in front of the other.

"I wanted to talk to you" he leaned in, watching a petrified and red-faced Jin blinking anxiously at him "that's the reason I wanted to join you on this ride" his smirk grew wider "isn't this the perfect place to tell me how you adore me?"

If he could, Jin would just dissolve in air or melt into the water.

"I'm going to kill Hobi" Jin muttered under his breath, pressing his eyes close as he tried to breathe through his sudden anxiety attack that had all his nerves in a jumble.

"That's a nice step forward I guess...at least you're not cursing at me" Taehyung laughed, taking a step closer to Jin, who stood his ground as he finally found the guts to look at him too.

"Don't bother your head...it was a stupid phase" Jin cleared, gulping his anxiousness as he wore a poker face and tried to make it seem that he had all his emotions under control "I'm completely over that phase now anyway".

"Oh..." Taehyung's tone went low and Jin guessed he really believed him.

"So you really did have a crush on me!" Taehyung took another step closer, eyes wide with delight and full of mischief as he grinned at Jin "fuck! I thought Hoseok was messing with me!"

And Jin cursed himself under his breath, and told himself not to speak without thinking.

He poked softly at Jin's red ears, smiling to himself as he whispered "are you really over it?"

Jin didn't know why he couldn't look up and say it to his face now.

"I guess I got all excited for nothing...eh?"

And Jin pretended to be dumb the rest of the evening, and Taehyung decided to stop teasing him because he could see Jin was struggling to act natural with how embarrassed he was.

However, this tiny piece of information entirely changed how things had been between them.

The next day Jin woke up to feel something big and warm bear-hugging him.

"Did you sleep well?" A deep voice spoke by his ear and Jin began struggling to get free, only to get squeezed more.

"What the fuck-" "You shouldn't curse first thing in the morning Jin-ah" Taehyung cooed smiling sweetly to see a completely confused Jin glaring at him.

"Is your ankle better bab-" his words were cut in between as Jin pushed his face away.

"Why're you on my bed?" Jin grumbled getting up n off of his bed as he headed towards the washroom, making sure Tae doesn't get to see how heated his face currently was because of the way Taehyung was speaking to him. He would never admit how it made his heart rush.

And all through shower, Jin gave himself a pep talk and told himself to act like nothing had happened...it was all the same as before...and he totally didn't need to panic like a thirteen year old. So, the guy he has a crush on knew about it, he had faced worst scenarios in life before...this shouldn't be that bad...right?

"Done with warm up?" Coach Yeo checked on their schedule of training for the upcoming competition "how's your ankle Seokjin?"

"It's better...not painful anymore" he replied.

"Great...Jungkook why don't you take rounds with Seokjin and help him adjust his ankle?"

"Yes coa-uugh..." Jungkook groaned at the sudden elbow jabbing into his gut and realized the reason after he shared a glance with Taehyung "I-I gotta...umm practice hurdles...so..."

"I'll practice with Jin" Taehyung opted instantly, making Jin turn to ice.

"Fine...go on now" the Coach Yeo agreed.

"Sure coach" he nodded.

"C-Can I practice with-" Jin was trying to inquire but was too late because Coach Yeo had already moved away and so had Jungkook and Jimin.

By the end of the day, Jin had gone utterly quiet and Taehyung regretted his own actions through the day.

After the rounds they had taken, he had pestered Jin to give him attention because he enjoyed how cute and shy Jin looked when he felt embarrassed. He had never imagined someone ever having a crush on him, never in his life...not in a million years could he expect that someone would be Seokjin. He was head over heels at the information.

But what he was confused about was why Seokjin was hell-bent on denying it.

"Jin-" "Shut up" Jin scolded him as they walked inside their shared room.

"Why are you so angry? I'm trying to make things easy for you" Taehyung smiled his most charming smile, leaning close to the other who was busy in prepping to go for a shower "if I were you, I'd take the first chance to ask you to date me."

And Jin decided he'd had enough of this.

"Stop it...stop lying and playing all your shitty pranks ok?" He turned to finally face Tae "I know...alright, I know you aren't gay...nor have you ever dated guys" he was flailing as he spoke, making Taehyung backtrack to see him get so angry all of a sudden "so stop making fun of my feelings!"

The room went quiet as Jin stopped screaming, and Taehyung waited till his heavy panting had calmed to speak again.

"Who told-" "Coach Kim did" Jin blurted, running the back of his hand down his face and Taehyung realised he was crying "he said the girls in your school were idiots to want to date you because except for sports, you were good for nothing..." he spoke gulping down his sniffles as he composed himself and tried to stay angry with the other.

And Taehyung rolled his eyes at his coach's ways of making fun of him.

"So, you're going to believe some random person rather than me who's telling you to grab the opportunity to ask me to date you?"

"Why would I ask huh?" Jin was getting defensive, screaming at him again "so that you can say no to my face?!"

"Ask me"

"No!" Jin turned away.

"Jin" Tae went after him, grasping at his arm to make him stay "ask me to date you"

"Stop ridiculing me" Jin roared back at him but his voice had gotten whiny as he denied to listen to Tae.

"Will you date me?" Taehyung spoke taking the chance instead.

"No" Jin was still flailing to walk away, his eyes still moist "you don't mean it."

"Let's date"

"You aren't gay" Jin reminded him.

"Who said I'm not gay?"

Jin stopped all his squirming and flailing as he stared up at Taehyung to see if he was still joking or actually being serious.

"Are you?" Jin asked, voice tiny in nervousness.

"Date me, and you'll get the answer" Tae smirked as he leaned closer, making Jin turn red due to the way blood had rushed to his face all of a sudden.

And that's how they started to date.

They decide to give it a try and within the next few weeks things unravel beautifully between them. Their constant squabbles had turned to sensible conversations where they worked together to find solutions to the problems they faced on the tracks, their emotions fuelling their zeal to win the upcoming international sports summit.

"So, you have individual events as well as team events" Coach Kim informed as the four stood huddling around him.

Taehyung had his arm slung over Seokjin's shoulder, keeping him close to himself as he peered into the list of dates and instructions sheets that the coach was currently reading from.

"Pack all the important documents I had told earlier, it's summer there right now so pack accordingly and pack a suit, in case you win then many officials and some really important people will be there to congratulate you..."

"I'm hurt coach...you know we're gonna win" Taehyung spoke, arm still slung around Jin, who looked comfortable and used to the way the other was holding him.

"Yep...no confusion there" Jungkook reiterated with the same kind of confidence in their team.

"Yeah yeah...talk less and just don't take rash decisions like last time" the coach reminded.

He had noticed the way Tae and Jin had changed over the months, and he was glad to see that the four of them were finally taking decisions as a team.

It had been quite a number of days that they had been 'together', yet Jin couldn't say if they were really dating because they barely had time to do any stuff that people who date usually do. However, he was happy that things had worked out and that he could spend all day with Taehyung...and also, he had learned that Tae was actually a lot nicer than what he had thought he would be as a partner.

"Let's go to Lotte world for a date when we come back" Taehyung said as he followed Jin out of the cafeteria as he took a bite from his kimbap roll.

"My grandpa will kill both of us if he gets to know that we're out enjoying couples' joyrides" Jin replied nonchalantly, taking a bite from his kimbap roll.

"You don't have to tell him that we went there on a date" Taehyung reminded him with a shrug.

"All my life I've had his guards following me around, I don't think that has changed" Jin sighed quietly to himself.

He turned to Taehyung when he felt him threading their fingers together to clasp at his hand.

"Your grandpa sucks"

Well, this was one thing that he really liked about Tae...he spoke what he thought, no censoring anything.

"I know" and with him, Jin had learned that he could speak all he had been told to keep within "my entire family does, except hyung...maybe"

He felt the grasp on his hand tightening, as Taehyung pulled him closer "how about we don't come back after the Nationals? We can stay back in Australia"

Jin shook his head, knowing in his head that wasn't possible.

"I don't want your family to hate me...and you promised you'll let me taste your eomma's cooking" Jin reminded with a smile, and saw Taehyung's mood shift instantly as he repeated yet again how much he missed his home, and drooled about his mother's recipes and about his annoying sister and his hardworking father.

Jin felt a sense of cosiness whenever he spoke of his family, it was as if he already knew them and had a loving picture about them in his head because of the way Taehyung spoke about them.

Being lost in admiring those dark brown eyes and that unkempt brunette head, Jin didn't realize that he was actually caressing Tae's face, fingers softly grazing along his jaw. He already knew that Tae was handsome, and despite being annoying at times Jin knew that he really liked him.

And on a late autumn evening, as they stood under an oak tree, Jin thought that Tae had never looked better.

"If you kiss me here, you can't complain when I kiss you back" the words were soft and spoken right on his lips, and Jin didn't say anything...only perched on his tippytoes to press his mouth on Tae's.

Taehyung smiled to himself, actually glad to see Jin take such a bold step forward to show how he adored him. He cupped Jin's face and kissed him back, their lips moulding perfectly as they shared their first kiss as dew drops settled on the grass around them and the chill of the evening slowly shrouded the place.

á na márië.