"So..." Jimin nervously fidgeted with the napkin in front of him. "How's your drink?"

"It's good." Taehyung replied in a monotonous way. Both ignoring the fact that Taehyung hasn't even taken a sip from it yet.

To be honest, Jimin was mentally kicking himself for that outburst. He knows he should have kept his cool and let the actor be however he wanted to be. Because the uneasiness that was in the office seemed to have multiplied by tenfold in here. Jimin wanted to help, he just didn't know how to ask about it.

Taehyung looked up again and sighed at the nervous face of the other. He didn't mean to make anyone uncomfortable.

"It's nothing." Taehyung mumbled as he looked away from Jimin. "I was just bored at home."

"Oh."

"Yeah. I haven't really taken a break in a long time so I don't know what to do at home. It's... annoying to be workless."

Jimin couldn't help but let out a relieved chuckle. "Many people would love a break."

This time, Taehyung managed to give a small smile to the other. "Well, guess I'm not many people then."

"I can understand that 5 weeks is a long time, but it's what the doctor ordered. We don't want to further damage your shoulder in any way. And besides, you're already passed 3 weeks. Rest 2 will fly by soon."

Taehyung didn't say anything to that. How can he explain that time goes excruciatingly slow, when you miss someone you love. And that jealousy grows on you like a cancer, when you're being left to your own thoughts only.

When it comes to Jungkook, insecurities are not that familiar to Taehyung. They had a strong understanding and unbreakable love between them. Taehyung never used to get jealous like this.

But Sana.. she seemed to be able to bring out all those ugly emotions out of Taehyung. Because he, just like the rest of the country, can't help but agree that Jungkook and Sana would look great together. They would be welcomed by the public with open arms, and would have the country's blessing. They would be the power couple of Korea, untouchable by anyone.

But with Taehyung, Jungkook will always have to be a secret. Only something they can have behind closed doors. And Taehyung believes that Jungkook meant to shine bright like a star, not be kept hidden behind a cloud.

"-hyung! Taehyung!"

Taehyung got startled by the loud calling of his name. "Huh? Sorry, I was just thinking about something. What were you saying?"

"Well, there's actually something that I've been meaning to talk to you about. We got a request from this cosmetic company the other day. They want to shoot a short commercial. I've seen the script and it's a few shots of you laying down. Just the face."

Taehyung's eyes lit up at that. "I can probably do it even with the sling."

"Yeah, that's what I thought so too. I was gonna wait till next week but if you feel like it, we can check it out. Their terms are very reasonable too."

"Yeah, let's go right now." Taehyung tried to get up from his seat but Jimin grabbed his arm and stopped him.

"Oh no! You have to finish your food first."

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Jungkook was relatively early today. As usual, he rang the doorbell to Taehyung's apartments but no one answered. After waiting for about a minute, Jungkook decides to just go in. If Jimin's in there, he will think of some excuse. Or maybe even tell the truth. Taehyung's former manager knew about their relationship, maybe it's time the new one knew too.

But as it happened, the apartment was empty. Jungkook checked the bedrooms and the balcony even, just to make sure. He had assumed that Taehyung would have been home by now, it's not like the latter has any work scheduled. As per the note in the morning, Taehyung went to the office so Jungkook was sure that Jimin would not let the actor stay for too long. He had hoped that Jimin would actually drop Taehyung home after a few hours.

Jungkook picked up his phone to call Taehyung but the call went unanswered. It wasn't that strange because Taehyung normally keeps his phone on silent and definitely would not accept Jungkook's call if he had any company.

After a few minutes of contemplating, Jungkook decided to go back to his own apartment and make something for dinner. It had been a while since they ate something homemade.

Taehyung came home after about half an hour. He had noticed Jungkook's missed call alert so he called back as soon as he was inside his apartment. It only took a few seconds for the call to connect.

"Hey." Taehyung said in the form of a greeting and heard a hum from the other line as a response.

"You're home?"

"Yeah, just came."

"Come over, I'm making dinner."

Taehyung paused in his room, his shirt halfway unbuttoned. "Uhh.. I already had dinner. With Jimin."

There was a silence for a few seconds, where both of them sort of held their breath. So many thoughts ran through their minds. Confusions, questions.. fears. But neither was ready to voice them out. Voicing them out would mean noticing their existence, accepting that there is a tiny crack in their personal bubble. And the air inside might soon start to seep out.

Jungkook was the first one to speak up, and Taehyung could hear the sound of dejection in his voice. "Just come over, Tae. We can cuddle to sleep."

Taehyung sat down on the bed and ran a hand through his hair. "Yeah, I'll be there in 10."

When Taehyung finally went to Jungkook's apartment, freshly showered, the latter was eating ramen. He leaned down to press a small kiss on Jungkook's head and kept his lips there for several seconds. The idol's hair smelled like baby products.

"Is this the dinner you said you were making?"

"Nope. Bulgogi. Didn't feel like making it anymore." Jungkook jerked his head towards the fridge. "Give me a minute, I'm almost done."

"Eat slowly." Taehyung replied as he walked towards the sofa in the living room. "I'm gonna watch something."

When Jungkook plopped on the sofa next to Taehyung, the latter put his arm around the idol and pulled him closer. Jungkook snuggled on to Taehyung's chest, his earlier negative feelings getting pushed back a bit due to the warmth he was getting.

He was looking at the TV, but not really interested in it. "Where did you go today?"

"Hmm.. office. Was bored at home."

"Too bored to wait till I wake up?"

Taehyung didn't answer. But his hand stroked Jungkook's arm, up and down, in a soothing manner. After being together for almost a decade, Jungkook understood that it's Taehyung's way of apologizing.

They sat there silently, leaning on each other. Taehyung's slender and long fingers were making circular patterns over Jungkook's arm, but they were not wondering anywhere else, like how normally things would have progressed.

"Are you mad at me?" Jungkook's voice was barely above a whisper. "Did I do something?"

Taehyung was silent before letting out a small sigh. "No, you didn't. And I'm not mad at you either."

"Well, you're upset about something."

"It's nothing. I'm just bored. This break is messing with my head." Taehyung turned his head a bit to place his lips over Jungkook's forehead. "Don't worry about it."

Jungkook didn't look convinced but decided to drop it. The air was getting kind of uncomfortable so he wanted to change the subject.

"We are almost done with our parts. Only the ones with you are left."

"Ohh.. I think I'll be able to come back next week."

That piped Jungkook's interest so he slightly raised his head to look at the other. "But you have two more weeks of rest left."

"Yeah, but I think I'm fine now. And anyway, it's not like I have heavy lifting to do there. I think I can manage to stand up and do my dialogues."

Jungkook sighed. "Tae, we've talked about this already-"

"-Look, I get it. You all are worried. But I'm done being a pushover. I'll see the doctor tomorrow and see what he has to say."

Jungkook didn't respond for a little while and when he did, Taehyung could swear there was a hint of happiness in his voice. "Okay. I missed you a lot at the set."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"What did you all do today?"

"Hmm.. we shot the scene with me and Sana talking after she accepted Han Sang's invitation to the spring dance. Took us a few tries. She seemed a little... distracted. I don't know why though."

Taehyung pressed his lips into a thin line at that, thankful for the fact that Jungkook had his eyes closed. While Jungkook didn't know why Sana might feel distracted when talking about a date in Jungkook's presence, Taehyung surely did.

And the jealousy and annoyance that was pushed back, bubbled to the surface with a new found vigor. Taehyung slowly pulled his arm away from Jungkook, who was looking at him with confused eyes.

"Wha-"

"I'm tired. Let's go to bed."

Jungkook's gaze was rather calculating but he didn't say anything and only gave a nod in agreement. They both walked to the bedroom in silence. Once under the covers, Taehyung sneaked his hand around Jungkook's waist and pulled the latter towards his chest. Their bodies were flushed together, but Jungkook couldn't help but feel as if they had several feet of gap between them.

He kept repeating their recent conversations in his head. Despite having a phenomenal acting talent, Taehyung had always been easy to read. At least to Jungkook. So the idol knew that something was bothering Taehyung. And regardless of all the assurance given by Taehyung, things were not okay.

It was after several hours of overthinking, and over analyzing that Jungkook finally managed to find what he thought was a possible common factor in all of Taehyung's mood changes.

Sana.

It seemed that whenever Jungkook brought up something about her, Taehyung's mood flipped. Why? Was he truly interested in Sana?

It was easier for Jungkook to work with Sana, when she wasn't being all over Taehyung at the set. Jungkook actually found her company rather charming. She's very talented and altogether a nice girl. That is, if she wasn't trying to make a pass at Jungkook's boyfriend.

And It's not that Jungkook doesn't trust Taehyung. He does, with all his heart.

But with the way Taehyung was behaving in the last few days, Jungkook just doesn't know what else to think.

____________________________________

A/N - sooo... we are done with the fluffy stuff. It's gonna go downhill from here onwards.. hope you guys are ready..