"Really?! You bought a house?" Maddie chimed in astonishment. Despite talking to Jungkook, she turned around to look at Taehyung, gloating as if to say 'I-told-you-so'.

He returned her smug expression with a clenched jaw and a blank stare.

"We're putting down roots, baby!" Jungkook exclaimed, shooting forward to wrap his arms around Maddie. She squealed when he picked her up and twirled her around.

Cleo sighed dreamily, watching the idyllic scene from afar. Suddenly her eyes darted to Taehyung's form. From behind, all she could see were his tense shoulders and she pursed her lips knowingly, her expression transforming into an unreadable one.

"So, what do you think of that?" Jungkook asked, sparkly-eyed, pure joy pouring through every fiber of his body.

"I think that's good! Actually no, I think that's awesome!" Maddie enthused.

"You should come and see it! Maybe after work?"

"I'd love to!" she clapped her hands. Her excitement poured through her and she glowed from the inside out, as Taehyung darkly remarked internally.

"Yeah, I'd love to, too." All of a sudden Taehyung took a step forward, his grin growing on its own accord as he feigned the same excitement Maddie radiated.

Confused, Jungkook's gaze traveled to him. Perplexity dawned on his face as if this were the first time he was noticing the brown-haired man.

"Yeah... great." Jungkook nodded slowly, his brows furrowing.

There was a baffled pause of silence as the two men stared at each other silently. Taehyung – with his chin held high, Jungkook – with a deep frown on his forehead that became deeper and deeper by the minute. All Maddie could do was stare at the two of them in bewilderment, sensing the testosterone levels in the air increase. The atmosphere was suddenly so tense it was crackling with electricity.

"All right, I'll come too!" Cleo announced, breaking the deadly silence. Maddie released a heavy sigh of relief, thankful for her friend's intervention.

"Just... amazing." Jungkook mumbled darkly, gesturing for all of them to follow him to his car.

***

"So what, is he a farmer now?" Taehyung scrunched his nose, taking a good look around the property Jungkook had just bought. It was humongous. Like, you could probably build a whole village over it. Was he overcompensating for something probably?

"I think he'd be a good farmer," Cleo admitted. "Don't you guys remember he played a farmer in his movie 'Passions In The Wheat'?"

"How I wish I could unsee that one." Taehyung grimaced.

"I really think you should cut him some slack, Taehyung." Maddie nudged him. "Could you smile a little bit?" Indeed, when Taehyung wanted to smile, it could light up the whole room. Recently, it seemed like he had taken it upon himself to wear a permanent frown on his face and sulk like a handsome, stomping baby.

"No." he scowled.

"You're unbelievable!"

"What? Maddie, people like him buy houses all the time! It's called tax shelter. To him, it's probably like purchasing a pack of gum."

"Oh, Taehyung." Cleo patted him on the back, shaking her head.

"I can guarantee you that by the end of the day Jungkook's house and farm and his freaking wheat will be back on the market." Taehyung's voice was a low threat.

"Why, what are you gonna do?" Maddie questioned warily.

"Nothing!" he replied innocently. "You know, just... gonna be a good neighbor."

Incensed, Maddie glared at him. She opened her mouth to deliver a witty comeback, but was too distracted by the sight of Jungkook waving them down from the porch.

Naked from the waist up.

"Dear. Mother. OF GOD!!" Cleo screamed, pressing a hand to her chest in shock.

"Oh come on, he's not even that hot." Taehyung rolled his eyes. "Would it hurt him to put a shirt on?"

"Jungkook!" Maddie chirped, holding for support onto Cleo who was about to pass out from the delicious view before her. "This place is unbelievable!"

"Thanks, baby." Jungkook smirked, leaning one shoulder against the door frame. "I'm glad you like it. This barn over there sits at what they call 'the south forty'. Yeah. I don't know how acres that is, but I'm going to guess that's a lot."

"Yeah... I'm gonna guess forty." Taehyung mumbled somberly.

"Oh yeah. Could be." Jungkook mused.

"Hey Jungkook, being a new farm owner and all... I mean, I know you'll probably hire some people to run this for you, but hell, I'd be happy to show you a couple of everyday farm chores." Taehyung suggested, earning a quizzical look from Maddie.

"Really?" Jungkook was either honestly surprised, either he was playing this very well. "Taehyung, that would be great. Thank you."

"Oh, Jungkook," Taehyung grinned widely, patting Jungkook's back then draping an arm over his shoulder and guiding him towards the barn. "That's not a problem."

Hastily, Cleo scurried after them, leaving Maddie to stare after everyone in utter disbelief.

***

"Okay, so," Taehyung instructed, taking an axe in his hand. "The trick is to take a full swing so as to split the log in one swift-"

Abruptly, Jungkook grabbed the hem of his shirt and expertly pulled it over his head, revealing his well-toned abs and chest glistening with sweat.

"Yeah, take it off!" Cleo cheered from the bench where she and Maddie were sitting.

"-stroke." Taehyung finished with a blank expression.

"I was just feeling a little bit hot." Jungkook smirked, sending a wink Maddie's way whose cheeks had now turned crimson.

"I see," Taehyung gave a curt nod before taking his own shirt off and throwing it to the ground. "Same here."

The sight had Maddie's head spinning. In the twenty years she had known Taehyung, she had never seen him like this. Even when they would go to the beach, he would always wear a loose t-shirt over his upper body.

She had never know what was hiding underneath the layer of clothing and dear Lord, was she missing out on a lot. Though standing next to Jungkook's remarkable physique, Taehyung was still breathtaking. His frame was leaner and a little bit flatter than Jungkook's and his shoulders were a bit wider, but his muscles were no less toned and defined.

His caramel skin looked soft to the touch, glistening underneath the sun rays. Maddie found her breathing accelerating at the way his abdominal muscles formed a perfect 'V' pointing towards his crotch. Suddenly she found herself craving to trail her fingertips along his pecs and down to his abs and-

Argh! Snap out of it!

"Oh dear God," Cleo gasped, too struck to notice Maddie's shaky hands. "Maddie..." she lowered her voice. "Was Taehyung always this hot?"

"What- why would you say this!" Maddie shrieked, becoming frantic. "I- I have no idea what you're talking about, h-h-he seems the same to me." she stuttered. She knew she had to look away, but suddenly her body wasn't listening to her commands.

"Let's do this then." Taehyung firmed. Maddie was thankful he wasn't looking straight at her right now, because she felt as if her cheeks were on fire. Stunned, she continued to observe his face. She had no idea why she hadn't noticed earlier how high his nose was. Was his nose always this high? It looked like Mt. Everest. Maddie could see herself climbing up his nose and falling down to her death. And his jaw, oh gosh, his jaw. It looked so sharp and beautifully defined that it was as if God had gathered all the best sculptors in the world and had told them to make a jaw so sharp it could cut glass. His eyes were so exceptionally large and his cheeks looked so cute and soft they were calling out to her to plant kisses all over them-

"Hello?" Cleo waved a hand in front of Maddie's face. "Earth to Maddie? Wake up!" she shook her friend, a bit too erratically for her liking.

"I'm okay. I'm okay, gosh!" Maddie frowned, too flustered to keep her cool.

"Oh, got it," Cleo nodded understandingly. "Jungkook's beauty made your brain shut down. I got ya, girl. We've all been there."

Yeah. Jungkook...

"So uh," Taehyung flipped the axe in his hand carelessly, looking over at Jungkook. "You work out?"

"Nah." Jungkook yawned.

"Yeah, me neither," Taehyung mumbled. "It's, like... me neither. Okay, so," he resumed his explanation, holding the axe in his hand properly now. "It's basically one swift stroke. So, you do this and then..."

Before he had a chance to finish his lecture, Jungkook had already split the piece of wood in two with his axe.

"That's good. Beginner's luck." Taehyung scoffed, glancing over his shoulder to see Maddie stare at him intently, her body completely rigid.

When he locked eyes with her, she immediately looked down and died a little inside.

***

After two very dreadful hours spent at Jungkook's farm, the group finally sat down to have a bite.

It had been especially tormenting for Taehyung, having to watch as Jungkook played with Maddie's hair and left occasional pecks on her cheeks as the heat in her cheeks only mounted. Cleo seemed oblivious to it all, too busy to devour her third cheeseburger this afternoon, but when Jungkook stood up and announced he'd be right back, Taehyung had the impulse to walk out and follow him to have a man-to-man conversation with him.

Grumbling something under his breath, Taehyung caught a glimpse of Jungkook's form just as he rounded the corner and disappeared behind a wooden door. Without knocking first, he barged after him without much hesitation, and his body went rigid with surprise.

It was a bathroom.

Perched on the toilet, Jungkook just blinked at him like a deer in headlights.

Taehyung shifted, his gaze dropping to Jungkook's pants circled around his ankles.

"Taehyung." Jungkook winced, his voice a little too calm.

"Hey Jungkook. Can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Yeah, sure, I mean why not, it's not like this is a bad time or anything." Jungkook murmured.

"Great," Taehyung ignored his gibe. "Forgive the intrusion, but-"

"Oh yeah, no, please, fire away." Jungkook grimaced, finding sudden interest in his knees.

"Okay, here it is," Taehyung inhaled, stewing for a bit to control his breathing. "You win. Okay? Fair and square."

"I do?" Jungkook was perplexed. "...Thank you."

"I mean, you did have an advantage or two, but..." Taehyung spluttered. "I want Maddie to be happy. So, I got to ask you a couple questions." He crossed his arms over his chest, taking on a more intimidating stance.

"I'm all ears." Jungkook chirped, looking up at him.

"Do you know how long she keeps her hair in straight mode and in curly mode?" Taehyung interrogated, firmly enough to make Jungkook truly contemplate his answer.

"Uh... what?"

"Or why her favorite necklace has a starfish clasp?" Taehyung went on.

"No, I believe I do not." Jungkook replied earnestly.

"Do you even know that she has six different smiles?" Taehyung questioned, his calloused expression faltering as a small but fond smile curled his lips.

"She has six smiles?" Jungkook stared at him as if he had grown a penis on his forehead.

"Yeah!" Taehyung nodded rapidly. "One when something flat-out makes her laugh, and one when she's laughing out of politeness. But there's one when she makes plans, one when she makes fun of herself, one when she's uncomfortable. And one when..." he trailed off, nibbling on his lower lip, his gaze dropping to his shoes. "One when she's talking about her friends."

"I..." Jungkook was still as confused as ever. "I don't know these things yet, Taehyung."

"No, you don't, Jungkook," the other man frowned deeply. "I'm telling you, she is more of a treasure that you can possibly know. She's not just some wholesome small-town girl, some good-for-you breath of fresh air. She is a wonderful person with a huge heart!"

"Yeah, I know-"

"And the kind of beauty a only sees once, you know? Once." Taehyung stressed.

Jungkook grunted, looking away in what seemed like shame and remorse.

"Listen, man, if there's even the slightest chance that you might break her heart, please, just for her sake... walk away." Taehyung said in a begging voice and it had been the most honest Jungkook had ever seen someone look. The plea in Taehyung's eyes was so raw and earnest there was no way it could be fake.

"I could never break Maddie's heart," Jungkook declared solemnly. "Okay?"

"Good." Taehyung clenched his jaw. "Because if you do, I swear to God, I will tear you to pieces with my bare hands." His voice gravelly and dangerously deep. "Or you know, my vicious sarcasm."

A face-splitting grin grew on Jungkook's face. "You're a good guy, Taehyung."

"Yeah, no," Taehyung sniffed, his gaze casting downwards. "Apparently not good enough."

author's note:

hey, so notice how it isn't specified in the title what kind of ff this is unlike my other ffs?

yeah... I wonder why 😇