Jimin had woken up the next morning only to discover that Taehyung's face was mere inches away from his own. He smiled a little, thinking of how pissed off Hoseok would be knowing Taehyung had taken him to his own room and they spent the night but then, those words Hoseok had spoken to him resounded back in his head and he found his mood getting a lot worse.

He suddenly noticed that Taehyung was stirring, about to wake up so he pretended to still be sleeping. Few seconds later, Taehyung opened his eyes and discovered that Jimin was still asleep. He chuckled to himself and checked the temperature of his body by placing his hand on top of his head. The fever had completely gone down. He should be fine as soon as he wakes up.

He stood up and quickly ordered some breakfast. After bathing and changing his clothes, the food arrived. Taehyung thanked the staff who brought in the breakfast and carried the tray to the bed where Jimin was still 'sleeping'

Taehyung gently tapped him. "Jiminah...wake up" he whispered but the other remained still. He tried for the second and third time, it was only during the fourth time that Jimin stirred, pretending to yawn as he opened his eyes.

"Good morning" he said in a sweet gentle voice.

Taehyung blushed for a few seconds before returning to his normal color.

"Morning to you too. How are you feeling?"

Jimin pouted. "i still don't feel that good"

"Really? But your fever has gone down" Taehyung said with surprise.

Jimin's eyes shifted as his brain racked itself for some sort of excuse to come up with.

"Well...I think I'm just tired and I feel a bit of a headache"

Taehyung nodded. "I'm so sorry. You should eat first and see if you can get back your strength. I'll get some aspirin for your headache" He said.

Jimin nodded faintly feigning tiredness as Taehyung called room service to bring some aspirin. Jimin began to dig into the food when Taehyung spoke.

"Jiminah, what happened yesterday? If I hadn't come out to find you. You would have been wet to the bones and the situation would have become more critical"

Jimin sighed. "I'm sorry. I just zoned out...I wasn't myself..."

There was silence in the room. Taehyung looked at him. His mouth opened as if he wanted to say something then it closed back. Jimin noticed this strange behavior.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing!"

"Tell me!"

Taehyung sighed. "Is it because of Suzy?"

Jimin froze. How could he tell him it wasn't because of Suzy, that it was because of him.

"No...I was just really upset after hearing some awful things about myself"

"Ohh...is it because of what Hoseok said to you about being heartless?"

Taehyung scoffed. "This isn't the first time. Everyone knows that. You can never be serious with anyone. You can never commit... you're just a play boy" he said with a nonchalant expression.

Jimin's heart sank further upon hearing those words straight from Taehyung's own mouth. The latter continued. "That shouldn't bother you at all..."

"You're right. It shouldn't bother me...." Jimin whispered in a soulless voice. He looked up and stared at Taehyung for such a long time, it was starting to get awkward. Finally, he spoke "But this time, it bothered me...I don't know why but it did... especially when you looked at me with those eyes..."

Time stood still as they both locked eyes. Taehyung's head was spinning. His heart was beating harder, faster with the way Jimin was looking back at him with such a soft piercing gaze as if he was looking deep into his very soul

Why would Jimin say such a thing? Why would he be bothered by the way he looks at him? Could it really be true? Could what Jungkook said be true? Could Jimin....

He shook his head quickly chasing that thought out of his mind. He had grown weak in that space of time and for some unexplained reason, he started to feel shy. He couldn't bear to stay in his presence any longer. He stood up from the bed as if he had been burned by fire.

"Why are you saying such things all of a sudden? Eat your food" He barked and rushed into the bathroom

"Pabo!" Jimin chuckled to him. What he did just now was a dead give away of his feelings but of course, Taehyung was too dumb to notice it. Either that or he was in denial. He sighed sadly. He didn't know how to proceed. Is there something he could do to make things better. Should he change his lifestyle? should he stop whoring around and getting interested in every butt that passes his way just to convince Taehyung? Even if he did, would it be enough to make Taehyung take him seriously because deep inside, he wanted him. Hell, he always had.

There was a knock on the door which brought him back to consciousness.

"Who is it?" He yelled out loud.

"It's Hoseok" Came the reply from outside the door.

Jimin cringed. If it were up to him, he would leave the other waiting outside but Taehyung suddenly ran out from the bathroom in a hurry to open the door. Jimin rolled his eyes as Hoseok walked in. The other caught his eye and flashed him a conspiring grin.

"Wow...Mr Park, you're still here?"

"Do you have a problem with that?"

Hoseok shrugged. "Not at all but you should be feeling better by now"

"Not really, I'm still in need of care" Jimin said

Hoseok nodded his head. "I can see that" he said through his nose.

Taehyung was sensing the tension in the room so he quickly diverted their conversation.

"What brings you here?" He asked Hoseok.

"Nothing much...I just wanted to invite you to have dinner with me this evening. I hope it won't be a problem"

Taehyung turned to look at Jimin and he was already scowling. His face looked so funny, it almost made him start laughing but he held himself back.

"You should be okay before evening right...?"

"I...."

Taehyung cut in. "I'll have dinner with you"

Hoseok smiled broadly seemingly satisfied with Taehyung's answer.

"That's good. Thank you. I'll be picking you up this evening"

"Okay" Taehyung said. Hoseok gave Jimin one lasting grin before leaving the room.

Jimin scoffed as soon as he left. "Wow... you both are having dinner... just you two, alone. I can just imagine the romantic ambience" he said, sarcasm dripping from every word he uttered.

Taehyung shrugged. "it's just dinner..."

Jimin stared at him widely in disbelief.

"Just dinner? Haven't you noticed he's been hitting on you since yesterday morning?" He nearly shouted.

"Hitting on me?" Taehyung whispered trying to make sense of what he was saying.

Jimin shook his head. "Pabo. I can't believe you're this clueless. He's totally into you. Can't you see that? Yesterday, he clearly only wanted to take you with him to the mountain site but his plans clearly failed when you invited us. He kept trying to touch you through out yesterday and he tried impressing you by taking you out for a fancy dinner but that too failed. Then yesterday night, he took you out to have a beer...."

"Wait a minute..."

Jimin froze.

"Where you spying on us? Did you follow us yesterday night?"

Jimin reddened as he kept thinking up excuses. "No... it's not that...."

Taehyung continued with an amused expression on his face "I thought it was just a coincidence and you came out with Suzy..."

"Yeah...I did. I came out with Suzy!" Jimin lied and Taehyung hanged his head looking embarrassed.

"Sorry....sorry for jumping into conclusions" he whispered and Jimin breathed deeply but then, Taehyung continued as if nothing happened.

"But if what you're saying about Hoseok is true, then that means he is interested in men..."

Jimin nodded. "That he is...."

"But no one can be sure of another's feelings unless they talk. Not everyone is a mind reader even though the signs is there. So I won't be sure until he directly tells me his feelings"

Jimin felt worse. Taehyung was right. Just because he showed him his good side, just because he was always beside him doesn't confirm his love. He has to say it. It was the ultimate proof at least for Taehyung who was so slow at reading people.

But then, something else bothered Jimin.

"What if Hoseok confesses his feelings for you, will you accept him?"

Taehyung shrugged. "I don't know... He's a good guy and I like hanging out with him. He will be good as a friend but as a partner.... I'm not sure... maybe I'll give him a try to find out...."

"No!" Jimin barked.

Taehyung was quite shocked by his outburst.

"Don't give him a chance or anyone else for that matter. Just stay the way you are. Besides, he's a man. How can you date a man?"

Taehyung chuckled in amusement. "What are you saying? Of course I can date a man but I only hesitated due to my parent's influence"

"But I think someone like Hoseok can win over my parents. Not to mention, he's extremely rich. That's something my parents wouldn't be able to ignore. They love money more than anything and what they want most for me is stability. Hoseok provides that. If we try, after a while, they might accept him...."

"I see...so in the end, it's all about the money" Jimin whispered.

Taehyung suddenly felt like he had to explain himself. Jimin's aura certainly felt very bad.

"I'm not talking about myself. I really don't care about money. I'm talking about the general opinion. If it weren't that he was a man, Hoseok could be a worthy candidate for my parents..."

Jimin grinded his teeth in fury. "I don't care about your parents. I care about what you think. What do you want Taehyung?"

Taehyung was quiet. A knock sounded on the door and a voice came up.

"Room service. I've got the aspirin ready"

Jimin got up from the bed with a stony expression on his face "I think I'm feeling much better now" He muttered and stormed off without looking back. He flung the door open nearly hitting the worker waiting outside the door. He didn't care about her and entered his own room banging the door behind him. The woman walked inside Taehyung's room looking puzzled.

"Aspirin?" She muttered.

"I don't need it anymore" Taehyung whispered wearing a down cast expression on his face.

******
That evening, Jimin knew when Hoseok picked Taehyung up for them to have dinner together. After they left, he didn't want to be alone feeling sorry for himself so he went to find the others. They were relaxing in a large bar, drinking and having fun. Namjoon had a girl in his arms, Yoongi and Jungkook were all over each other. In their midst, he still felt lonely. He couldn't forget what Taehyung said to him.

Hoseok can win over my parents. Not to mention, he's extremely rich.

what they want most for me is stability. Hoseok provides that

Hoseok could be a worthy candidate for my parents

Jung Hoseok. There was no way he could compete with someone like him. Even he himself had said that Jimin was not worthy of being his rival. Feeling burdened, he went to the bar to take some shots of alcohol.

Deep in thoughts, he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned and saw Suzy batting her eyes at him

"Penny for your thoughts?"

"What do you want Suzy?"

"Nothing...I just want to be beside you... you obviously need company"

"Well thank you but I don't need your company"

Suzy shook her head. "Whenever you're in this mood, I know there's only one cause for that... Taehyung!"

Jimin sighed tiredly.

"You need to let go of him. It's obvious you can't be the person he needs. You can't give him what he really wants. Stability"

"You have to accept it. You're a Playboy. You're a heartbreaker. In fact, you act like a devil. Someone like you shouldn't taint a person as good as Taehyung. This may be harsh but the reality is, you don't deserve him"

Jimin clenched his fist thinking about her words. Indeed she was right but she was also wrong. Yes, he is bad. He acts like a devil.   A person like him is wrong for Taehyung but there's no one in this entire world who knew that boy better than him.

There's no one in this world who understands him as well as he did. No one can sacrifice everything they have even their own lives for his sake if the need arises...but he can. So nobody had the right to say things they didn't know when they have no idea how he really feels.

The world was like that. Expecting everything to always remain in a certain order. We should accept it because it's just how it's supposed to be.

"But I will prove you all wrong and prove him wrong as well" He simply whispered in a cold tone.

Jimin stood up and walked off leaving a tensed atmosphere behind him.

********

Taehyung and Hoseok were having dinner but the latter could tell that his partner wasn't in a good mood.

"Don't you like the food?" He had asked trying to get some attention as Taehyung picked on the cuisine costing five hundred dollars.

"It's fine...I guess I'm just under the weather" Taehyung replied dryly.

Hoseok nodded. He had wanted to use this opportunity to confess to Taehyung and ask him out but the latter's mood wasn't helping matters. He definitely didn't look happy and he was getting slightly frustrated.

Suddenly, Taehyung's phone pinged. It was like a message came through. Hoseok watched him bring out his phone. In a second, the smile he had been waiting to see on Taehyung's face suddenly appeared but that smile wasn't for him.

Curious about what was making the other so happy, Hoseok asked. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing... it's just stupid" Taehyung said. He was actually blushing.

"Come on, spill it..."

Taehyung smiled the more as he showed an image on his phone to Hoseok. It was the selfie Taehyung and Jimin took on the mountain site.

"Idiot... He just sent it to me now and I thought he was angry with me" Taehyung said. He glanced at his phone one more time smiling before putting it back inside his pocket.

From that moment, Taehyung's mood greatly improved but Hoseok's own turned sour. His determination wore off.

After dinner, he drove them back to the hotel. He was going to say something but he decided against it. It seemed Taehyung was unknowingly attached to Jimin. First, he had to break that attachment. Only then could he be sure of a favorable response from him when he asks him the question.

They parted ways but Hoseok was more determined than ever.

Thank you so much for reading.