Legend says that I'm still not dead :))

•°³³°• Love─✵─────────

"Where did you go so late last night?"

Jeongguk turned around as he heard Jieun's voice, abandoning his task of making waffles early in the morning. He watched as she walked towards him, dressed in a pretty pink dress. It clung to her figure like second skin. Jeongguk's eyes trialed down to her stomach. There was no baby bump. Just a little flab, as if it's the beginning of a baby bump. It has only been a month afterall.

Jieun had started showing signs of her pregnancy. She throws up every morning. Even at odd hours like at four in the morning. It's also hard for her to fall asleep at night. She's carrying his child inside her. She loves Jeongguk dearly and also takes care of Aria. But Jeongguk's every thought was occupied with another person. The guilt was becoming unbearable now more than ever. Now, that he knew Jieun was carrying his child. It was his wife after all. The mother of his children.

"Um...something came up" Jeongguk said in a small voice.

"Is it something you can't tell me?" Jieun sounded annoyed. It was hardly ever she would lose her temper. She was a lovely and friendly person, nice to everyone. But lately Jeongguk had found her snapping at Aria at occasions. He guessed it was the stress and the pregnancy.

"No. I'm sorry" Jeongguk said. Jieun stood next to Jeongguk, watching him. She wore makeup that day. She looked beautiful. Jeongguk wished he could feel more than a passing thought of appreciation of her. Like a flutter in his heart whenever he saw her. A flutter of love. Just like it was when he saw Taehyung. But no. he felt hollow.

"Taehyung called me" Jeongguk sighed, leaning against the counter.

"Taehyung?" Jieun sounded surprised.

"Yeah. He was drunk. He sounded so screwed up so I kind of panicked, you know. I went to pick him up. It's not safe out there, so late at night. I didn't want him going home alone. He hardly has a place to stay. So I brought him here"

"Yeah it's not safe for him to be alone" Jieun said, letting out a sigh. "You did the right thing"

Jeongguk went back to making the waffles. But he felt Jieun staring at him. Confused, he turned his head to look at her.

"What?"

"Nothing" She said quickly.

Jeongguk raised an eyebrow. He went back to mixing the dough.

"You seem to care an awful lot about that boy"

Jeongguk stopped in his tracks. His throat grew dry. "He's my student, after all. And he stayed with us for some months. I kind of feel a responsibility towards him I guess" Jeongguk thanked himself for not stuttering.

And I might be in love with him.

"Does it bother you?" Jeongguk asked.

"Bother me? Why would it bother me?" Jieun let out a chuckle. "I found it rather strange, that's all. You guys seem pretty close"

Jeongguk shrugged.

"I have two trails today" Jieun said. "I think I'll be late than usual. Aria won't be home for lunch, right? She's so enthusiastic about going to Lisa's house. I mean her mother is a friend of mine. Is Lisa the only friend Aria has? Because..." Jieun kept on babbling and Jeongguk listened. It was another typical morning. Their morning conversation would mostly be about Aria. It felt so normal. He'd been doing this for almost sixteen years and yet what was so different about it now?

Amidst of the pleasant familiarity, there was something peculiar in the air. It unnerved Jeongguk. It may have been his own imagination. Maybe it's the guilt seeping through the closely shut doors of his heart.

Maybe it's the game he played under everyone's noses. And any moment now, his house of cards would stumble, break and fall, taking everything he holds dear with it.

Thunder crackled in the distant sky, making Jeongguk look through the small window of their kitchen. The sky had darkened, gray clouds covering the whole sky, not a beam of sunlight escaping through them. The trees waltzed with the wind, hinting a storm.

"Looks like it's going to rain" Jieun commented, pouring whip cream all over her waffle. "I need to go now"

Jeongguk hummed. Jieun quickly finished with her breakfast.

"See you" Jieun said, quickly pecking Jeongguk's cheek and turning on her heel to grab her coat.

Jeongguk stared after her for a few seconds. And then, "Jieun!"

"Yeah?" she halted right before she opened the front door.

"You look beautiful today" Jeongguk said in a small voice.

"Thank you!" Jieun grinned. She waved at Jeongguk happily before hurrying out of the house.

The rain started pouring a few minutes later. Jeongguk stared out of the window at the darkened world. Everything beautiful was blurred, darkened, monochrome. Not too different from what Jeongguk felt: to be struck between two worlds.

He let out an exasperated sigh and went upstairs to wake his daughter up.

-

It was still pouring when Jeongguk finally decided to check up on Taehyung. It was almost midday but he didn't want to wake Taehyung up. However, Jeongguk thought it was a bit unusual for the boy to sleep for so long. But then again, he was probably hungover.

Jeongguk slowly opened the door of Taehyung's room. He peeked inside a little. He saw Taehyung still sound asleep, hugging one pillow and his leg thrown over another. Soft snores escaped his parted cherry lips.

Jeongguk's heart skipped a beat as he cooed at the adorable sight. He slowly closed the door behind him and crept inside the room. He sat down in the chair by the table and watched the boy sound asleep.

But there was something wrong. Jeongguk could feel it. Taehyung's brows were knitted together, as if he was uncomfortable. He looked quite pale. Jeongguk stood up. The chair scraped against the wooden floor with a small noise, which made Taehyung shift in his sleep. His snoring stopped and he stirred around, so that he was lying on his back. His shirt had ridden up, revealing his adorable tummy.

Jeongguk slowly made his way towards Taehyung. He stopped by the bed and leaned towards him. He placed the back of his hand against the boy's forehead. A small gasp escaped Jeongguk as moved to check the temperature of the boy's neck.

"You're burning up" Jeongguk said to himself.

"Hmm?" Taehyung's eyes were half –open but he seemed to have one foot in the real world and the other in the world of dreams.

Jeongguk looked at the younger, brows furrowed together with concern. After a while of contemplating what to do, he decided to wake up the boy.

"Tae" Jeongguk whispered as he slightly shook the boy from his shoulder. "Baby wake up"

Taehyung groaned in his sleep. After a few moments, he opened his eyes.

"Hmm?"

"You have a fever, darling" Jeongguk said.

"Mmmhmm"

A frown had started to form on Jeongguk's mouth. "Wake up and drink some water"

Taehyung gave no response. He was starting to fall asleep again.

"Baby" Jeongguk said. He sat next to Taehyung on the bed. "Come on" Jeongguk helped Taehyung sit up on the bed, against his chest. He took the bottle of water by the bedside and helped the younger drink it. Sleepily, Taehyung chugged down almost half of the bottle.

Jeongguk then helped him lay back down. "I'll make you some soup and get you some medicine" Jeongguk said, standing up.

"I'm fine" Taehyung whined.

Jeongguk let out a sigh. "No you aren't. You're fucking burning up. Stop being so stubborn for once. Just...just stay until I get you some medicine"

Taehyung let out a sigh and closed his eyes. Jeongguk hurried out of the room. He ran to the kitchen and placed a pot with water on the stove to make Taehyung some soup.

After almost twenty minutes, Jeongguk was rushing back to Taehyung's room with a bowl of soup and some painkillers to bring down the fever. He found Taehyung fast asleep, tangled on the sheets but basically nothing covering his body except for his underwear. His shirt and pants were thrown on the floor.

"Taehyung what is this?" Jeongguk said, bewildered at the mess. He put down the soup and medicine on the bedside table and hurried towards Taehyung.

Taehyung muttered something in his sleep.

"Baby wake up. Shit you're shivering. Why did you take off your clothes?"

"Too tight" Taehyung mumbled sleepily.

Jeongguk helped him sit up. The moment Taehyung sat up, he wrapped his arms around Jeongguk like a koala bear. "I'm cold. Hug me"

Jeongguk was taken aback for a second. But then: "Of course you're cold! You have a fever and you're basically naked right now"

"Don't shout at me" Taehyung looked up at him sleepily.

Jeongguk took off his sweater. "This is the comfiest sweater I have"

Taehyung looked up at him sleepily. Jeongguk sighed and helped Taehyung put on his sweater.

"Smells like you" Taehyung said, sniffing on the over-sized sweater. "I love it" he smile at Jeongguk sleepily, wrapping his arms around the older again.

"Your fever isn't down yet. You'll have to take some medicine" Jeongguk said.

"Why would I need medicine? Just looking at your abs makes me feel better"

Jeongguk rolled his eyes. "Come on, now. Drink this"

Jeongguk had to feed Taehyung the soup with the spoon. Taehyung, on the other hand, seemed pretty glad to be taken care of this way.

"This tastes like shit. You suck at cooking" Taehyung said.

"And yet you finished the whole thing"

"Because I was hungry. Not because it tasted good"

"Whatever makes you sleep at night" Jeongguk smirked. He gave Taehyung the medicine and water.

"I'm already feeling better. I don't need medicine" Taehyung whined.

"They're just painkillers" Jeongguk urged Taehyung to take them. In the end, he did.

"Get some more sleep. Do you need more blankets?" Jeongguk asked, getting up to leave.

"No. I need to pee"

Jeongguk stared at Taehyung. "Oh"

Taehyung made grabby hands at Jeongguk. "Oh you big baby" Jeongguk said and carried Taehyung to the bathroom.

"You've lost weight" Jeongguk commented. Taehyung was lighter than the time he used to live with Jeongguk. "Haven't you been eating?"

"I'm dieting"

"Screw off. You're as thin as a stick"

"No I'm not! I have baby fat everywhere"

"It's adorable. You're adorable"

An adorable blush blossomed on the apples of the younger's cheeks. "Whatever" He mumbled.

"You treat me like your kid"

"You are a kid"

"I'm literally twenty years old. I'm not a kid"

"A baby, then"

"Your baby"

Jeongguk laughed. "Yeah okay"

"And you're my daddy"

"That's not my kink, Taehyung"

"I mean you look like a daddy"

"I'm a dad, yes"

"No you're my daddy and I'm your baby" Taehyung said, pouting.

"This better be your fever talking, for god's sake. It's so cringe" Jeongguk was grinning at this point.

"What else could you be?" Taehyung thought for a moment. "Ah! How about my boyfriend?"

Jeongguk stopped in his tracks. His heart hammered in his ribcage as he watched Taehyung stare back at him, eyes big with wonder. Yes, he would love that if he didn't have a pregnant wife and a daughter.

Jeongguk cleared his throat. "Would you like me to run you a bath?" They had slowly made it to the bathroom.

"Do I stink?"

"You smell of alcohol"

"I don't want to"

"A hot bath?"

"Fine" Taehyung grumbled.

Jeongguk seated Taehyung on the small stool in the bathroom and went to fill up the bathtub. After he was done, he left Taehyung for himself to get him some clothes and a towel.

When Jeongguk returned, he found Taehyung in the bathtub, playing with the soap bubbles.

"Join me"

Jeongguk let out a chuckle. "Nope"

Taehyung huffed. Jeongguk sat on the edge of the bathtub and placed the back of his hand on the younger boy's forehead.

"Your fever seems to be going down" Jeongguk said. "I'll be right outside. Just call me when you're done"

"Stay" Taehyung said. "Isn't Jieun and Aria home?"

"Do you think I'll be this close to you if they were?"

Taehyung shrugged, pouting. "Help me wash"

"Taehyung..."

"Please"

Jeongguk sighed in defeat. He rolled up the sleeves of the sweater he had just put on and took the sponge from Taehyung. He squeezed in some bodywash and started rubbing him with the sponge.

"It would be easier for you if you were inside the bathtub"

"I think I can manage" Jeongguk said with a small smirk.

"You'll get your clothes wet like that"

Jeongguk's smirk grew wider. He continued to rub Taehyung's back wordlessly.

"You really should...since we're alone" Taehyung urged.

Jeongguk sighed. "I'm married"

"Not like it stopped you before"

"We agreed to stop this, Taehyung"

"Then why are you so persistent on taking care of me? Treating me as if I'm your boyfriend or something. As if you're in love with me"

Jeongguk paused his actions and let out a sigh as his heart had started to beat erratically. He looked everywhere but Taehyung's eyes as the younger stared at him.

"Because I care about you" Jeongguk managed.

"Well you shouldn't. You should've just left me in the club. You shouldn't have cared about how I get home or how I don't have a place to go or about who I go anywhere with. You should've just ignored my call if you wanted to move on so badly. You keep coming back to me and leave me feeling all these kinds of shit I don't want to feel. And I don't know why I keep coming back to an asshole like you who treated me like a toy"

Jeongguk kept his head hung low, every word escaping Taehyung hitting his like a dagger to his chest.

"You treat me like I'm your second priority. And I hate it that after all the shit I've been through I fell for you" Taehyung said softly.

Jeongguk looked up at that.

"You have feelings for me?" Jeongguk couldn't have heart Taehyung right.

"W-what? I didn't say that!" A blush had crept up Taehyung's cheeks and he could no longer meet Jeongguk's gaze.

Jeongguk stayed silent for a few moments, heart feeling heavier than ever. "I don't want you to fuck up your life because of me"

"Don't you think you already did that?"

"I'm sorry"

"You broke my heart and all you can say is sorry?"

"I don't want you to catch feelings for me, Taehyung" Jeongguk said. "I'm married. I have a kid. My wife is pregnant. You can't have feelings for me"

Jeongguk's heart broke multiple time uttering those words. He wanted to be with Taehyung. Hell, he was in love with him. But there's no way Jeongguk could tell him that he loved him. It would be the most selfish thing Jeongguk had done. Even worse than treating Taehyung like a second choice. He wanted Taehyung to let go of him and start a new life.

But why did he always find himself with the person he wanted to get away from? Why can't he just stop caring? Why can't he control himself?

"Yeah I didn't need a reality check" Taehyung said. They stayed like that for a few seconds. Or minutes. Basking in silence, lost in thought. Then Taehyung stood up.

Jeongguk raised his head. Bath water dripped down Taehyung as he stood naked in the bathtub.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Finish cleaning me"

-

Jeongguk tucked Taehyung into bed after dressing him up with sweatpants and Jeongguk's sweater from earlier because Taehyung insisted on wearing it, saying it smelled like him. Taehyung had just finished the hot chocolate Jeongguk had made him and looked like a burrito wrapped in the blankets.

The fever had gone down a little and Jeongguk was finally feeling relieved. The rain had stopped pouring but the cold lasted still.

"I should go home now" Taehyung said sleepily.

Jeongguk chuckled. "Sleep for now. I'll give you a lift if your fever goes down by the evening"

Taehyung hummed. "Please don't leave me"

"Taehyung..."

"They won't be back so soon. Stay with me for a little bit?" Taehyung said, pouting.

Jeongguk stared at him for a while. "Fine" He muttered after a while, finally giving up.

"Just don't catch feelings for me" Jeongguk said.

"Is it contagious?"

"What?"

"Feelings"

"What..no?"

"Then how can I being near you make me catch feelings?" Taehyung asked.

"You little shit" Jeongguk said as he crawled under Taehyung's blanket. Taehyung laughed and wrapped his arms around Jeongguk. Jeongguk pulled the other boy closer to him, inhaling his sweet scent. He missed this. He missed Taehyung so fucking much. He wanted to hold him close and never let go.

"You smell so nice daddy"

"If you call me that one more time, I'm leaving"

"Fine. Whatever" Taehyung huffed out and buried his head in Jeongguk's neck.

Jeongguk placed a kiss on Taehyung's forehead and started rubbing his back soothingly.

"My baby" Jeongguk murmured against his hair, "Get well soon"

"I don't want to get better if you keep treating me like this"

"Shut up"

"If I get better I'll have to leave you"

"Taehyung..."

"I don't want to leave you" Taehyung whispered brokenly.

"Neither do I" Jeongguk found himself whispering.

"Then don't"

"Hmm?"

"Don't leave me"

"Baby you know I can't..."

"Divorce her"

Jeongguk was silent at that.

"She's pregnant" Jeongguk muttered.

"Not like you love her" Taehyung said. "Do you want the baby?"

"No"

"Then abort it"

"Babe-"

"I sound so evil, don't I? I sound so selfish. I want you for myself, that's all"

"I know" Jeongguk pulled Taehyung closer to himself. "That's okay. But I can't tell her to do it, Tae. It's not only my choice"

Taehyung stayed silent for a while.

"Then you want me to fuck off?" Taehyung said.

Jeongguk let out an exasperated sigh. "I want you to leave me for your own good"

"Do you want me to leave you because you desperately want me out of your life?"

Jeongguk stayed silent. No, he wanted to say. That's the last thing he wanted. He wanted nothing more than to be with Taehyung.

"Why do you care so much about me?" Taehyung asked after a few moments of silence.

Because I fucking love you. "What does it matter?"

It was Taehyung's chance to stay quiet.

"Let's sleep. Let's enjoy this while we can" Jeongguk whispered.

Taehyung placed his lips on Jeongguk's neck. "This is so wrong" He said. "But if you also want to be with me, I wouldn't mind doing such a wrong thing. At least for a while"

Jeongguk didn't want to tear up. But he couldn't help himself.

"If we would be together in the end, I wouldn't mind being your second priority just for little bit longer"

A tear trialed down Jeongguk's cheek.

"I love you so much" The words were out before Jeongguk could halt them. He was an emotional wreck. Tears cascaded down his cheeks by that moment.

Taehyung sighed. "I figured. I love you too"

"How?"

"I don't know. I could feel it. I was trying to make you admit it"

"You succeeded"

"So it seems" Taehyung looked up at Jeongguk. He smiled at him lovingly and Jeongguk sobbed harder. Taehyung wiped off the tears from his cheeks with the pads of his thumbs.

"It's okay. I'm here right now" Taehyung whispered.

Their faces were inches apart. And Taehyung looked as beautiful as ever. His lips ghosted over Jeongguk's and Jeongguk couldn't help himself. he closed the distance between them.

Taehyung's lips against his were heavenly. He melted against Taehyung like it was second nature. Taehyung's hands reached up to cusp his face. Euphoria surged through his veins as he leaned in more, trying get a better taste of heaven; to feel back what he missed. And oh God, did he miss this. He didn't know he had missed the feeling of Taehyung's lips on his until he kissed him that moment.

It was perfect. Everything was perfect. The way his lips locked against Taehyung's like two lost puzzle pieces were incomparable. Jeongguk felt himself ease up, worries fading into nothingness as Jeongguk poured his love into the kiss.

When they pulled away and Jeongguk opened his eyes to witness the beauty in front of him again, Taehyung still had his eyes closed, as if in a bliss. When he finally opened his eyes, they sparkled so beautifully. Jeongguk hadn't seen the younger's eyes sparkle so beautifully in a while. Taehyung gave him a soft smile.

They stayed like that, neither of them falling asleep but basking in each other's warmth and comfort.

"How did I even get myself into this mess?" Jeongguk whispered after a while.

"It doesn't matter. We'll get out of it together"

》♡《

What do you think taekook should do at this point?
Love,
Sara💕