author's note ; hiiii if you're reading this, that means i got to update this morning- i'm here and i didn't completely finish this chapter on paper???? it's mainly filler but there's some important stuff in there too so;; sorry lol... thanks for reading though, even though i don't have many readers (and it's mostly just people i've forced to read) i still appreciate u all (especially mommy and coco <333333333333) anyways lmao bye. this chapter is kinda short too; oh whale. i'm not sleeping tonight so maybe i'll update again??

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          When the two boys finally arrived at Taehyung's car, which was still parked 5 blocks away from the mall, Jungkook and his blonde haired boyfriend were tired and sweaty, but happy.

          "Jungkookie... why did we just walk for almost forty-five minutes to my car? Hell, why did my stupid ass even let you make me park five blocks away from the mall... if we had parked closer, we never even would've had to get a ride from Jin and Namjoon." Jungkook laughed in response, his boyfriends semi-annoyed state humoring him.

          "Taehyuunnggieee, we are gonna get food, remember? And you cuss a lot when you're tired. I'm tired too, though, and I don't really care, so..." Jungkook said, trailing off as be brushed sweat out of his eyes, along with his brown hair. Tae looked over at the brunette and flashed a grin, chuckling slightly.

          "Jungkook, we should go to this place called Stone Grill Kimchi, they have really good kimchi and steam-cooked short grain rice.. it's my favorite restaurant, and I think they're known for their nice workers." The brunette smiled, nodding in agreement.

          "I've never been myself, but Jimin went a few months back with his friend, Junmyeon, and told me really good things about the place." The two boys hopped in Tae's car, which the latter had unlocked, and Jungkook immediately reached over and turned on the air conditioner. "Gah, it's so hot outside, Taehyungie." The brunette was in the passenger seat and Taehyung was in the drivers seat as they started driving after Tae turned the ignition.

          Overall, the car ride lasted only about half an hour, and consisted mainly of the two boys laughing and conversing over various subjects. At one point, Jungkook turned on the radio, which resulted in the two singing heartily along to BigBang. When they finally arrived at the restaurant, Jungkook was almost disappointed. He wanted to drive with his boyfriend and have more fun, but he was really hungry. This last point was proven as Jungkook grabbed his stomach, which let out a soft growl as he jumped out of Tae's car once he had parked. A bright smile lit up the brunette's face as he saw his boyfriend get out of the car as well.

          "Jungkookie, has anyone ever told you that your smile is amazing? It's almost like a bunny... you're so adorable." Jungkook madly blushed, shaking his head.

          "I've never thought my smile was anything special enough to make anyone say that..." Jungkook wouldn't ever let Taehyung know, of course, but he never thought anything of himself in general either. He knew he was ugly, and not good enough. His ex had drilled that into his mind well enough. "I love you, Taehyung." Jungkook stood on his tiptoes and lightly brushed his lips against his boyfriend's soft cheek. The two connected their hands, which, Jungkook thought fit perfectly together, and walked into the large modernized building.

          They were hit with the strong scent of kimchi and rice when they walked in the large entrance to the Korean restaurant.

          "Smells like home." Taehyung hummed, gently pulling Jungkook closer to him as they walked farther in. "And I love you too, my Jungkookie." Taehyung let go of his boyfriend's smaller hand, calling the younger to frown. Noticing this, Tae laughed, and the brunette felt his boyfriend casually drape his arm over his shoulders. Jungkook smiled, leaning into the gently touch his boyfriend offered. The two walked up to the counter to order, and were greeted by a kind boy who looked about their age with a nametag that read 'Minseok.'

          "Hello!" The auburn-haired boy lowly spoke happily, "Welcome to Stone Grill, table for two?" Jungkook nodded cheerily, delighted by the kind manners of the worker. The boy named Minseok turned around, shouting softly into the open door of the 'Employees Only' room. "LuLu~ Come seat these two, okay?" Jungkook smiled to himself when a thin, doe-eyed boy came out of the room, smiling timidly at the Minseok boy.

          "Okay, Minnie." Then he leaned towards Minseok and whispered something that made the other boy's cheeks flare a deep red, causing him to hiss,

          "Not at work, Luhan!" Smirking, the boy called Luhan led Jungkook and Taehyung to their seats, which happened to be a nice, isolated, two-seated table by the window. Jungkook glanced at Taehyung, who was grinning brightly at the waiter. Luhan winked at them, laughing as he said,

          "I assumed you two wanted a more... private, table. And what would you like to drink?" Jungkook's face reddened slightly at the brown-haired boy's first comment, before going to sit down in his seat. Taehyung did the same.

          "Do you serve boba tea?" The brunette timidly asked Luhan. Jungkook heard Tae chuckle, and felt his boyfriend poke his cheek from across the table. Smiling gently at the two, Luhan nodded.

          "Yes, what flavor?" Luhan asked politely, writing it down on his notepad as Jungkook spoke.

          "Black tea with mango! It's my favorite..." Luhan laughed at the boy's enthusiasm before turning to Taehyung.

          "And you?" Tae flashed a boxy grin at Jungkook before turning to Luhan.

          "I'll just have a black coffee with a little cream, please." Luhan nodded, jotting it down on his notepad as he walked back over to the counter, a happy Minseok waiting for him. After the strange but nice waiter had left Jungkook and Taehyung alone, the brunette looked at his boyfriend, grabbing the older's hands and connecting them across the table.

          "They were cute together," Taehyung nodded, agreeing with Jungkook's statement. "You know, you're cute too, Taehyungie. I'd like to say we're cute together, but I kinda ruin that." Although Jungkook's tone of voice had been a joking one, a sense of seriousness overtook Tae's features, his mouth turning into a thin line.

          "Jungkook, you're beautiful. Your face, eyes, body, everything. Especially your personality. You could light up a rainy day just by smiling that amazing smile of yours. I'm the luckiest guy in the world to be your boyfriend, Jungkook. So please... don't ever even think that you're nor the most gorgeous human being out there." Jungkook's mouth hung open slightly and his eyes widened in surprise as a result of his boyfriend's speech.

          "Taehyung, I- No one has ever said anything like that to me before... Thank you." Tae ouldn't help but sadly smile at his boyfriend's state, taken aback by the mere statement that he's attractive.

          "Jungkookie. I love you. Of course I'd tell you the truth, but you don't have to thank me for it."

          "It's just... Chanyeol never said anything that sweet before... he'd always tell me the opposite, actually." Jungkook noticed his boyfriend's face contract into a wince at the name Chanyeol, and he felt the older's grip tighten on his hands.

          "Chanyeol?" The blonde asked, disgust evidently crawling its way across his features.

          "Yeah, my-" Jungkook paused, cringing at the fact that he had ever dated him. "My ex." Jungkook glanced down, averting his vision from Tae's strong eyes. The older's body stiffened, and Jungkook wondered why he was acting so weird. "Why? Do you know him?"

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author's note ; okay so i don't usually do this but just prepare yourself, this next part sucks ass. it was super rushed

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          "Yeah... He worked at my old job. Park Chanyeol, right? Big ears, short black hair?" Jungkook tried to nod, tears coming to his eyes instead as nightmarish memories flashed through his mind. The pain. Every slap, hit, or kick. He could feel them all at once, overwhelming his body with a sharp sob. Jungkook could see, hear, everything. His couldn't breathe, the only air travelling to his lungs was through short, sharp gasps in between his choking sobs. As his vision began to go black at the edges, the suffocating feeling overtaking him and his thoughts, Jungkook subconsciously noticed a worried and terrified looking Taehyung leaping up from his seat to catch the brunette as he fell.

          Jungkook could no longer feel what was happening. All he could sense was the suffocation rising in his chest, and the haunting voice of Park Chanyeol in the back of his mind.

          "Honey~ it's five o'clock, time for something 'special'," or, "Look, Jungkook, it's 3:13, looks like I'm getting an unplanned 'special'." The forced sex, the memories Jungkook wished didn't exist, flooded his thoughts when suddenly, something worse flashed into Jungkook's mind. A vivid memory, and not a good one.

          When Jungkook had stumbled in on Chanyeol fucking Kyungsoo, their neighbor, his heart had finally broken in a million pieces. Because even though Chanyeol hurt him, Jungkook still loved him. But obviously, the older boy had only been in their "relationship" for his own selfish pleasure.

          "I promise it's not what it looks like, Jungkook!" He had whimpered, but his eyes were cold. Chanyeol didn't care if Jungkook left or not, and the brunette did just that. The other boy that Chanyeol had been sleeping with, Kyungsoo, was just as much of the culprit as Chanyeol was, and for all Jungkook knew, they were still together today.

          Suddenly, the brunette was brought back to the real world, his trance broken by a crying Taehyung yelling his name. His vision cleared, and he could see again. What he saw made him break at how much the blonde cared for him- he saw Tae leaning over him, tears staining his face, and the look of pure anguish that had been on the older's face was quickly replaced with a sad grin. And there was two workers... Luhan and Minseok? They were standing over him, worried looks on their faces.

          Luhan had come back to bring their drinks when he saw Jungkook convulsing in sobs on the floor, curled up into a ball, and Tae's arms around him, both of the boys with tears on their cheeks. Nearly throwing the two drinks, boba tea and black coffee, on their table, Luhan had rushed to get Minseok. They had been trying to shake him out of his trance for a long time, and Taehyung screaming had finally worked.

          "J-Jungkookie! What- Are you okay? It's been thirty minutes!" Taehyung shouted after noticing the glazed look removing itself from Jungkook's eyes, meaning he was brought back to the real world instead of the suffocating depths of his own mind. The dazed brunette took in his surroundings, looking down at his curled up body and noticing something. Holding his arms in front of him, Jungkook sighed as he realized he had managed to scratch them with his nails, his arms having small pieces of skin missing and scratches everywhere.

          Slowly, Jungkook realized what had happened before lifting both of his hands, covering his face in shame, holding back a choking sob.

          "No... not again. It's been years. Years, Taehyung! How could that all come back just like that... I thought I was done with these fucking things." Jungkook looked sadly up at Taehyung, pulling out his phone to check the time.

          '4:46 pm'

          "I'm sorry for turning today for the worse... I wanted to have a good time." The brunette breathed, feeling seriously bad. He had wanted to have fun with Taehyung, to spend the rest of their day together.

          "Jungkookie, it's okay. I don't think we should've brought up.. him. Do you need anything? Come on, let's get you back up in your seat.." Taehyung said sweetly, unfallen tears still glistening in his eyes as he helped his still-shocked boyfriend up.

          "Uh.. here's your drinks, guys. I'm sorry about what happened, I don't really know, but..." Luhan trailed off, feeling awkward as ever in his situation.

          "No, Luhan. don't feel bad, it's not your fault I had a panic attack..." Jungkook mumbled the last words, feeling terrible about what happened. Taaehyung, after helping the brunette in his seat, sat down across from the younger in his own seat, gripping his hands tightly across the table.

          "I love you, Jungkook, and if anything's ever bothering you, come to me. Okay?" Jungkook nodded, squeezing Taehyung's hands as if to reassure himself.

          "I love you too.. Thank you." Taehyung smiled softly at the brunette's response, and looked over to see Minseok giving Luhan a hug before walking back to behind the counter.

          "So.. What would you like to order today, guys?" Luhan smiled at the couple, pulling out his notepad to write down what they ordered. Jungkook smiled at the waiter before speaking.

          "I'll have a serving of galbijjim, with kimchi and kongnamul on the side... Thank you, Luhan. Is it okay if I even call you that?" Jungkook asked, smiling softly.

          "Yes, it's fine," Luhan said, laughing as he wrote what Jungkook ordered on his notebook. Turning towards Taehyung as Jungkook checked the time, Luhan asked,

          "And what would you like, sir?"

          "Can I please have some... japchae, with baek kimchi, and kimbap?" Taehyung's order was almost a question, as if he didn't want to be rude. Nodding, the waiter wrote down his order and smiled before walking off, giving the slip of paper to Minseok who walked away into the kitchen.

          "Taehyungie, thank you. For helping me and understanding.. But I don't want to rely on you, I feel like it's rude to ask for-" The brunette was cut off by Taehyung, who spoke kindly yet sternly.

          "Jungkook, it's fine. And you don't have to feel bad to rely on me, I want you to rely on me. After all, I love you."

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word count ; 2311

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author's note ; okay i know that lowkey sucked but oh whale, i'll try to double update tonight anyways,, byeeee. ew the ending sucked