"Tae... S-Slowly, p-please..."

A gasped breath mumbled quietly. Taehyung gave a pleasured grumble in response, then slowed down the movement of his hips.

"I'm sorry, baby..." He whispered softly, against his ear. "You just feel so good.."

"Y-Yeah?"

"Mmn'yeah.."

Jeongguk cracked a smile, his legs locking tighter over the man's waist, urging him closer between his thighs.

"Did I hurt you?"

"N-No.." The younger's smile widened. "Keep going, hyung.."

Taehyung's face was dug into the side of his neck while he gave gentler thrusts inside the younger, the two's bodies embraced within the bedsheets, a thin gleam of sunlight slipped past a cluster of clouds and gifted warmth over their skin. With every plunge of Taehyung's erection against his walls, Jeongguk squeaked out a quiet satisfied moan, eyes drooping shut in bliss of the feeling.

Being hugged into those thick, strong arms while his hyung made love to him... Jeongguk couldn't possibly imagine a better morning than this.

He was at a state of nirvana, both in the feeling rushing his veins and the mental joy that overwhelmed him whenever he'd breathe in the air around him only to find that familiar, manly hinoki scent inhaled into his system.

Jeongguk gave two taps at the man's bicep, knowing that the simple action would make Taehyung stop his movements and check up on him.

And that's precisely what the older did. The minute he felt that rhythmic touch on his arm, his thrusts came to a stop and he pried his face away from Jeongguk's neck to gaze down at him attentively. He was expecting to see a pained look over the younger's face, to hear him whimper cutely that he needed a break.

But what he found instead, was a boyish bunny smile upon his baby's lips.

"Hm..?" Taehyung hummed, staring back at him with a slightly perplexed expression. And Jeongguk took it as an opportunity to lean forward and smooch beneath the older's nose, his head then falling back against the pillow beneath him.

Taehyung watched as the strands of Jeongguk's bangs scattered back cutely, revealing his forehead. He chuckled softly. "What's wrong, pretty boy?"

Jeongguk felt his heart swoon at the nickname.

"N-Nothing.." He grinned sheepishly. "I just wanted to tell you that."

"Tell me what, hm..?"

The boy blinked innocently up at his boyfriend, who hovered above him, arms propped at either side of him to pin him down over the mattress. He found it sweet that Taehyung was patiently speaking to him, despite the urge he must've had to keep rubbing his cock against his walls in more consistent thrusts. But the man remained still, his attention focused on the cute boy with flushed cheeks laying beneath him.

"W-When I was little, my mom used to poke the mole below my lips.." He spoke timidly. "She said doing that was a secret code that meant, 'I love you'... So I did the same, for you."

Taehyung's lips lifted into an amused smile. "So you kissing the mole on my nose was you telling me you love me?"

Jeongguk swallowed quietly, suddenly feeling flustered under the man's direct inspecting gaze. Though somehow, he managed to nod in response, and Taehyung chuckled a quiet laugh.

"You're so fucking cute, bun.." He leaned down, pressed a peck beneath the boy's lips, directly on his little beauty mark. "I love you, too."

Jeongguk's face turned a crimson hue, and he pouted, face turning to the side to avoid the handsome face above him.

"Y-You're not s-supposed to say it out loud when you do that, it's-... s-supposed to be a secret message.."

Taehyung's jaw lowered in mocked realization. "Ah.. I see," he gave a teasing nod, then leaned down to smooch the mole again. Once, then twice, until he was repeatedly kissing Jeongguk's beauty spot over and over, and over, and over.

"H-Hyung, stoop!" Jeongguk giggled, squirming defensively against the older's attack of kisses. But he was failing terribly, as Taehyung was determined to land every single kiss against his pretty mole, loud smooching sounds echoing against the walls alongside Jeongguk's squeal.

Eventually, Taehyung finally finished his array of smooches and pulled back to smirk at his boyfriend, who was rendered a pouty blushing mess beneath him.

"Awh.." He cooed gently, landing one last kiss, this time directly on the boy's lips. "I wish you could see how adorable you look right now.. My sweet baby.."

"S-Stop.." The younger repeated in a whine, "Just-.." A huffed sigh. "Just shut up and m-make love to me."

Taehyung held back a laugh and reached to wipe at the boy's mole with his thumb.

"As you wish, my baby highness."

※ ※

The scent of lingering rain danced in the air, water droplets clung to wet leafs before plopping toward concrete; the grassy smell after a rain shower—a hint that spring may just be lurking around the corner.

Jeongguk strolled leisurely down the school campus' gravel pathing, a peaceful expression settled over his face as his small hands remained engulfed entirely into bigger ones. He swung his and his boyfriend's interlocked hands throughout their serene walk, a bounce in his step. They had been strolling in comfortable silence, both consumed in the bliss that could be found within the simple things; like how they've woken up beside each other, greeted by a cozy lull in the air that persisted even as they made love to each other. To now, where they held hands on a school morning while walking to class across campus.

And Jeongguk loved every single thing about it.

In fact, he felt he could do this forever. And although he genuinely held affection for every single one of Taehyung's alters, and as such enjoyed spending time with them all, he would be lying if he were to say he didn't miss Taehyung, himself.

Taehyung. The host alter. The one present, when everything had started for them.

While his thoughts lingered deeper on that notion, the younger's brows began to lower gradually, and a natural pout had made an appearance on his face. He subconsciously squeezed his grip over Taehyung's hand, and the older's head turned to peek curiously at his pouty baby.

"Mm..? What's wrong, darling?" The man's smooth voice poured into his ears, and Jeongguk felt that familiar rush, that dash of pure ecstasy, whenever his lover spoke a word.

"N-Nothing, um... I was just thinking.." He hummed softly, his thumb brushing gently over Taehyung's knuckles.

"Thinking about what, hm? What's my baby thinking about?"

Jeongguk opened his mouth to speak but his brows furrowed instead, teeth biting down to graze his bottom lip.

"Nothing in particular..." He then mumbled out, and suddenly Taehyung came to a full stop, causing Jeongguk to halt by his side.

"Jeongguk.. Tell me." Taehyung's tone was stern, yet soft. The boy couldn't ignore the flutter it gave his chest, despite him having felt such things a thousand times over.

There was a moment in which he hesitated. Where he wondered if he should voice his thoughts out loud. But Taehyung's charming eyes were fixated over him, and with that coaxing look on his face Jeongguk just couldn't say no to him.

"W-Well.." He began, after a clear of his throat. "I was just wondering maybe..." Another stalling second dragged on before the boy finally finished his sentence. "If X hates me, or... something along those lines.."

Taehyung's brow perked. "X...? Hating you?" He paused. "Why would you think that?"

Jeongguk's gaze lowered to the ground beside their feet. "I-I dunno, just-..." A huffed sigh left him. "He's never come out to talk to me or anything. A-And I know he keeps to himself and all but... Dotie's shy too, and even he made the effort to front and have a conversation with me. We talk just fine despite Dot's mutism.." The boy nervously shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "So why hasn't X done the same...?"

Taehyung cracked a gentle smile, his hand prying from the other's grip to settle it beneath the young one's chin. "Aw baby..." He cooed quietly. "It's got nothing to do with you. X just-... doesn't really front."

Jeongguk's curious gaze remained on the other, his pouting expression slowly relaxing. "Y-Yeah, Joon-hyung's told me so before... That no one's really talked to him, except for the other alters of course.. But—" He reached his hand up to place it over the older's. "Why doesn't he? Is it not just because he's too shy?"

Taehyung merely blinked down at him, his faint smile becoming a natural lining across his lips. "Not exactly... It's true that X is one of us—another alter. But you should think of him as, say, that voice in your head when you hear your own thoughts. That voice is you, thinking. Not out loud, but inside your head. And the you that's standing right in front of me is also you, in a physical form. But I can't really talk to the 'you' inside your head. Because it only exists in your thoughts."

Jeongguk slowly lowered his hand, and Taehyung did the same. The boy scratched at the side of his arm and gave a sheepish smile. "What you said should really make no sense, but I understood.." He laughed lightly, then moved one foot forward to continue towards the school building at the distance.

Taehyung chuckled beside him, then reached to take hold of his hand again. "You get it, don't you? There's this kind of... 'world' in my head that the alters all reside in. X prefers spending time in there, than out here. I'm not sure he's ever even fronted before. Not even once."

"R-Really?"

"Hm.. Not that I know of."

"So if he's got no interest in it... Does that mean he's never going to front?"

Taehyung gave a shrug. "I doubt it. I haven't had a single proper conversation with him, but I hear him in my head every now and then, and he'll listen to me if I do decide to tell him something. But honestly, out of all of us he prefers talking to V."

Jeongguk's mouth gaped open. "V...? Why him, specifically?"

"I guess his role when he came to be, was to be V's right hand man." The older spoke thoughtfully. "At least before, back when we were little. And now that I'm older and we manage our system better I think he's less engaged with us. His job was fulfilled, I suppose."

"Hm.. So in a way V had someone to rely on back then.." Jeongguk hummed his thoughts out loud. "That's good... No one should have to shoulder everything all on their own. Especially something like what he went through..."

"Yes.." Taehyung gave a nod, squeezing on the boy's hand gently. "I'm just as grateful for him as I am for the others being there for me.. Even if he's not very chatty with me. It very much felt like X and V were the grown ups, while me, Vante, Dot and I were children they needed to look after."

"X and V... The last few letters of the English alphabet.." Jeongguk hid his giggle behind one hand.

Taehyung perked a teaseful brow. "Why are you laughing? Is the English language that funny to you?"

The boy let another giggle leave his throat before he shook his head. "No way. We went through an entire semester taking an English class together. If anything, it's a precious language to me."

Taehyung grinned, then lifted the younger's hand up to his lips to place a kiss over the skin. "Mm. You know... there's only one letter that separates V and X."

Jeongguk turned his head to look at him, a light blush on his cheeks from the contact of the man's lips on his hand. "Y-Yeah.. It's W.."

Before Taehyung could utter a response to him, a feminine voice cut through the air behind them.

"Jeonggukie~! Good mo~orning~! Ready for today's lecture?"

The two turned around to see a girl with pigtails waving a hand while she approached them, and it was then that they realized they had arrived right beside the door to Jeongguk's classroom.

"Oh.. Good morning, noona." The boy cleared his throat, then gently released his hold on Taehyung's hand and smiled at him. "Thanks for walking me to class.." He uttered in a soft voice, then lifted his finger to poke the mole on the man's nose lightly.

Taehyung got the secret message, loud and clear, and a fond grin appeared over his face.

He smiled back at the boy and patted Jeongguk's hair before wiping his thumb over the beauty mark below his lips. "Of course, darling. I'll see you after class, m'kay? Let me know when you're done."

Jeongguk's glimmering eyes beamed, a boyish smile on his lips while he nodded meekly. Just then, the girl caught up to where they stood, and Jeongguk waved his boyfriend goodbye before retreating past the lecture hall theater's large doors.

"I almost missed the bus this morning.." His classmate made quiet conversation beside him while they walked down to their seats. "People who live in dorms have it so easy... They get to sleep in a lot more."

"Tell me about it.." Jeongguk gave a light chuckle. "But having your own place does have its perks."

"I guess so.." The girl sulked just as they lowered themselves to their seats, and Jeongguk found himself looking around the theater space, in search of his classmate Donghyun, whom had borrowed his notes from him back at the cafeteria last week.

Come to think of it, he had said he'd return it to him on Monday, and yet the man was absent yesterday.

Just as the odd thought crossed his head, one that Jeongguk had dismissed with something trivial like, maybe he caught a cold or something along the sort; the lecture hall then began to fill up with students, and Jeongguk refocused his attention to the professor in front of them.

The class itself was as usual, though Jeongguk's headspace was still stuck in the beautiful intimate moment he had shared with his boyfriend just this morning, and his heart couldn't stop the fluttery feeling consuming him. Because of that, he found he couldn't focus quite as efficiently as he usually could, but he decided it was only an inevitable part of being so deeply in love.

He figured, of course, he'd just take extra time to study for the upcoming exam some other time. And before he knew it, time had flown by. The professor was dismissing them already, and Jeongguk thought that had been the shortest a class had ever felt before.

Another inevitable part of being deeply in love, it seemed.

"See you tomorrow, Gguk." His noona gave him a warm smile, and the boy waved her goodbye before spotting one of the scattering students that stood up just a couple rows behind him.

Their eyes caught contact for a brief moment, and he quickly recognized the man to be—well, none other than Donghyun.

The man's eyes seemed to widen in surprise for a moment before he quickly looked away and turned to leave the row he was seated at. Slipping his hoodie over his head, Donghyun then began to rush hurriedly past the line of people trying to exit the hall.

Jeongguk's jaw lowered, utterly confused as to his classmate's reaction. And so naturally, he made hasty movements to run after him, attempting to chase him down through the crowd of students. Once he had managed to slip by the large doors, he looked over the narrow hall to see that Dongyun had sped past the bathrooms, and Jeongguk made quick effort to catch up to him.

"Donghyun!" He called out, reached a hand to grasp onto the man's shoulder. Donghyun's body recoiled from Jeongguk's grip, and he halted in place, frozen on his feet before he slowly turned to face the boy. "Are you-... What's going on...? Are you avoiding me?"

Donghyun quietly cleared his throat, then lowered the hood from his head to reveal a healing bruise over his face. Jeongguk gasped quietly at the sight, his brows gradually lowering to a frown.

"My god, Donghyunie, what on earth happened to you—?"

"What do you want, Jeongguk..?" The man interrupted, a cold tone to his voice.

Jeongguk stopped mid-sentence and slumped his shoulders in defeat. "W-What do you mean..? You skipped a class and never returned the notes I let you borrow from last time. Even just now you were running away from me, and now I see that your face is all bruised up..." He lowered his voice. "What's going on with you..?"

"Nothing's going on." The man answered simply, then lowered his bag from his shoulder and began to dig through it. "Look I'll give you your notes back but you shouldn't talk to me after this.."

"What..?" Jeongguk clenched his hands beside him. "Why not?"

Donghyun gave an exasperated sigh, his eyes peeking around them as though he were on lookout for someone. He then pulled Jeongguk's notebook from his bag, and reached it toward the boy.

"Because-... I'm not supposed to talk to you."

Jeongguk narrowed his eyes. "Says who?"

The man waved the notebook in the air desperately, and Jeongguk finally grabbed it, taking it back into his possession.

"It's that infamous guy... Kim Taehyung. He told me to stay away from you.." Donghyun blurted out in a whisper. "And everyone knows he's involved in some crazy shit. Apparently he's a proper gangster, in a well-known gang around Seoul, too. I really don't want to fuck with that guy.."

Jeongguk's mouth parted open, and he nearly let a scoff slip past his throat.

V.

He must've seen them talking at the cafeteria and, for whatever petty reason, decided to threaten poor Donghyun just for breathing in Jeongguk's proximity.

And it took everything in Jeongguk's willpower not to sigh loudly at such a realization.

"G-God, I'm so sorry, Donghyun... Don't listen to him.." Jeongguk's lips pursed out while he reached to store his notebook back into its place inside his bag. "He was just-... In a bad mood that day. You don't have to be afraid of him, I'll.. talk to him. Get him to leave you alone. Okay?"

Donghyun's eyes enlarged. "Talk to him? A renowned gangster?" He quickly shook his head. "That's way too dangerous, Jeongguk. I'll just do what he says and there'll be no problem."

"But you're my friend.." Jeongguk frowned. "I don't want to not talk to you ever again, just because of him..."

Donghyun gaped back at him, not quite having expected to hear such an endearing response. A small smile pushed onto his lips, and his shoulders visibly relaxed.

"You make a very compelling argument," he then chuckled softly, and the two fell silent for a curt moment. Donghyun lowered his head, and he seemed deep in thought, for a while, until he finally let out a soft sigh. "O-Okay.. Just be careful. I can be there when you talk to him, if you want. That way he doesn't try any funny business."

Jeongguk smiled in response, and though he wished he could say something like, "That's okay, he's actually my boyfriend," or anything along the sort, he knew that he shouldn't reveal such things without consulting Taehyung about it first.

After all, they had agreed to let those close to them know of their relationship, but others outside that circle hadn't quite been discussed yet.

So Jeongguk merely looked back at his classmate and shook his head.

"I'll be okay. He and I shared a class and even did a project together, so.. I'll be fine."

Donghyun hesitated before perking a brow. "You sure?"

"I'm sure."

The man slowly lifted his bag back over his shoulder and exhaled softly. "A-Alright. Good luck then, Gguk. Let me know what he says."

The boy flashed another smile, then gave a determined nod.

"Will do."

※ ※

"Oppa already left, so make sure to properly put everything back when you guys are done, alright?"

"Sure, thanks," Taehyung hummed out, his gaze fixated on the tray directly in front of him. He heard the creak of the heavy door push open, then shut just as quickly, the sound then repeating a second time at a slightly further distance.

A red light cut through the otherwise complete darkness surrounding him, its glimmer reflecting over his gloves. The tongs he held pushed down over film paper soaked in chemicals, and he watched blots of black fade in on the blank sheet, forming a black and white image shot of Seoul.

"Haneul, are you done yet?" Taehyung spoke up, then heard a voice speak up from behind him.

"I think so, I'll just wait for a few to dry a bit longer."

Taehyung turned his head over his shoulder to see his dongsaeng, Haneul, removing his gloves at the corner.

"Are you going to continue developing photos?" The boy continued.

Taehyung redirected his attention back to his film photo, and lifted the piece of paper toward the tray beside it.

"Mhm.." He hummed. "Just a bit longer. I got a lot of negatives to develop."

"Right." Haneul chuckled quietly. "At this rate, will you even make it to tonight's meeting?"

"Ha, very funny.." Taehyung rolled his eyes teasingly, his foot tapping twice over the floor.

Lee Haneul was indeed his dongsaeng from school—from photography club, but he also just so happened to be a gangster as well. A Bangtan member, to be precise. Despite his rank being, not anything quite as fancy as a captain, but a mere soldier; Taehyung was still rather close to him. Much like right now, they often develop photos in the school's Darkroom studio quite a lot together. They've even shared a class or two throughout the semesters. As such Taehyung's even requested him to help out in several missions, and they have great business compatibility.

Though Taehyung could really do without the boy's ample remarks at times.

"Well if you're going to stick around for longer I'll go get more negatives to develop," Haneul spoke up after a moment, and Taehyung merely hummed in response before tending to the damp film paper.

He then retreated back toward the first table in a lineup of four, and replaced the strip of film negatives with a new one. He went through the same repeated ritual, soaked the paper into chemicals, rinsed and repeated once again, and at one point he mindlessly found himself watching the new black and white image appear under the clear liquid, the red glare of the safe light beside him casting off the edges.

And then — his eyes began to widen.

He watched, astounded, gawking at the sheer image coming into fruition right in front of him. The utterly provoking, scandalous image unsheathing before his very eyes.

There, over the film paper, in clear black and white exposure, had formed a photo of him and Jeongguk he didn't remember ever taking.

Jeongguk was at the fore right of the image, his eyes glazed over in ecstasy, while Taehyung was stood beside him with a predatory expression, teeth dug into his bottom lip while he held the film camera up beside him.

The man's jaw nearly dropped, gathering the details forming on the image. Details like, how it seemed that the photo was taken in front of a mirror, while Taehyung fucked Jeongguk from behind.

And he knew, immediately he knew, that it was none other than V who had shamelessly snapped this image with their camera, landing a permanent copy of it into the film negatives. And only now, once he had developed it into a physical copy, did Taehyung realize such a photo was even captured.

"Holy shit.." He mumbled, lifting the paper with the tongs in his grip. He neared the image closer to his face, to get a better look at it, before dipping it back onto the next tray to finish the image developing process.

Yet still, he couldn't quite keep his eyes off of it. Because, dare he admit it, that was a sexy fucking photo V had taken of them.

Jeongguk looked so beautiful. So submissive. Taehyung wished he had been conscious enough to have heard his moans from that moment. Oh, how he regretted it.

"I think I may do this one strip and call it a day—"

Taehyung nearly jumped in place, flinching from the sudden sound of Haneul's voice that had suddenly appeared in the darkroom.

"Holy shit, you didn't fucking knock.." He grumbled out, and Haneul blinked back innocently at him.

"The door creaks really loud—isn't that enough?" The boy huffed sassily while moving toward the first table. Taehyung muttered beneath his breath and quickly lifted the paper back up, walked toward the drying rack. He hung up the damp photo, well hidden amongst his other films, then retreated back to the first table to join the younger.

"Actually I think I'll stop here for today," he spoke up suddenly, hastily grabbing his film negatives from the carrier. After all, who knew how many more photos V had taken of that moment. He surely didn't want to find out right then, while Haneul stood so close to him.

The boy gaped at him with an annoyed look. "I just went to go grab more negatives 'cuz you said you were staying."

"Then I'll wait for you to be done," Taehyung chuckled, patting the boy's shoulder before the two heard sudden faint knocking at the door.

They continued to stare at each other, a confused glint now washing their gazes.

"Who the fuck would knock on the first door and not the second?" Haneul mumbled in a lowered voice, and Taehyung removed his hand from his shoulder to walk towards the doorframe.

"Clearly someone who doesn't use the darkroom often," Taehyung pushed the heavy door open, "I'll go check who it is."

He slipped into the short dark tunnel connecting to the first door, where the exit led back to the regular, much more brightly lit, photography studio room. And once he pushed that first door open, he was met with a cute boy standing patiently by the swinging door.

Taehyung perked up at the sight of his boyfriend looking back at him. "Jeongguk.." He spoke up in surprise, "What are you doing here? I thought I was going to go pick you up from class."

"Mm'well.. My class ended a little early and... I knew you'd still be here in the darkroom.." He explained, a faint smile on his face at the mere sight of his lover. "How does this room work anyway? It looked really dark in there.."

Taehyung gave a light chuckle. "It's not actually pitch black in the darkroom itself, that's just the tunnel connecting the two doors from this room to the other. You're supposed to open one door at a time—that way light doesn't get in and ruin the photos we're developing. But there's a safe light that doesn't fuck with the process, so we can see what we're doing in there."

"Oh, so you guys-... develop all the photos you take from scratch?"

"Mhm..." Taehyung nodded, moving to cup the boy's face into his large hands. "Just the ones we take with a film camera, of course."

Jeongguk blinked back at him with his big eyes, and slowly he came to realize what exactly that had meant. "Y-You're using your film c-camera..?" He spoke in a flustered stutter, his cheeks flushing a rosy color.

Taehyung merely smirked back at the boy, his thumb brushing lightly over his cheek. "V really captured you making the prettiest expression, darling... I gotta hand it to him—he's a great photographer."

Jeongguk's jaw dropped, and he quickly retreated three steps, stumbling back while his face turned redder than scarlet wine. "O-Oh my god, you developed that photo?"

The older gave a loud laugh that echoed through the empty studio, then casually dipped his hands into his pockets. "Well, it was an accident. I wasn't really paying attention to what the next negative was and, lo and behold, a masterpiece was made."

"T-Tae!" Jeongguk squeaked. "Rip u-up the photo..!"

"But it's pretty.." The man pouted. "I wanna frame it."

"N-No!"

Jeongguk bounced forward and grabbed onto Taehyung's arm before giving it a squeeze. He pressed his forehead firmly against the older's chest to hide his embarrassment, and took a moment to calm himself from the sheer state of humiliation he was suddenly thrown into.

"W-Whatever, we'll-... talk about that later.." He mumbled out, voice muffled against Taehyung's chest. "I came here t-to tell you something..."

Taehyung hummed in question, head tilting to the side while he amusedly patted at his lover's hair.

"Apparently V threatened my classmate, Donghyun, to stay away from me.." Jeongguk spoke up cautiously, slowly prying his face away from the older's chest. "And he's avoiding me because of it.. P-Plus it looks like they got into some physical fight over it 'cause Donghyunie was all beat up.."

A low breath left Taehyung's lips as he sighed quietly. "You've got to be fucking kidding me.." He mumbled. "V's jealousy really knows no boundaries.."

Jeongguk gulped down the saliva lingering his tongue. "Can you talk to him, at some point..? Tell him that Donghyun's just a friend, so... he should leave him alone..?"

The room fell quiet for a brief moment, and then the older spoke with his gaze fixated directly on the boy.

"Is he really just a friend, though?" Taehyung uttered out in a husky voice. "Or are you secretly just dying to feel his dick inside you, hm?"

Jeongguk blinked up at him in shock, and Taehyung slowly mirrored his expression, a look of surprise filling both the men's gazes. Taehyung then clasped his hand over his mouth and looked away, heart beating loud inside his chest.

"Fuck.." He whispered. "I'm sorry, bun, that wasn't-..."

The younger realized what had happened, and reached to grab Taehyung's wrist gently. "Yeah.." He spoke softly. "That was V, right? He's co-fronting..?"

Taehyung slowly shook his head. "Yeah, that was him... But he's not co-fronting anymore. He just likes to-... pop by every now and then and blurt out nonsense before leaving back into subconsciousness."

"So he's just listening in?"

"Hm.. I suppose."

Jeongguk gave a pout, released his hold on Taehyung while they fell silent for a moment. After a long string of seconds rolled by Taehyung then cleared his throat, and took a step back toward the black door behind him.

"I'll go finish up in there, okay?" He uttered softly. Jeongguk gave a compliant nod and held his hands below his waist.

"Do you still have a Bangtan meeting later, at Abyss?" The boy asked, then continued once Taehyung nodded affirmatively. "Can I come with and wait for you there? I want to go home with you tonight.."

"Of course, darling.." Taehyung moved to peck the tip of his nose. "I could never say no to you."

※ ※

"Another one, pwe~ease..!"

Seokjin grimaced at the cutesy voice the man had hurled at him, and he began circular movements on the small towel he used to clean glasses over the bar area.

"Aegyo doesn't work on me, you weirdo.." He scoffed, lowering the glass in his hands to grab the next one. "Never thought I'd see Tanaka Hiro performing such bile behavior."

"Oh c'mon, Hyung-nim.. Just another shot, please?" Hiro whined, and Seokjin's frown only grew once he saw the Namida man batting his eyelashes innocently at him.

"My god, if it'll get you to shut up I'll do anything.." He grumbled, then turned to grab the bottle of vodka placed behind him. As he did, he heard light foosteps coming from down the hall in front of them, and looked up to see a wide eyed cute boy strolling his way toward them. "Ah, Jeongguk! You joining us for a drink?"

Jeongguk emerged at the establishment's front bar area and smiled at the older man. "No drinks for me tonight. I'll just wait for Taehyungie out here while he's in a short meeting with Joonie. Is that okay?"

"Why, of course it's okay—"

"Jeonggukie!!!" Hiro interrupted in a slur, moving vibrantly to tap the stool seat beside him. "You're here! Come sit with me~"

Jeongguk's eyes widened at the sight of the drunken man, and held back the laugh that threatened to spill past his lips. "Wow, Hiro's really drunk isn't he..? I've never seen him like this."

"Oh, don't mind him. He's just going through a—"

Seokjin was once again interrupted by the Namida man, who slammed his hand down loudly over the bar counter.

"Jeongguk!" He suddenly blurted out. "Promise me... Promise me you'll never fall for a woman!!"

The younger watched in slight amusement while Hiro turned to him and pointed a finger.

"Women may look all pretty and kind and angelic and sweet on the outside, but..." He sniffled. "They'll rip your heart out and fucking dine on that shit for lunch!!"

"Hyung, what are you talking about—"

"Seriously, just ignore him," Seokjin rolled his eyes while popping open the bottle of vodka and pouring a shot into the drunk man's glass. "His girlfriend just broke up with him and he's going around preaching senseless warnings of love."

Jeongguk's eyes widened. "No way... Your girlfriend broke up with you?"

Hiro grinded his teeth down over his bottom lip and hastily lifted the shot of vodka, consumed it in one go, and then slammed it down atop the wooden surface. And then came his grumbling. "I really thought she was the one.."

But before the three men could think to comment any further on the matter, a door was heard once again down the hall and footsteps began to approach them.

Jeongguk turned his head to the corner to watch while Taehyung strolled in, emerged from the hall into the bar area and walked in on the scene.

"Our little father-son meeting's over with," Taehyung grinned as he made his way toward where Jeongguk was seated. "The group one should start in about half an hour. Could you wait for me a little longer, baby?"

Jeongguk giggled softly while the older placed wet kisses over his neck, and he gently pushed him back in retaliation, a blush on his cheeks. "Hyung, n-not now.." He scolded in a whisper. "Hiro's here.."

Taehyung straightened his shoulders and turned to see the Namida man seated on the stool beside them, whose eyes were wide in both surprise and amazement.

The Bangtan captain's brows rose gradually. "Ah, Hiro.. Uh, Tanaka Hiro, correct?"

The man nodded, and Jeongguk watched the two quietly before gasping beneath his breath.

That's right. It was V who had saved him and Hiro that night, at Acre's base. Sure, Taehyung had made it clear that he was perhaps subconscious, and had watched most of those events go down. But it wasn't Taehyung himself who had properly met and chatted with Hiro before. So, in a way, it was his first time meeting him. Not that Hiro knew any of that, anyway.

"Long time no see, s-sir.." Hiro made an effort to sound polite, despite the alcohol flooding both his thoughts and the blood in his veins. "Thank you again for w-what you did for us, back then."

"Don't worry about it," Taehyung cracked a small smile. "And address me casually. Our gangs are allies, after all."

"Yes, but you're—... I mean, you're a captain."

"I'm aware," Taehyung placed his elbow over Jeongguk's shoulder. "I'd still like for you to speak to me as if I were any other soldier. Besides, you took care of my boy back at the Acre situation. I really owe you."

Hiro blinked repeatedly, his gaze switching rapidly between both Jeongguk and the Bangtan captain standing beside him. His lips parted, and for a second he struggled to push his words out. "I-I knew it, you-... You two are dating, right? He's your boyfriend."

Jeongguk's eyes widened, his cheeks blushing redder, but before he could speak a response Taehyung was already answering for them.

"Yes, that's right." He grinned, now wrapping his arm around Jeongguk and digging into his hair. "He's my pretty baby."

A knowing laugh left Hiro's lips while he gaped at the two in amusement. "I fucking kne~ew it. There was no way you two weren't madly in love with each other after everything I've witnessed!"

Jeongguk lowered his head shyly, a small smile on his lips. "Y-Yes, well.. at least you don't have to worry about me 'falling for a woman' right..?"

Seokjin snorted from behind the counter, leisurely placing the glass bottle back in its original position, and Hiro let out a loud laugh in response.

"Good," the Namida man leaned back over the counter. "Stay as you are, Gguk."

Just then, the chime of the front bell lightly went off, indicating that a customer had walked in; and Seokjin quickly perked in head up in confusion.

"We're not open yet!" He yelled out, and turned his head to watch the two men that had walked into the establishment.

The first one being, Hoseok, who had arrived for the meeting that was starting soon. And following behind was the boy who had arrived alongside him, a determined look adorning his serious face.

The boy being, of course—none other than Park Jimin.

✱ ✱ ✱

{ A / N }

so i wanted to write a longer chapter (almost the length of two chapters in one, phew!) this week to express my gratitude for the book reaching 200k+ reads (!) thank you guys so much for the continued support 🥺

it's around that time where i get busier with classes, so honestly i've been struggling to find the time to write and keep up a weekly schedule. there may be a week where i'll have to post a little late, or a week where there'll be no update, but please bear with me! i'll always try my best to feed you all updates :]

you can check out my bio to see my update schedule and, if you want to, you can follow me for more accurate updates on if i'll post a chapter late (or early, who knows ? :3)

also, i'll ask readers a question about their experience just for the fun of it, and for my own curiosity. last time i asked about favorite chapters, so this time i'll ask this:

who's your favorite character (including alters) and why?

stay safe and take care of yourselves, health over everything!

💜