Speaking of texts...

"Tae, we need to talk."

Jade couldn't keep it in anymore.
It hadn't even been a whole week since she awoke in his arms the morning after the party, feeling as if everything in the world were at peace.

Until a familiar name flashed over the caller ID of Taehyung's phone.

It was hump day and Taehyung had no classes, which left his afternoon free to lounge around his dorm until basketball practice. Jade was perched in the corner of his plush couch with her legs folded underneath her in her black crop top and flowy green trousers. Her long hair was pulled up in a messy yet chic top knot, loose tendrils falling to frame her face and neck. Her make-up was light, only lashes and nude gloss. Stunning as always.

If only the way she felt inside matched her outside.

Her nails tapped impatiently against her knee as she waited for Taehyung to respond to her, but who could hear anything with him yelling like that?

"Ready the fuck up Bitch!" Taehyung barks into his headset, barely acknowledging his girlfriend scowling beside him. His thumbs moved like lightning as his eyes focused intently on the 70-inch screen and his jaw tensed as someone yelled exaggeratedly back at him through his headphones.

"Yeah? That's exactly what your mom asked me last night when I was...OH SHIT RELOAD RELOAD!... Get your shit together Perkins, I got loot to jack!"

Jade rolls her eyes. She hated how he got when he was so immersed in that game. Not that video games themselves bothered her, it was just Taehyung and video games that did.

"Bro I just told you where!! Get your head out of your ass.." he snaps. Jade couldn't give two shits about what was happening between Taehyungs avatar and the dozens of others shooting back at him while he flounced freely through the colorful world. She was on a mission of her own and it didn't matter how engulfed he was in his game. He was going to answer her.

"Taehyung I know you heard me." she huffs after a few minutes and Taehyung's brow crinkles as he glances over at her.

"Huh? You said, something babe?" He mumbles, turning his head slightly but returning his gaze to the TV.

Jade doesn't respond verbally, only crossing her arms over her chest. The irritation radiated from her like heat waves and Taehyung could feel her lasered eyes beaming red dots on the side of his face. He knew that feeling meant trouble.
After shooting her another glance, he sighs in defeat.

"Aye...I gotta go." He says reluctantly, trying not to take the onslaught of threats blaring in his ear personally as he removed the headset from his ears. His luscious wavy hair shakes back into place with the movement and Taehyung huffs as he tossed the controller aside on his couch before leaning back.

He stretched his body back and let his arms plop down beside him as he relaxed against the cushion. It was disarming how yummy he was in his comfy clothes. Grey sweats should come with a warning label.

"Undivided Attention." He smiles sarcastically, leaning his head so that he's gazing at Jade beside him. His demeanor is playful at first, thinking Jade was only acting this way because she was having a needy moment. But the moment he really takes in her stone-cold expression, his smile fades.

"What's wrong?" He sits up. Jade's eyes were beginning to glisten, a sure sign that whatever she wanted to discuss was important. He sits up and scoots closer to her, reaching out to unfold her tensed forearms so he could grab her hand.

"Seriously ...talk to me. Did something happen?" He lifts her hand to his lips to kiss her knuckles chastely before letting their laced fingers drop between their laps. Jade's eyes followed them and a melancholic smirk appears for a brief second. She looks up at him.

"Tae I'm gonna ask you something and I need you to be honest with me, ok?..." she asks, readjusting her body so that their knees touch.

Taehyungs brow twitches slightly and he swallows, making his Adams Apple drop in his throat like a stone at the bottom of a lake.

"Um...ok.." he agrees hesitantly.

He didn't seem that nervous. Usually, when a woman approached a man the way she was, the guilt would be written across their forehead before they could even open their mouth to lie. But Taehyung just seemed worried. Like the reason for Jade's impending tears had nothing to do with him.

This gives her a slice of comfort, making it easier to breathe as she mustered up the nerve to ask her first question.

"You love me right?."

After a moment of gauging the level of vulnerability in her voice, Taehyung smiles. He lifts his other hand brush a wavy strand of hair from his girlfriend's face, tucking it away and shrugging.

"Duh...I don't tell you enough or something?" He smirks.

Jades blush warms her face at his tender gesture and one part of her felt like an idiot for even asking him that.

Taehyung was fluent in every one of Jade's love languages. He affirmed her. He doted after her. He gave her thoughtful gifts and stepped up when she needed him. And let's not even go into how his touch made her soul transcend. If he was doing all of that for someone he didn't love, she didn't know how she would handle him being anything more without her heart bursting.

"No...you tell me more than enough.." she admits, looking down her hands somberly. Taehyung lowers his head with her but keeps his eyes on her face as if her beckon her gaze. She complies.

"So what's the problem?" he asks.

"Just say it. Ask him! Stop buttering it up.."

Jade blinks and shakes off the harshness of her consciousness. She takes a tentative breath.

"Taehyung...I honestly don't think I've ever been this happy. When I met you I thought things between us would remain platonic and light but I really find myself falling for you and that scares me sometimes. I don't know how to even say this but......" she pauses and Taehyung nods, leaning forward to peck her lips. Her eyes go wide with surprise but before she can attempt to resist him to complete her sentence, Taehyung smoothly takes the reigns.

"But what? You're worried I don't feel the same? I thought we were past that..." he says. His face is so close to her that all she can manage to focus on was the hazel streaks in his irises.

Damn, he was fine. He was so fine that it hurt to look at him for too long. Which was new for Jade. She was accustomed to being the medusa among her peers. Turning men into stone at a single glance, leaving them frozen and wanting as she passed. Bayfield was full of statues at this point and though Jade got her kicks when she wanted, none of the guys ever measured up to her standards. Until she met Taehyung.

He had "whore" written all over him the first time she saw him. Star basketball player. Tall. Tan skin. Dark wavy hair. Broad chest and shoulders. A flock of girls swooning over the briefest of encounters.

Typical.

Jade wasn't phased by Kim Taehyung in the slightest, thinking he'd end up being just another statue to fall in line with the collection of others who could only dream of holding her stare for more than a second.

But when Taehyung set his sights on her, and when their eyes locked...

Well...you get the gist.

Jade is stone before the serpentine God that was Taehyung. A gender-bent Medusa of her very own. The only part of her that moved was her quivering chin as she struggled to respond. Not because she didn't know what to say. But because she did and the possible outcomes didn't bode well for the longevity of their relationship.

There was a reason she thought Taehyung was a whore when she first met him.

But up until now, he'd done an exceptional job at convincing her otherwise despite his slight reputation.

"I...I am. We are...at least I would hope we are......are we?" she stammers, fighting warranted suspicions and her intuition as Taehyung's expression grew wary.

"Do you need me to tell you?" Taehyung frowns. Jade nods wordlessly, praying they were on the same page. Maybe he knew exactly what plagued her. Maybe he knew about her seeing girls from his past lighting up his phone at the worst possible moments. Maybe he would ease her mind by showing her his phone right then and there, to show her all of the missed calls and ignored texts. One could only hope...

"Jade..." he whispers, the breath of her name on his tongue puffing against her waiting lips as he leaned into her again.

Well, this isn't what she hoped for but Taehyungs lips were like heat-seeking missiles. Pointless to run from once they were locked on.

Jade inhales shakily in surrender as her man kissed her and his lips maintain their influence as if it were the first time she'd tasted them.

"I...love..you..." he murmurs between kisses, a sly tactic to distract her from getting too serious. Despite Taehyung being a very passionate man, he dreaded heavy stuff.

"I...I love you too.." she quails against his lips, his signature touch already having its effect.

"I love you...I love you..." he smiled against her, loving the way her voice sounded when she was at his mercy.

His lips feel pillow soft against hers and the silence in the room becomes filled with the gentle smacking of their kisses. Jade sighs helplessly as Taehyung rises on his knees to hover over her, making her lean back with their mouths still connected. Taehyung grasps her at her exposed waist, tilting his head and trailing kisses from the corner of her lips to her earlobe.

Before she knew it, Jade was on her back with Taehyung on top of her. He kissed and nibbled at her neck, pressing his center against hers as if to give her a hint of what he was about to give her. Her eyes fluttered as his mouth heated her entire body and she's just about to forget why she came over in the first place.

Just as Taehyung is about to unfasten the buttons on her pants, Jade's eyes pop open.

"Wait.." she says but Taehyung is too driven by the need to hear her. His hands continue to fumble with her pants and his tongue twirls circles over her skin distractingly, making her pant and squirm beneath him.

"Tae...wait..wait..stop"

His eager hands idle just below her waistband as he finally hears her and he lifts his head. His expression is sinfully attractive with his kiss burned lips pink and swollen. They part as he exhaled over her, his eyes searching hers dubiously.

"What..what's wrong?" he murmurs. Jade gapes up at him, thoughtlessly licking her lips. She tries to sit up, forcing Taehyung to push himself up on his arms. He remained to loom over her but at least the heat of his upping body was smothering her and stifling her better judgment.

She came here to talk, not for sex. Well, a little sex wouldn't hurt anyone if the conversation went well enough. Jade's insides still clenched beneath him with the way his stiffness was angled against her through his sweats.

"What's wrong Jade?" Taehyung repeats, sounding a tad less patient. It wasn't because she stopped him from undressing her. She could tell that he could tell something was really on her mind and she was struggling to articulate it. Which was very unlike her.

She couldn't keep dancing around the obvious. She had to know if he was messing around on her and if the woman calling him that Saturday morning was someone she should worry about. The fact that she even felt insecure pisses her off more than anything and that alone gives her a boost of confidence to cut to the chase.

"Tae....." she begins shakily, holding Taehyung in her emboldened gaze.

Just as she opens her mouth to ask, an alarm chimes in the distance. It makes them both flinch, slicing through the intensity of the moment. Taehyung cusses beneath his breath as he immediately pulled away from her, leaning over to reach for his phone as it vibrated harshly against the glass table across from the couch.

It was almost time for practice.

Taehyung snatched his phone bitterly from the table and taps the snooze button to silence it. Jade huffed as she pushed herself up, scooting away slightly as Taehyung returned to rest on his knees.

His gaze lingered on his phone for a moment, his jaw tensing before his thumb swipes over the screen. Jade watched him as his thumbs typed away and she furrows her brow.

"Shit...." Taehyung murmurs under his breath and Jade's frown deepens.

"Something wrong?" She asks. Taehyung's thumbs idle as his eyes lift to regard her casually.

"Oh...nothing major. I gotta start getting ready for practice. None of us can be late or else we'll be doing laps for the last half. But if you wanted to keep talking..." Taehyung begins, that sincere softness in his eyes making Jade's stomach turn.

Either this man was a tremendous actor or he was genuinely not up to anything shady. Jade shakes her head.

"No... it's fine. We can just....talk later I guess." She shifts her body so that her bare feet touch the floor and Taehyung studied her curiously as she fastened her buttons.

"Really? It seems like you have some stuff on your mind.." he trails off distractedly as he resumed his attention back down to her phone. After a few seconds of him texting silently, Jade scoffs as she rises from the couch. At the sound, Taehyung lifts his head. Noticing the irritation in her face as she slipped on her sandals and gathered her belongings from the table, his shoulders sag. Taehyung stashes his phone in his pocket as he stands.

"Jade..." he reaches for her hand as she slots her keyring around her finger.

"It can wait. I don't wanna hold you up." she waves him away. Taehyung doesn't take her recoil to heart and decides to counter her attitude with a bit of playfulness.

Taehyung stealthily snatches Jade's keys from her hands, taking her by surprise. She tries to snatch them back but Taehyung quickly lifts them above his head and out of her reach. Jade looks up at them but doesn't bother trying to reach for them. She only exhales slowly through her nose before scowling up at Taehyung's obnoxiously handsome smirk.

"Tae, what are you doing?" she deadpans, blinking murderously. Her expression has an unintended effect on Taehyung and his grin only widens.

"I should ask you the same thing...getting up all fast and shit like you're upset about something." he jingles her keys teasingly.

"Upset? What gives you the impression that I'm upset? Should I be?" she squints up at him with her rapid-fire response. Taehyung only shrugs as he lowered his arm to hold the keys behind his back.

"You tell me," he says after a beat, tilting his head and lifting a brow. Jade narrows her glare on Taehyungs eyes, him doing the same as he squared his shoulders and bent slightly at the knees to match her height.

The stare-off between them goes on until Jade can't resist the urge to smile at the way her boyfriend wiggled his brows. She rolls her eyes as she looked away, accepting her defeat as Taehyung smiled.

The volume of her jingling keys increase as Taehyung relinquished them, grabbing her hand to turn it palm side up to drop them in the center.

"I won," he smirks, making Jade roll her eyes again.

"You're so annoying." she shakes her head. As she's about to turn away, Taehyung pulls her back to him by the wrist. She stumbled into him and is suddenly chest to chest, making her frosty disposition melt on contact. His warmth and the maddening scent on his skin makes her breathing hitch and could already feel the way he was looking down at her between his lashes.

"You don't mean that." his voice deepens and Jade does her best to seem unaffected despite her swallowing back the swell of sensations swarming her.

"Whatever. You should let me go before you end up late.." she tries to turn away again.
Her chin is gently nudged upward by his knuckle and she's forced to look into his heated eyes again.

She resented how she was putty in hin his hands, especially when she tended to have that effect on men herself. Taehyungs dominance over her was always subtle but extremely effective, pulling her into his little games with ease every time.

Perhaps she'd finally met her match.

Taehyung's eyes scanned over Jade's features as if he were seeing her for the first time. His appreciative gaze makes her blush but her expression hold firm as she blinked slowly. Taehyung seems amused at her attempt at resistance and smiles. He sucks in his bottom lip as he toyed with the diamond stud in her earlobe, pinching it softly between his fingers.

"You're worth being late for...I was gonna hop in the shower before I head over to the gym anyway. Did you wanna wait for me or...maybe join me? We could do some more...talking. About us of course. If you wanted." he shrugs nonchalantly, totally not insinuating anything more than talking at all.

He continued twiddling her earring as he gazed down at her expectantly, his eyes twinkling with hope. Jade's expression softens as she gave the offer a quick consideration.

As tempting as the idea of a hot shower quickie with her immaculately built boyfriend was, Jade needed to gain some distance to reevaluate her plan. She needed to ask him if she had any reason to worry. If the bitter looks from random girls on campus were purely fueled by jealousy or being misinterpreted. If every time his phone vibrated, the unwanted ache in her chest was her intuition or just paranoia. 

But she didn't want to do it before his practice and risk throwing him off his game.

So she plasters on her most convincing smile and shakes her head.

"I'd hate to take up too much of your energy. You'd end up having to run laps either way." she snarks cutely, making Taehyung snort. Jade nudged Taehyung in the chest as she backed away from him.

"Please. That would give me energy.." he says after her, letting her turn her back to him. He watched Jade's hips sway with confidence as she crossed his dorm.

"Reign check. Go wash your ass. I'll see you later hornball..." she tossed a sassy wave over her shoulder before reaching his front door.

"Yeah ok...Love you!" he says as she opens it. Jade sends him a tiny smile as she stepped outside, telling him she loved him too before closing the door behind her.

The moment he's sure that she's gone, Taehyungs entire attitude shifts. Tension swells in his shoulders and his brows crease in disgust at himself. It shouldn't have been that easy for him to deflect and redirect the conversation the way he did but he couldn't bear having to face his dirt right now. Even if Jade had her suspicions, he had to keep her mind at ease until he could rectify the mess he created before falling in love with her.

The mess that just would not stop calling and texting him despite him telling her not to.

As if he'd summoned the nuisance, his pocket vibrates for the third time since he put his phone there and Taehyung lets out an audible sigh as he retrieved it.

Not even checking to see who it was, Taehyung answers the call.

"Kayla. I told you...stop calling me. I already told you..I....."

Taehyung pauses when the woman on the other end cuts him short, her shuddered tone and heavy breathing rendering him silent. Through her sniffing and sobbing, Taehyungs clenched fist loosens and the irritation in his face melts away as the color drained from it as well.

"Are...are you sure?" he whispers as if someone were in the room with him and the voice on the other end responds just as quietly with her voice thick and raspy from crying. Confirming his fear.

Taehyung swallows apprehensively and runs a shaky hand through his hair as his breathing quickened. The voice on the other end calls his name worriedly at his silence. Taehyung shakes his head as he ran his palm down over his face with a slight grimace.

"Yeah...I heard you. Look I gotta go but I'm gonna hit you up later ok. No, I'm serious..I'll hit you up. Just wait on my call, ok?.... Yeah. Bye."

The call ends with Taehyung still standing with half of his face covered in shame.

He flinches when the snoozed alarm from before blares in his ear and he immediately silences it before slamming it down against the couch.

Welp, so much for maintaining control of the situation...