Taehyung's pov

Saturday morning, I woke up feeling anxious. Not anxious in a nervous sort of way, it was more like the type of anxious I'd get for a date I was looking forward to. Only it wasn't a date, I was working. On a Saturday.

After going for a run to try to shake off my anticipation, I took a cool shower to clear my head. I let the water sluice over my shoulders and closed my eyes as I hummed. While humming had always been something I did to soothe myself, to soothe Daehyun when I realized I was humming Kylie Minogue's Can't Get You Out of My Head, my eyes sprang open.

Of course they landed on one of the half-dozen Jeon products that now filled my shower and bathroom. I truly could not get the man out of my mind, as he was all around me-in my thoughts, at work, in my shower. I scrubbed my body for nearly fifteen minutes, trying to rid my mind of Jungkook.

I threw a short, silky robe over my naked body, left it untied, and went to my bedroom for some lotion to rub into my new baby-soft skin. My vibrator was tucked away in the back of my nightstand where I also kept my favorite skin oil. Putting my hand on it, I considered getting myself off.

Could I do that? Would it work to get Jungkook out of my system? Maybe that was exactly what I needed. It had been a long time since I'd been with a man. Probably close to eight months now.
I was getting myself all worked up over a good-looking man because of my pent-up sexual frustrations. Yeah, that was probably it.

Letting my robe fall open, I slipped my battery-operated man from my drawer and laid back on my bed jerking my cock while pressing the vibrator over it, shutting my eyes.
Baek-hyun. Baekhyun. Think of Baekhyun.

A vision of Jungkook the day I ran into him at the gym popped into my head. God, he is gorgeous.

No. What are you doing? Baek Think of Baekhyun. Baek. Baek.

Baek. Baekhyun, who bought me flowers last week for no reason other than to make me smile. Baekhyun, who texts me sweet little messages. Thinking of you. Hope to see you soon. How is your pussy doing? Wait. No. That last one was Jungkook. Who texts that sentence to a guy, even if he was talking about a cat? And why the hell do I like it when he does?
Baekhyun.
Jungkook.
Baekhyun.
Jungkook.

The soft hum of my vibrator relaxed me as I closed my eyes.
Baekhyun.
Baekhyun. Think of Baekhyun.

Water dripping from Jungkook's hard pec.

That V. That deep, carved V.

Pierced nipple.

Stop it. Baek.
Jungkook.
Baekhyun.
Jungkook.
Jungkook.
Jungkook.

Argh. I groaned, frustrated with my mind, as I lowered my hand down my body. I needed to stop thinking about the man, rid my system of dirty thoughts of my boss. I'd tried everything else-why not try to coax him from my system? After all, at least this method was more fun

-

-

Jungkook's building was a three-story brownstone. I had assumed he'd live in a sleek highrise with a doorman, maybe even a penthouse. But when I walked down his beautiful tree-lined street, the neighborhood somehow fit him better. Nothing with that man was what I'd expect.

The front door was massive. It had to be at least fifteen feet high with thick, leaded glass and dark mahogany wood. Three buzzers lined up next to each other inside the archway of the door, but only one was labeled-
Jeon. I took a deep breath, buzzed, and waited. After a few minutes, I buzzed a second time. When no one came to the door, I looked at my watch. Three minutes to eleven. I was early, but only by a hair.

Pulling my phone from my pocket, I scrolled through my emails to find the one Jae's secretary had sent so I could double-check the address, even though I was positive it was right. I remember thinking it was a pretty big coincidence that Jungkook's house number was the same as my apartment number-three twenty-nine.
Opening the email, I verified I was definitely at the right address...but then I saw the problem. The email read, Dress comfortably, come hungry,
and bring only your creativity. See you at 1! Shit. I had looked at it too fast the first time and mistakenly read the one with an exclamation point as an eleven. I was two hours early. No wonder no one was here yet.

I'd made it halfway back down the stairs when I heard the clank of a lock behind me. Glancing back as the door opened, I froze mid-step at the sight of Jungkook wearing only a towel wrapped around his waist.

-

-

"No, really, I can go. I have errands I've been avoiding forever, and it was my screw up. I'm two hours early, and I'm sure you have things to do."

Jungkook had insisted I come inside. He put his hands on my shoulders. "You're staying. I'm going to go upstairs and get dressed, and then I'll make us something to eat." He motioned to a huge living room off to the left. "Make yourself comfortable.
I'll be down in a few."

I nodded and did my best not to check him out. But he was only in a towel, for God's sake, and a person only has so much discipline. Against my better judgment, I did a quick scan of his chest. When I caught sight of a noticeable bulge in that area of his towel, my eyes lingered, and Jungkook noticed.

He arched an eyebrow. "Unless you'd like me to stay this way."
Embarrassed, I shook my head and walked into the living room to hide my blush. I thought I heard him chuckle as he went up the stairs.

Now dressed, Jungkook came into the room and groaned when his cell phone immediately rang. He apologized, saying he needed to take an overseas call. I really didn't mind. I'd intruded two hours early, and snooping at glimpses of his private life was fascinating to me. He was barking at someone on the phone from the other room when I picked up an old, beat-up Gibson acoustic guitar that was leaning against the corner of the alcove.

I strummed lightly, and the sound brought back old memories. Daehyun and I used to have the same guitar when we were kids. Instinctively, my
fingers began to press down on the chords to "Winter Bear" as I strummed. It had been years since I played, yet it still flowed from my memory with ease.

When I was done, I found Jungkook standing in the archway, watching me. His face, which was usually easy to read, was impassive, stern almost. He
just stood there, staring at me. Maybe I'd overstepped my bounds by picking it up.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have touched it." I gently placed the guitar back where I'd found it, leaning in the corner.

"It's fine." He turned abruptly and walked out of the room.

When he came back a few minutes later, he smiled, but still wasn't his usual flirty self. "Come on. I'll make us a bite to eat."

I followed him into the kitchen.

I followed him into the kitchen."BTS fan??

"Always.But my brother is a die hard one. He knows every word to every song."

Jungkook finally turned around. His face had softened. "Your brother who's deaf."

"Only one I have."

"Do you play often?"

"It's been years since I played. I'm kind of shocked I remembered the chords. My fingers just started playing it

I only know few songs.
'Winter bear' was Daehyun's favorite before he lost his hearing. I learned to play it for him after he'd completely lost all audio reception. He would hold the guitar and feel the vibrations and sing along."

"That's cool."

"Yeah. Oddly enough, music was a big bond between us growing up. We used to play this game where I would hum songs, and he would touch my face and try to guess the song from the vibration. He was really good at
it. I mean really good at it. I only had to hum a few bars, and he would know the song.

"That's great."

"Except I often still do it, and I don't even realize. I'll be in the middle of something and notice I'm humming a song that expresses my thoughts."

"So how did your brother lose his hearing anyway? You mentioned it was an accident. Was it a sports injury or something?"

While I never liked telling the story, I figured Jungkook of all people would understand, considering what I'd learned about his boyfriend.

"When I was five, and Daehyun was ten, there was a string of home breakins in our neighborhood-mostly just burglaries while the homeowners were out. Daehyun and I were latchkey kids. Our parents went to work before we left for school and came home after us. They also didn't get along, and my dad would frequently take off for a few days at a time, so the house was
pretty much empty most days. One Tuesday, we had a half-day of school because the teachers were having some sort of a development conference.
When we came home early, we walked into our house being robbed by two men."

"Shit. I had no idea, Tae. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have assumed."

"It's okay. I don't talk about it much. But it's part of who I am, part of who Daehyun is, for better or worse. Even though Daehyun was only ten, he
pushed me back out the door and started screaming for help. One of the guys was holding our Xbox and used it like a bat to Daehyun's head- fractured the temporal bone and severed a nerve that sent Daehyun to the
hospital with a concussion for a few days and left permanent sensorineural hearing loss."

"O god. You were just kids."

"It could have been worse-at least that's what Daehyun's always said He was still a pretty happy kid even after he lost his hearing."

"And you? Were you hurt at all?"

I held up my right hand and showed him the faint star-shaped scar between my
thumb and pointer. "Didn't even need a stitch, healed itself." I laughed. "It's funny. Daehyun bore all the physical injuries, and he walks around pretty much carefree. I, on the other hand, walked away unscathed, yet I'm the one with a half dozen locks on her door and a compulsion for checking the backseat of my car and behind the shower curtain multiple times a day. I'm
sort of afraid of my own shadow."

"That's not being afraid. Being afraid is when you let fear control your life, let it stop you from doing what you want. When you're afraid, but you look your fear in the eye and live, that's courageous."

And there it was again. That invisible connection I'd felt to him since the first night we met. I didn't understand it, couldn't explain it or see it, yet I was certain it was there. I just knew he understood me, and it made me want to understand him, too. He couldn't have chosen anything more perfect to say.

"Thank you for saying that. I don't know why, but it always feels like you know what I need to hear." I scoffed. "Even when you told me I was being a bitch in that restaurant hallway, I suppose."

"I'm sorry that happened to you."

"Thank you." Talking about that day always made me feel sad, but somehow, today, it felt oddly cathartic, and I was ready to move on to lighter topics. "So, you cook, huh?"

"I have a few tricks up my sleeve."

"Let's see what you can do, Bossman."

Jungkook turned on the griddle of his big stove and tossed a few slices of whole wheat bread on to grill. He then took out the strangest combination of things...including pineapple, cream cheese, and a bag of nuts.
As he began slicing the pineapple, he smiled and extended a piece to me across the island. "Are you a picky eater?"

"Not usually. I like to experiment."

"So you'll let me feed you whatever I want?"

My eyebrows jumped.

"I was talking about pineapple-cream cheese-cashew surprise. But I like the way you're thinking better."

The flirty banter was back,

The bizarre sandwiches he made us turned out to be delicious, and we sat in the kitchen, talking as we ate.

"This house is beautiful," I told him. "I'll admit, I would have guessed you more of a penthouse/highrise type than a brownstone guy before today.
But seeing this, it fits you."

"Oh yeah? I'm not really sure what that means. Is it good?"

I smiled. "It is."

"Tell me, does Brick-hyun live in a penthouse or a brownstone?"

"Baek-hyun. And he lives in a regular apartment building, I guess. Like me."

"And is that the type of guy you normally go for?"

"My type seems to be more the liars, losers, and leeches. I haven't had the best luck in my love life the last...I don't know...dozen or so years."

"Is that all, just a dozen years? It's a dry spell. I'm sure it will clear up any day."

I chuckled. "Yeah, I'm sure."

"Tell me about Break-hyun. Which one is he? Liar, loser, or leech?

I shook my head. "Bryant isn't any of them."

"So why haven't you slept with him yet?"

"I think you have an unhealthy obsession with my sex life. This is, like, the third time you've asked me about my relationship with Baek."

Jungkook shrugged. "I'm curious."

"About my sex life?"

"Or lack thereof. Yes."

"Why?"

"I honestly have no fucking clue."

"Well...when was the last time you had sex?"

Jungkook sat back in his seat and folded his arms over his chest. "Before I met you."

"Dry spell?" I asked.

"You could say that," he responded.

"I could say that? What kind of an answer is that? Is there anything else I could say?"

Jungkook leaned in. "You could say I'm waiting for the woman I really want to sleep with to become available so I can make my move."

I swallowed. We sat in silence for a few minutes, just looking at each other. A part of me wanted to pick up the phone and break things off with Baek-hyun, right then and there. But the other, more sane, part of me remembered that the beautiful creature sitting across the table was my boss.

"Have you ever had an office fling?" I asked, tilting my head.
I could see a million questions run through Jungkook's mind. He wasn't sure how to answer. Smartly, he settled on the truth.

"I have."

"So have I. It didn't work out too well."

He held my eyes, not backing down. "Shame. You know the old saying, if at first you don't succeed, try, try, again."

When his eyes moved from
mine down to my mouth, and he licked his lips before they finally returned, I knew it was time to change the subject.

Abruptly, I stood. "How about a tour of the house?"

"Absolutely. There's one room in particular I'd like to show you."

To be continued.....