21st February

Taehyung was satisfied with the way he presented himself throughout the audition. He overcame his slight nervousness after realising how fun it was to be in front of the camera again. What made it even better, was that Jungkook was behind the device. Taehyung soon understood how passionate Jungkook was about his work, he understood why his pictures were different. It was because, like any other great artist, one could see the creator's emotion in their art and Jungkook portrayed that.

Jungkook let Taehyung and the others see the outcome and it felt like Taehyung hadn't seen himself look that good before. He felt like he was looking at a person stranger to him, but yet so familiar at the same time. He could feel the essence of a calm, well-composed and confident model from his eyes in the picture.

To Jungkook, that was how he had always seen Taehyung, the very first day they had met. All he'd done, was capture what he saw, what he felt.

The audition lasted for about two hours. They were told they'd get their results by the end of the week and if selected, they'd be required to come by the studio the next day to finalise things.

After collecting his things from the waiting room, Taehyung had just gotten out of the building, when his phone vibrated in his pocket.

Shifting everything to one hand, he fished out his phone.

'Jimin'- the screen showed.

"Hello." he spoke as he accepted the call.

"Hey!" Jimin greeted him back happily. "Audition's over, right?"

"How did you know to call me exactly when I'd be done?" Taehyung smiled a bit and opened his car door to dump his things in the back seat.

"Ah, well, telepathy!"

Taehyung snickered at his end. "Oh? So we have telepathic minds now?"

Jimin laughed back. "Why not?"

Taehyung sat down in the driver's seat and rested his head on the steering wheel. "So? How come you called?"

"Oh, I don't know? Maybe to ask about that audition of yours?"

"It was fine." Taehyung was excited to tell him all about it.

"Just fine?"

"How about we talk more when I come to Serendipity, hm? We can talk about it better in person."

"You sound pretty happy, I'm suspecting that it went better than just 'fine'."

"Right, I'll meet you there then." saying that, he hung up.

With his head still on the wheel and his eyes closed, his mind started playing tricks on his vision and blared vague figures and shadows. They were flashes from that morning's dream with his grandma.

Although Taehyung had had a fun time at the audition and his mind had managed to forget his dream from that morning, it had slowly started to resurface again. And that happened almost every time he had that dream. He'd have the dream, maybe forget it, and then it would come trailing back to him.

'Now is not the time.' he breathed out heavily and drove his thoughts around. He looked up and started his car to head for Serendipity.

At the cafe, he sat in one corner, with his laptop open, rubbing his chin every now and then as he corrected the script.

Jimin came in with a plate of sandwiches and a glass of fresh fruit juice.

"Hey!" Jimin set the items down and stood in front of Taehyung, with his hands in his apron pockets. "Sorry, I didn't meet you when you came in."

"No, that's alright." he slowly lifted his head from the screen. "Thanks for these." he dragged the plate closer to himself and took a sip of the juice. "Mm hmm. I don't know how you make these, but they are absolutely amazing."

Jimin smiled. "I know they are!" he sat down in front of Taehyung. "So, mind telling me about the audition now?"

"Didn't I tell you it was fine?"

"After which you said that we should talk more about it when you came here."

Taehyung looked back at his laptop screen. "Yeah, I did."

He would have loved to tell Jimin all about the audition, and that was how he felt during his call with Jimin earlier. But after his dream decided to peek out again, he felt off, he didn't feel all so eager to discuss the details anymore.

"Taehyung, is something wrong?"

Taehyung looked up to him and swiped his tongue over his lips. "No."

Jimin sighed. He recognised that expression on Taehyung's face, he knew exactly what was bothering him. "You had the dream again, right?"

Taehyung looked away for a bit, avoiding eye-contact and nodded.

"And the reason you were happy on the phone was because-?"

Again, Taehyung did not respond.

"Because, the audition actually went well." Jimin finished for him. "But right after our call, those thoughts came back again to you, right?"

"Wow, we really do have telepathic minds." Taehyung smiled weakly.

"No, I just know you well, Taehyung. I've known you since we were five, I know that even after all this time, these dreams still trouble you." he paused and smiled. "I know you better than anyone else, Taehyung."

Taehyung raised an eyebrow. "Oh yeah?"

"Yes." Jimin said back in a serious tone.

He smiled softly. "Yeah, you're right, you do."

Jimin got up and patted Taehyung's shoulder. "Now, you enjoy this-" he pointed at his food. "-think of happy thoughts about her and don't let the dream bother you too much. You just took a really big step today, don't go too hard on yourself. Okay?"

Taehyung nodded his head. "Understood, Mr. Park Jimin. Now, how about you go to that boyfriend of yours." he pointed behind him, towards the counter table.

Jimin turned around to see a man in a grey beanie, with a pen and pad of paper, sitting on the high stool. It was Yoongi.

"He's not my boyfriend." Jimin smiled shyly at Taehyung.

"He's been here for about five or so minutes now."

"Really?"

"Enjoy your date."

Jimin glared at him, but he ended up laughing instead. "We're not dating!"

"Sure and he comes here to sit in that very chair 'cause he likes it, while stabbing his notepad, writing nothing whatsoever and staring at the granite counter." 

Jimin flushed. "He comes here to eat, Taehyung."

Taehyung rested his elbows on the table and clasped his fingers. "He comes here to see you and you know it."

Jimin's eyebrows raised. "Okay, I'm going to go now, take care of yourself."

"I'm fine, Jimin."

As soon as Jimin left, Taehyung went back to making appropriate corrections to the script and tried not to think too much about his dream. Even though it was just a dream, it was a dream recreated by a dark memory, something that Taehyung wasn't very fond of.

It had been five years since his grandma's death, he had accepted it, but the dream still gave him difficulties. He didn't fancy remembering that day. Distraction was the best measure he could take, that was why the audition went well, because Jungkook and his camera had somehow distracted him from the other thought.

As Jimin took down Yoongi's order, while having a small talk with him, the cafe's doors opened and Jungkook came in. He saw Yoongi and headed to sit with him.

"Hello, Jungkook." Jimin greeted him, while Yoongi ignored him.

"Hey, Jimin." Jungkook said back happily. "Hello to you too, Yoongi."

"Oh." Yoongi turned to him. "Hi."

"The regular, Jungkook?" Jimin asked.

"Yes."

"Alright, I'll be back." he smiled at Yoongi and left.

Jungkook stared at the wall in front of him for a while, and then turned to Yoongi. "So, any progress with Jimin?"

"No, thanks to you."

Jungkook looked at him, confused. "I'm sorry, I don't get- Did I do something?"

"Never mind-" Yoongi tapped his pen. "-doesn't matter."

Jungkook shrug off the topic and looked around as he waited.

"By the way-" Yoongi started all of a sudden. "-your crush guy is here."

"Wha-"

"He's right there." he pointed his pen to a man who had his face buried in a laptop screen.

Jungkook recognised the man right away, and turned to Yoongi to confront him. "What do you mean my crush? I didn't-"

"Yeah, you didn't, Tessa did."

"Oh my- Tessa? Why would she-" Jungkook sighed. "She loves running her mouth. Did she tell Joon and Jin too?"

Yoongi sucked in some air with a hissing sound. "Yes. But even if either of you wouldn't have said anything, all of us would have figured it out anyway. You had a lot of red flags on you."

"What? Have I been that obvious?"

Yoongi stared at him dully, as if to say 'Really? You really want me to answer that?'

Jungkook anxiously looked over at Taehyung again. His fingers tapped on the counter with a frustrated rhythm, his teeth chewed down on his lower lip and his wide open eyes were looking back and forth between his crush and his hands.

"You want to go to him that bad, then go." Yoongi said to him.

Jungkook's head jerked to him. "W-what?"

"You want to sit with him, don't you?"

"Uh-"

"Just go." Yoongi gave Jungkook a small nudge. "Or, be stuck here with me, being fidgety the entire time because you didn't get to sit next to him."

"Okay, I'll go."

Hesitantly, Jungkook got up, acted casual and went over to the table in the corner.

"Hey, Taehyung!"

Taehyung looked up almost immediately when he recognised the voice. "Jungkook."

"Do you mind if I sit here?"

"No-" Taehyung pushed his laptop away a bit, so that he could see Jungkook's face when he would sit in front of him. "-Not at all."

Jungkook sat down, his face leveled with Taehyung's. Taehyung wore glasses, slim rimmed ones and somehow Jungkook noticed it only then.

He wanted to initiate conversation, but couldn't say anything. Taehyung, though, took the lead-

"You come here often?"

"Yeah, I do. Do you?"

"Not really, Jimin insisted I should tell him about the audition."

"Right! The audition!" a smiled beamed on Jungkook's face. "You were phenomenal! You had such a calm stance and your expressions ? They were completely one point- Are you sure you haven't done this before?"

Taehyung laughed. "Yes, I'm sure that I have not. But I don't think I was as perfect as you say I was." he liked being complimented and that too from a photographer like Jungkook, no less.

"Are you kidding?" Jungkook leaned ahead a bit. "You owned the audition! You have a lot of hidden potential and I'm so glad that you came to audition."

Taehyung licked his partially dry lips and tugged on a smile. "Thank you."

"Also, I must say, I haven't seen Tessa this pleased in all the three years I've known her."

"She was pleased?"

"More than that." Jungkook smirked, as he saw Taehyung's face brighten up at the praise. "She was overwhelmed!"

"Well-" Taehyung looked down, slightly embarrassed and gave a breathy laugh. "-'overwhelmed' is too strong of a word. Don't you think?"

"Hmm- Maybe.... because she's rarely overwhelmed by anything."

Taehyung laughed. "Oh, I could sense that when she helped me earlier."

"Helped you?"

"Yeah. I bumped into her when I lost my way to the waiting room."

"Oh. I see." Jungkook was a bit uneasy about Tessa meeting Taehyung alone, he just hoped she hadn't said anything to him. "Um-She didn't say anything weird to you, did she?"

"Nothing really. Although-" he hummed and looked at Jungkook with a small teasing smile. "-she did tell me that she heard a lot about me, from you."

"She said that?" Jungkook's eyes widened and his mouth dropped awkwardly.

"Yeah. Is that true though? Do you talk about me a lot?" he emphasised on 'talk'. In a way, he was teasing Jungkook.

"Uh-n-no! I mean, I just told her I've met you before, that's all." Jungkook pretended to laugh, he was trying hard to cover up. "She loves exaggerating about everything."

Taehyung pressed his lips on the straw of his fruit juice glass. "I see."

'That's a lie, Jungkook~' Tessa's sinister voice mocked Jungkook in his head.

"Tessa." he mumbled under his breath and clenched his fist in irritation.

"Hmm?" Taehyung looked up as he took a bite from his sandwich. "Did you say something to me?"

"No! Nothing at all."

Just then, Jimin came in with Jungkook's food, with a glass of fruit juice.

"I didn't order this, Jimin." Jungkook told him.

"It's alright-" he replied. "-it's on the house." with that, he left.

Jungkook started eating, glancing up at the man in front of him. As Taehyung worked on his laptop, his eyes focused on whatever he was reading and his fingers typed only occasionally. It was a calm atmosphere, with slight clinks of cutlery around the cafe, the hushing voices of people talking, the faint classical music and the sound of Taehyung's fingers hitting the keyboard.

'Black suits him well.' Jungkook thought, nearly staring too deeply at him.

Taehyung looked at peace as he did his work. His soft, dark hair on his forehead, his face, so gentle and supple, his glowing honey toned skin....he looked so breathtaking.

Jungkook slowly got flustered as the silence grew heavy.

"What are you typing?" he asked, to break the silence and then took a sip of the juice from his glass.

"A fetish erotica." he said casually.

Jungkook choked on the juice and coughed out. "W-wait w-what?"

Taehyung looked at Jungkook from his screen, unfazed. "Oh, I am sorry. I shouldn't have said it like that. I am not typing it, I'm just doing some corrections."

"Your proofreading job?"

"Yeah."

"A fetish erotica?" Jungkook smiled awkwardly. "Do you usually proofread stuff like that?"

Taehyung looked at his screen and pursed his lips. "Actually, I've worked with this author for most of their previous works as well. So, they prefer to work with me. Also, I get extra pay."

"Wow. That's -uh-cool, I guess?"

Taehyung laughed. "It isn't all that bad to be honest. I've done this for weirder topics."

"Oh yeah?" Jungkook bit the tip of his straw. "What could get more awkward than this?"

"I once had to read through a book titled 'The Parenting Guide'."

"Okay?" Jungkook shrug his shoulders. "What could be so weird about that?"

"I had two chapters, two entire chapters, on baby pooping problems and how to potty-train your child."

Jungkook burst out in laughter. "Pooping?"

"Trust me-" Taehyung laughed along, shaking his hand at Jungkook. "-it wasn't pleasant at all. The author gave grave detail on everything. She-"

"Okay, okay-" Jungkook stopped him, while partially laughing. "We're having lunch here, Taehyung!"

The two talked more about their daily lives, exchanging memorable moments, some funny, some stupidly childish. They were laughing and having a great time. They were bonding pretty well.

"I have never seen Taehyung laugh like that before." Jimin told Yoongi, as he gazed at Jungkook and his friend from the counter stools. "He's usually such a reserved person..... Wait, do you think Jungkook likes him?"

"Why makes you think that?" Yoongi asked him.

"No solid reason really. It's just his eyes, they show so much affection for Taehyung and he's pretty bad at hiding his nervousness whenever his name is mentioned."

Yoongi giggled softly.

"What?" Jimin joined the small playful laugh. "Am I wrong?"

"No!" Yoongi shook his head. "You're actually right. I was talking to him about it before, about how obvious he can be sometimes."

Jimin smiled. "I'd love to see if their story works out."

"Do you think he has a chance?" Yoongi asked.

"I-" he looked at Yoongi in doubt. "I'm not sure. Taehyung hasn't really shared much about this part of his life. So, it's hard to say."

Yoongi nodded. "Hmm."

"So-" Jimin gazed at Yoongi's eyes. "-how are things going on with you these days?"

Yoongi froze for a second and averted his stare. "Th-they are going good. What about you?"

"The cafe is running well-" he shifted his chair closer to Yoongi and rested his face on his palms to face Yoongi's direction. "- and the dance studio has been fun."

Yoongi nodded.

"Hey, Yoongi?"

"Yeah?" he still tried to avoid looking at Jimin directly.

"I've been wanting to tell you this for a while now."

"Go on."

"I like you, Yoongi."

'Like' - The word resonated in his mind, taking him at least an entire minute to understand what had happened. "Wait- what?"

"Yes, so I was thinking if you'd like to go out-"

"Wait a second-" Yoongi cut him off and stared right at Jimin. "Did you just confess to me?"

Jimin burst into a small giggle all of a sudden, throwing his head back.

"Wait, wait-" Yoongi's cheeks went hot as he saw him laugh. After all, it was that laugh that made him fall head over heels for Jimin. "Why are you laughing?"

Jimin straightened his posture and tried calming down. "You should see your expression right now!"

"What's wrong with my expression?" he asked in a tiny voice.

"Nothing." he shook his head and smiled at him. "You just look so cute!"

"I am not cute."

Jimin snickered. "Yes, you are." he placed his hand on Yoongi's.

Yoongi's heart pounded against his chest, the subtle touch of skin made him want to hold onto Jimin's soft hands a bit tighter. He looked down at them and then hesitantly held Jimin's palm in his.

He had never thought that Jimin would be the one to confess, he definitely thought that he'd confess to him first.

Jimin, on the other hand, was having a crisis. His heart was so loud, he was afraid that Yoongi would hear it.

As they gazed into each other's eyes, their fingers naturally fiddled with each other, slowly clasping to fit together perfectly. They may have been nervous, but their bodies sure knew what do.

"So-" Jimin's voice went soft. "-would you like to go out with me?"

Yoongi gently pulled Jimin's hand to his lips and pecked his knuckles. "Does this count as a yes?"

Jimin's cheeks flushed in embarrassment as he covered his smiling face with his free hand. He nodded. "Yes. Yes, it does."

Yoongi kissed his hand again. "Then it's a yes."