THIRD PERSON POV

That night, Taehyung cried like never before. At least, Jimin had never seen him cry that much. But Taehyung still remembered how he cried almost the same way when Jungkook had announced that he would be getting married and he felt like the situation was getting repeated once again. Except it was as if someone had pressed on the fast forward button, making everything go faster than it had before.

Jimin consoled him, running his tiny little fingers through his best friend's brown locks as he whispered soothing words into his ear. When Taehyung finally calmed down after a long while of heart wrenching sobbing, Jimin asked him, "Tae, why are you crying like that? You were fine earlier. You knew he had gone with her, didn't you? So what happened all of a sudden?"

Taehyung still struggled to breathe properly. He took in deep shaky breaths, feeling his lungs and heart clenching almost. His whole chest area hurt from the intense crying. As if Jimin understood that, he began rubbing Taehyung's chest lightly and the feeling of pain diminished.

The younger sniffled a few times before finally speaking up. "I-it's my bir-birthday tod-day," he said in between hiccups. His voice shook but Jimin didn't understand why or where he was going with this.

"I know," he replied, "we all wished you at midnight before going to sleep."

Taehyung let out another sniffle. "A-all except- except Jungkook," he pointed out, his voice still awfully unstable.

"It's- it's okay, Tae," Jimin said in an attempt to comfort him. But he knew it was not. Jungkook was always more excited for his birthday than Taehyung himself. He could forget his own birthday but he never forgot Taehyung's. "We've all been busy lately. I'm sure he just forgot the date. You know it happens to all of us all the time."

"Y-you know, i-it's not the fir-first time it's happened," Taehyung said sadly.

"What are you on about? Jungkook always made sure to wish you first every-" Jimin started but then realisation struck him. Taehyung was talking about the future he came from. "Is- is this why you're so sad about it? The same thing happened before?" He asked softly.

The other responded with a nod. "And that time too, it was because he was busy spending time with her," he told Jimin who tightened his hold around Taehyung, knowing the latter needed it very much at the moment.

"You know what-what's worse?" Taehyung asked. Jimin hummed, knowing the younger wasn't expecting an answer from him.

"I- I thought he would remember when he would come back... but he didn't." Jimin could see tears welling up in Taehyung's eyes again but Taehyung wiped them away before they could fall.

"Jiminie, why does he love her so much? He's known her for such a short time yet he's completely forgotten about me even though we've known each other for so long," Taehyung said.

"It's not like that, Tae, you know it," Jimin assured.

Taehyung remained silent for a while before speaking again. "This is all useless. I'm losing him again, much faster this time. I should just find a way to go back to 2020. I'm only messing up things by staying here."

"Taehyung, we have no idea how this even happened. There's no guarantee that you can go back. And you're not losing him. Everytime you two get a little distant, he always comes back to you. It's been like that for 5 years already."

"Why does everything have to be this complicated, Jimin?" Taehyung asked as he buried his head in his hands, completely discarding the older's words.

"Listen, don't give up just yet. Don't be so disheartened. I promise you everything will be alright, you will be alright," Jimin said while patting Taehyung's back comfortingly.

The latter sighed and mumbled, "I hope so." He then laid down on his bed, feeling both physically and emotionally drained as he put his head on his pillow. "Can you stay here?" He asked Jimin who nodded and laid down beside him, repeatedly telling him that it's all going to be okay until they both fell asleep.

The next morning, Jungkook woke up with a slight headache, probably from his aching thoughts and the little crying from the previous night. He lightly rubbed his temples in a circular motion as he stepped into the corridor to walk to the kitchen.

However, his eyebrows furrowed upon seeing a short brunette coming out of Taehyung's room. His mind got filled with flashbacks of the scene he witnessed last night, of hearing Taehyung crying and of his own hurtful thoughts and instantly felt a sharp pain in his head.

"Hey, Jungkook," Jimin smiled at him, a small yawn escaping his lips as he spoke and then frowned upon noting Jungkook's appearance. He had dark circles under his eyes, bags easily noticeable and he looked fatigued even though he just woke up. "Had a rough night? You look like you didn't sleep all night," he remarked.

Jungkook shook his head immediately. "No, I'm good. I-I just...got back late last night and I'm still tired. That's all," he replied.

"You sure?" Jimin asked, eyes narrowed in concern for the younger. Jungkook simply assured him with a firm nod and Jimin decided to drop it.

When they entered the kitchen, they found the four eldest members already seated at the breakfast table, chatting animatedly. "Good morning!" Jimin greeted brightly and the others turned their heads to look at the two who just entered.

"Ah! There you are, Jiminie! I thought you had already woken up when I saw your bed empty this morning. Where were you?" Hoseok, who shared a room with Jimin, asked.

"Tae needed me," the boy simply replied and the others nodded in understanding, none of them noticing the light scowl on Jungkook's face when the words had left Jimin's mouth.

The youngest grumbled lowly and walked to a vacant seat at the table. "Do we have anywhere we need to be today?" He asked in a bored tone.

The others shook their heads, grinning widely. "Did you forget? Today is the start of our short holiday. A whole week without work, only sleeping at home!" Yoongi exclaimed.

"What date is it again?" The younger asked absent-mindedly.

It was Jimin who answered him, drilling holes into his head with his piercing glare, though no one noticed since they were all focused on their food. The brunette made sure to enunciate the date in particular, putting exaggerated emphasis on it to make sure the youngest of the group recalled what he had so easily forgotten.

"The 30th of December."

Jungkook's hands, which were holding a box of cereal ready to be poured into his bowl of milk, immediately halted their movement. His eyes widened as he looked up at Jimin who stood a bit further away. For a second, he thought he heard it wrong but when Jimin's face remained stoic, he realised that it was indeed the day of Taehyung's birthday. And he had completely forgotten about it.

Every year, Jungkook would stick by Taehyung's side since the eve of his birthday so that he could make sure to be the first person to wish him. They would usually watch a movie or play some video games until midnight where Jungkook would wish him happy birthday. Jungkook would even make sure to sleep in his room that night so that if it so happened that they both had fallen asleep before midnight, he would be the first person wishing him when they would both wake up in the morning.

But this year, it completely slipped his mind. And he felt even worse about it when he realised that he had met Taehyung in the early hours of the day, around 2 a.m, but he had not even remembered it.

"Have you all already wished him?" He asked the other members as he pushed his chair back to stand up, his wide eyes travelling around the table to look at each and every of them.

The boys remained confused for a moment, wondering what the hell was the youngest member talking about. Jimin had understood immediately but chose to remain quiet. It was Seokjin who came to the realisation first and he nodded.

"Yeah, we have. We all wished him at midnight before going to bed," he said. "Have you not? He was waiting for you to come back I think. Didn't you see him?"

Jungkook felt immense guilt building up inside of him. He, who always bragged about knowing Taehyung best, had let such an important day slip out of his mind.

"Umm no... I came really late. I guess he went to sleep before I came back," he lied, scratching the back of his neck nervously. For some reason unknown to himself, he didn't want the others to know he forgot about it.

Jimin glared at him pointedly, knowing very well that he was lying. Coward, he thought, watching as Jungkook hurriedly scurried away in the direction of the hallway.

"Wait," he stopped the younger from going any further. "Taehyung must still be asleep. Finish your breakfast and talk to him when he wakes up."

Jungkook took his hand out of Jimin's firm grip. "I'm just gonna see him," he mumbled and quickly walked to Taehyung's room before anyone else could stop him. Jimin sighed and shook his head as the younger disappeared from his sight.

Jungkook opened the door cautiously. "Hyung, are you awake?" He whispered as he looked over to the bed on which Taehyung was curled up in a ball, hugging a pillow tightly, facing away from him.

The curtains were pulled, leaving the room rather dark, making it difficult to see clearly. But that didn't stop Jungkook from noting how Taehyung's body moved up and down in an irregular manner or how his feet would move slightly as he tried to remain still.

The movements were barely visible but Jungkook caught them all. It was clear that Taehyung was only pretending to be asleep. The younger instantly felt even guiltier as he felt that Taehyung was upset at him for forgetting his birthday and didn't want to speak to him. But he was not going to give up, not after having messed up like that.

He slowly advanced towards the bed, keeping his steps as quiet as possible. Soon after, he had plopped himself down beside Taehyung, an arm draped around the latter's waist. A little amused, he watched as the older tried remaining motionless.

But the little amusement soon left him as he realised that Taehyung was most probably upset at him. He took in a deep breath and spoke. "Hyung, I know you're not really sleeping. I also know that you might be upset at me and probably don't even want to hear me right now but I'm really sorry, hyung."

He moved closer to Taehyung, his grip on the latter's waist getting a little tighter as he went on, "I'm so so so sorry for forgetting today's your birthday and for not having been the first to wish you today like every year. I'm not even gonna give you excuses because I know it won't justify anything. I didn't even remember it when I saw you earlier this morning."

His voice was breaking a little from how guilty he felt. "I'm sorry for not having been with you last night like every other year. But please don't ignore me." At this point, Jungkook's body was fully pressed against Taehyung's, holding the older so tightly as if to emphasise how immensely apologetic he felt. "Please don't be angry at me. Please talk to me. I swear I'll make it up to you in any way I can."

Taehyung, on the other hand, felt his heart breaking with each word that came out of the younger's mouth. He sounded really sorry, almost hurt and angry at himself. Not liking one bit the tone of sadness in the bunny-like boy's voice, the older turned around in his hold to face him.

"Hey," he said softly while cupping his cheeks, "I'm not angry at you. It's okay, really. Don't be sad."

"No, it's not," Jungkook pouted. "I know you're mad at me. You pretended to be asleep because you didn't want to talk to me." Taehyung internally cooed at his cuteness.

"That's not true!" The older responded instantly. Jungkook gave him a look that clearly meant he didn't believe him. "Okay, okay. I was a little upset but definitely not mad at you. And it's fine, it happens to forget. You're human too," he admitted in hopes that the younger would feel better with his words.

Instead, Jungkook merely shook his head. "Wait here, don't move. I'll be back!" He said before quickly getting up from the bed and rushing out the door, leaving a confused Taehyung behind. Nonetheless, the older shrugged and complied, taking his phone and looking through twitter which flooded with birthday wishes from fans. He smiled as he read through them, watching a few edits and laughing at some memes.

In the meantime, Jungkook headed to the kitchen. The other boys looked at him in confusion as he looked through the cupboards and the fridge, taking out various ingredients. "What are you doing? You already have your breakfast here," Seokjin scolded him as he pointed to the bowl of milk which had been left untouched.

"You guys can have it, I'm not hungry," he simply replied without even glancing at the boys who watched him from the dining room. Jimin shrugged and grabbed the bowl, pouring in cereal and began eating again.

"What are you even doing?" Seokjin asked again as if it wasn't obvious that the youngest one was cooking. The latter didn't bother replying and focused his attention solely on the food he was preparing. He worked quickly, not wanting to make Taehyung wait for too long.

When he was done cooking, he took some time in decorating the dish because he knew Taehyung loved beautiful plating. He walked to the fridge, glad to see that they had strawberries, which were Taehyung's favourite fruit, and went back to prettily arrange the plate with a content smile. He placed everything on a tray after he was satisfied with how it looked and carried it to Taehyung's room, receiving incredulous stares from the other members.

Taehyung was sitting on his bed, back against the headboard. He was starting to get a little bored and almost got out of bed to head out when the door was pushed open by Jungkook. Since his hands were occupied with the tray, he pushed it with his back, receiving a curious stare from the brunette. The latter had pulled open the curtains a few minutes ago so it wasn't hard for him to see the food tray but Jungkook held it above his eye level, so he couldn't see what was inside it.

However, when the younger approached him, Taehyung got a clear view of the display of foods. His eyes brightened up in glee on seeing the huge pancakes topped with whipping cream and chocolate sauce and surrounded by big, red strawberries.

In another plate sat a cheese omelette with extra cheese, just how Taehyung liked it, accompanied by beautiful golden toasts. And Jungkook, being the extra boy he is, had also placed a saucer in which he had arranged prettily cut strawberries in such a way that they formed the words "happy birthday". Last but not least, there was a tall glass of chocolate milkshake with whipping cream and chocolate flakes on top.

Taehyung gaped at the tray, his eyes still glimmering and mouth watering. "You- you just made all that? For me?" He asked in disbelief, his wide eyes looking up cutely at Jungkook who smiled brightly at him.

"Of course," he replied and carefully set the tray of food on the bed. He sat down beside Taehyung, reaching one hand out to cup his cheek and placed a light kiss on his forehead. "Happy birthday, hyung," he whispered while gazing into the older's eyes. Taehyung felt his cheeks burning up at Jungkook's actions. He was a blushing mess as he averted his eyes, hoping the younger wouldn't notice the evident shade of red which adorned his cheeks.

Jungkook grabbed the tray from the bed and placed in on Taehyung's lap. "Dig in," he said. The older didn't have to be told twice.

"Thish ish sho goooood!!!" He moaned, mouth full as he relished the divine taste of his pancakes. "You should forget my birthday more often," he joked with a wink after having gulped down the food.

Jungkook was relieved to see Taehyung joking about it and enjoying his dishes. It meant that he was no longer upset at him. A fond smile unintentionally crawled on his lips as he watched the older eating to his fill.

Taehyung abruptly stopped and turned to Jungkook. "Have you had your breakfast yet?" He asked, eyes narrowed in concern.

Jungkook shook his head. "I'm not hungry."

"I bet you are! You can barely remain 3 hours without food! Here, have some with me. You treated me with so much but I'm sure I won't be able to finish it all," Taehyung offered. He knew the black-haired younger like the back of his hand and he knew that Jungkook was probably starving right now but was feeling too guilty to admit it.

Jungkook looked at the plates in uncertainty. Taehyung noticed and pushed the tray towards him a little. "Go ahead," he encouraged. "You gotta try your own cuisine at least."

Jungkook took a bite and his eyes widened in amazement and disbelief. "Wow! Did I really make this?" He exclaimed. It was the first time he had cooked something so tasty in his entire life.

Taehyung chuckled and then remembered something he had forgotten to ask Jungkook. "How did you know I was awake earlier?"

The younger turned to him and replied casually, "oh that? It was really obvious actually. First, you normally have a really regular breathing when you sleep but you were breathing unevenly, so I could tell instantly. And second, your legs were moving a little too."

"I know you're an actor but you have to practice faking sleep a bit more," Jungkook added teasingly.

"No, it's just you who notice all these absurd details. I mean, who even takes note of breathing patterns?!"

Jungkook laughed at Taehyung's exasperated tone and both of them continued eating together and chatting for a while until they were interrupted by the sound of the older's door opening. They looked up to see Seokjin and Hoseok standing there. Soon all the other boys appeared in their view as well. The pair who sat side by side on the bed looked at them questioningly.

"Wow look at them having a royal breakfast while I only had some miserable cereal," Seokjin jokingly complained.

"Hyung, it's not your birthday," Jungkook retorted.

"Well, it's not like you ever did that for any of our birthdays," Jimin said with a smirk directed towards Taehyung.

Jungkook blushed a little and looked away. However, no one except Jimin and Taehyung noticed as Hoseok had caught the others' attention. "That's right! My birthday's in a month and a half! You better do something like this for me too," he chirped.

"Nah. Ask Yoongi hyung, he's much better at cooking than me," Jungkook replied.

"No way, I'm not cooking for anyone!" The blonde grumbled.

"Aww hyung, you always say things like these but you end up doing it in the end anyway," Namjoon chuckled. Yoongi huffed and rolled his eyes, faking annoyance although he knew it was true. They all loved each other like family and would do anything to make their members happy.

"By the way, hyungs, I'm not that much of a brat," Jungkook said and chuckled, "I left some for everyone in the kitchen. You can go taste it if you want."

The rest of the day was spent with all of them hanging out together and celebrating Taehyung's birthday. Jungkook was being extra clingy to Taehyung, always sitting or standing next to him, spoiling him by buying any cute things Taehyung took a liking for and also doing everything to grab the brunette's attention and make him laugh. Taehyung loved how Jungkook was by his side him all the time. He wished he could spend everyday of his life like this.

>>>>>♡<<<<<

Ok now, that's officially the longest chapter I've ever written till date! 3438 words hehe

Btw remember what I said last chapter? About this story turning into some super angsty stuff with random fluff? Well that's exactly what's happening lol

Actually I felt bad for being a meanie and writing so many sad chapters and decided to add some cute moments to compensate for it, so don't hate me xD

Anyway, it's nearly 3 a.m. here and I feel so exhausted. School starts tomorrow and I still have so much to do and I don't think I'll be able to complete everything in a single day!! Wish me luck, guys...I feel like I'm gonna die ugh

So bye I'm gonna keep working while listening to kpop for now. (What even is sleep? Sleep is for the weak lol) -no, it's not you gotta take care of yourself and rest though I'm not the ideal person the preach about that-

Ok that's it for today. Please don't be a silent reader! I love hearing from you all, so please do vote and comment❤