"Yoongi."

"Yes?"

A silence, followed by the blunt plop of an ice cube plunging down a glass of whiskey.

"He had sex with him."

"Oh."

"In a parking lot."

"Oh?" The small man hid his surprise behind the glass of alcohol.

"And the other one... He also talked to him."

"About?"

"Hyukjae."

"Oh..."

"Yeah."

"Fuck."

"Yeah."

※ ※ ※

All he could see was nothing. Then nothing vanished into something. Something like shadows, or light, or a mix of both. Or neither. Light through shadows, maybe. The light rubbed at his eyelids in a blurry bokeh-esque vision, faint shades of circles and squares and triangles blending together to try and make sense of its surroundings. To make coherent shapes, perhaps. Anything that made sense.

Senses. It was all coming back to him, little by little.

Taehyung let out a stifled grumble, body weighing down on him, though the air around him felt warm. He blinked once. Twice. Then repeatedly, his vision gradually coming into some form of clarity. What he noticed next was the pounding in his head, the strings of pain coming in waves at different intervals, different parts of his skin. There was a distant taste of blood on his tongue, and his lips felt dry.

Eventually he was able to identify his own location. He was currently laying at the comfort of his mattress in his own bedroom, and somehow seeing the familiar grey and diagonally striped pattern on the comforter made him relax just a bit. He struggled to sit up, head falling over to his right where he then spotted a person sitting on a chair just beside the bed frame. Their upper body laid atop the mattress space at a couple centimeters distance, arms sprawled to cushion their head, strands of raven hair peeking out from the sheets.

Taehyung licked his chapped lips, cleared his throat and closed his eyes briefly. Although his head hurt like crazy, he remembered vividly what had happed before he blacked out in that fight.

Oh Chulsoo. That was the name of the Acre gang member who had boldly made an attempt to get info out of him. He knew he couldn't be brash and act out just yet, especially at the state he was currently in, but he certainly couldn't wait to return the favor to that asshole. And that was, of course, the favor of crushing his skull into pieces. But that would be a thought he'd revel oh-so leisurely in a little later, because for now his head was pulsing much too loudly.

Taehyung's eyes snapped back open when he felt the mattress lifting, and his eyes settled to the person beside him who he assumed had probably fallen asleep waiting for him to wake.

"Yoongi..?" he managed the name out, unsure of anyone else who could have possibly taken him back home under such a scenario, and stay by his side for so long. But the boy didn't seem to hear his small mumble, and was much too distracted by the sight of him finally conscious.

"Taehyung! You're awake! Geez, I was so goddamn worried!"

The man blinked repeatedly and tried to focus on who it was speaking to him, his pupils dilating when he finally realized who it was, the familiar voice registering much faster than the innocent-looking face. He inhaled sharply, then let his breath ease out of him gently, a whisk of confusion stirring within him.

"Jeon..." he uttered in his raspy voice, his throat barely getting the word out, and a cough instinctively left him abruptly. He had no idea how the boy was here, how he knew where he lived, or why he even bothered looking after him. But truthfully he was just glad he wasn't alone right then. "How... did you get here? Where's hyung?" He made another attempt at sitting up, but instead grunted out in pain and fell back against the pillow behind him.

"Hey now, don't move. You'll hurt yourself, dummy," Jeongguk scolded almost motherly-like, and was quick to stand up and lean in closer. With a hefty pull, he guided Taehyung's upper body upwards and tossed a few more pillows against the headboard for him to lean on. "I'm assuming you mean Yoongi, he's... Well he said he had some things to take care of and left. I've been here looking after you right after begging to be let in. That fight, Taehyung... It was scary."

The man clenched his fingers into fists and sighed out. "You should've left with Hoseok like I told you guys to.."

"I know," Jeongguk bit his lip as he slowly sat back down on the chair beside the nightstand. "I'm sorry, I just... I was worried about you." Silence filled the bedroom, and Jeongguk watched Taehyung's blank face as he stared off into the distance. "Uh, I heard a few things... by the way," he added, shifting in his seat. "He told me about-... about Bangtan and... and the Acre gang. Just.. a little."

More silence, but this time the younger could see fire in the man's eyes.

"Why are you involving yourself with us?" he finally spoke, tone stern. "He told you then, did he not? We're a gang. We do some crazy shit sometimes. Aren't you scared?"

Jeongguk's brow rose while he anxiously scratched the side of his head. "It's a little scary, yeah... But only because you got hurt. And so did Hoseok, and... I don't want you guys to keep getting hurt."

The boy looked up when he heard a sudden loud laugh, meeting Taehyung's gaze who looked at him with a wild grin.

"That's so cute of you, Jeon," the man smirked, seemingly trying his best to stifle yet another dry laugh. "Very cute. But it's none of your business, and that's not how this shit works."

Jeongguk gulped. "I know."

"Do you, now?"

"Yeah. I think." Another pause. "But if... if you guys have to deal with these things, then I... want to help somehow. I-I mean I don't really know how, but... Even if it's little support, then I..."

"You...?"

"I..." Jeongguk found he couldn't quite finish his sentence. Or rather, didn't know how to, in a way that Taehyung could coherently understand. Hell, he, himself couldn't understand it well. All he knew was he wanted to help. It was rather childish of him, he knew that much.

Taehyung sighed. "Jeongguk-"

"Kim Namjoon..." the boy interrupted, eyes fixated on his palms. "Hoseok said you owe him your life."

Taehyung slowly closed his mouth, lips pressing into a thin line. "I do. I owe him a lot."

"If he's that amazing of a person... I want to support you while you make it up to him."

"Jeongguk," Taehyung's gaze was as void as ever, it made the younger boy feel as though he couldn't look away. "You should not involve yourself in it."

"I want to."

"Do not involve yourself."

"But hyung—"

"Jeon Jeongguk."

The two males stared at each other; a pout plastered on one's face, a stern glare on the other's. It was then that Taehyung noticed the sound of rather violent clacking against the glass windows that were concealed by his gray curtains. Must be raining, he thought. Which then brought on a question he'd been meaning to ask for a while now.

"How long was I asleep?" he spoke, eyes narrowing at the younger who had gotten up to sit upon the mattress instead.

"Yoongi showed after the fight..." Jeongguk began, reaching to rest the back of his hand over Taehyung's forehead. He felt a little warm, he thought, but not too bad. "He and Hoseok carried you home, and I followed. The guy from the karaoke place—Kim Seokjin? He then came to treat your wounds. You were really out of it, so it makes sense you don't remember. I didn't know that the Seokjin guy has a nursing degree, but he said you had a concussion. Anyway I helped feed you after that, Seokjin talked to you for a while, and then you knocked out for like 14 hours."

Taehyung stared at him, focused on the words he was saying, then gave a short nod. "Oh.."

Jeongguk slid his thumb over the soft sheets, tracing mindless shapes across the material. "You don't have to worry..." his voice came out a whisper. "Like I said... Hoseok told me everything. I begged him to." Taehyung blinked, and the younger continued. "So I do understand that... only you guys in the Bangtan gang know your leader, RM's real name and what he looks like. And... now that I know his name I swear I'll keep it to myself. Because like I said, I... I just want to help."

"Jeon."

"No, hold on," Jeongguk urged, taking a second to swallow his saliva. "It's not just you... Hoseok's a part of Bangtan, too. And I've barely done anything to support him, so..."

Taehyung let out a long exhale and reached to pinch the tip of his nose. The younger could almost hear his frustration in each breath he took. After a moment of contemplation, Jeongguk then shifted, moving to straddle Taehyung's waist on the bed, almost demanding his attention. He needed him to know he was serious about this. That he wouldn't back down now.

"I won't ask too much. I don't even need to know anything about this Namjoon guy. I just know he's important to you, and that's all I need."

The boy then waited. Sat patiently until the older decided to give a response. During that time he had taken notice yet again of Taehyung's stunning features. His prominent brows that gave him a calm and manly demeanor, his sculpted nose with the cute little mole on the tip, those long lashes that made Jeongguk feel butterflies in his stomach. And his lips. God, his full red lips. Most of the time they were pressed firmly together in grace, but occasionally he'd get to see a grin, which made the poor boy feel weak in the knees. He was so so handsome. Sculpted by every single god of beauty out there, that much Jeongguk was already convinced of. It must've taken restless nights and endless days for the heavens to craft up a man like him.

Really, Taehyung was appetizing in all senses of that word. And it had dawned on Jeongguk in that very moment that he had never gotten to taste those sweet-looking lips of his. The thought alone seemed like a crime because, holy shit, he was dying to taste him. He knew well what Taehyung's cock tasted like—both in his mouth and buried deep inside him. But what Jeongguk anticipated most was those damn enticing lips. Taehyung seemed like a good kisser, that's for sure. The act of looking at him alone was like a full course meal, which only left him wondering what that meal could taste like.

Jeongguk could've sat there and watched him forever, really, but when Taehyung looked up and their gazes met in that moment, he felt particularly strange. He should've been used to the sight of Taehyung's cold stare by now, but just as one's body would react to a frozen breeze, the young boy would shiver under Taehyung's gaze without fail every single time. Yet now, he was close enough to see more, could experience just how profound that bottomless void in the man's eyes extended down to.

There was so much going on in Taehyung's eyes. So many emotions, conceptualization and occurrences to be depicted. One couldn't simply interpret them all. Jeongguk saw fire, and stars, and violent waves in his eyes. Saw strength, and fear, and sorrow. Like constant flashing beams it blinded him. So much of these sensations blended together and left the younger unable to process the odd feeling growing inside of him.

No wonder, he thought, it was hard to read Taehyung at any given time. His eyes held so much, and all the noise would weave into nothing, and everything. All at the same time. As though two thousand people were talking to him all at once—he couldn't possibly process it all in one second.

"Hm? Why are you crying?" That booming, husky voice that pierced the silent air broke Jeongguk from his thoughts, and the man's words confused him until he felt something wet glide down his own cheek.

"Wh-... Um, I..." he cleared his throat consciously, surprised at himself. He hadn't even been aware that tears had gathered at his eyes. He couldn't explain it, but Taehyung's strong gaze told him something; tried to communicate by some means. Something he couldn't quite understand in words, but the feeling was somehow transcribed in his body. Truly, it was unexplainable even to himself. And yet it felt as though he somehow understood something he didn't before. "Sorry..." he uttered out after having gathered himself for a moment. "I just.. I know what I have to do now..."

Taehyung's left brow rose, unsure of what the boy above him was talking about. "What do you have to do?" he asked, tone more as a statement rather than a question.

"Hyung..." He wiped away his tears and looked at the man with a determined look on his face, a serious shift in his expression while he landed his hands on both of Taehyung's shoulders. "I'll be the one... to protect you."

✱