Forty-Second
:Chapter Forty-Two:

     "Wow, you look absolutely like shit." Namjoon uttered as he got a good look at Jeongguk, leaning on the locker beside the younger's.

"Gee, glad I can count on you if I'm ever having a rough time." Jeongguk rolled his eyes, just playing around since he was already well aware of how drained he looked.

"Anytime, man." Namjoon grinned. "Why do you look so tired? It's not even exam week, no way you should look as stressed as you are."

"I'm not stressed, I just wasn't asleep until like four in the morning." Jeongguk said.

     That's right, Taehyung and Jeongguk had found themselves texting for hours just about random shit, going on and on until Taehyung fell asleep with his phone resting against his chest.

They didn't even have a real topic, they were just entertaining each other and, for the first time, actually getting to know one another.

Turned out they both were pretty playful, both loving a good meme here or there. Taehyung was just a bit more on edge compared to Jeongguk.

     "Well, that's dumb. Why?" Namjoon seemed to have been a little too nosy today, all in Jeongguk's business but the younger truly didn't mind.

"I couldn't sleep, was just on my phone." Texting Taehyung until the earliest of morning's but Jeongguk left out that part. For Kim's sake since the boy didn't like public friendships apparently.

"You know, you shouldn't be on any device with blue-light an hour before you go to bed. It can affect your sleep and hurt your eyesight." The elder informed, causing the tired boy to make a face in return.

The aforementioned slowly nodded, pulling his notebook out of his locker before shutting and completely facing Namjoon. "You know I don't give a shit." He then widened his eyes and opened his mouth to act surprised, soon turning and walking away.

But not alone, of course.

     "Is it me or have you and Taehyung been acting similar?" Namjoon questioned, brow cocked. "Almost as if you two have been spending a lot of time together."

"Tsk, yeah right." Jeongguk shook his head in denial. Unfortunately, he replayed what he did and could totally see Kim doing something very similar to that, especially since he was more of the annoyed, bitchy type. At least to Jeongguk, that is.

"No, seriously." Namjoon returned. "Maybe it's because you woke up cranky. Taehyung just so happens to be cranky everyday. Speaking of him, since we're on the topic, where is he? I haven't seen him all morning."

"Why are you asking me like I would know where he is? I don't keep tabs on the boy beyond popular belief." Said the younger, him and his friend walking down the hallway together, just until one of them got to their class or had to split.

     "Eh, I haven't been keeping up lately, didn't know if you two suddenly buddied up." Shrugged Namjoon, greeting a few students that greeted him as he passed by.

"Please don't ever count on it." Especially if Taehyung wants to have their friendship remain a secret.

"You sure? Cause-" Before Namjoon could finish his sentence, he was cut off by a voice from down the hall, making both Jeongguk and Namjoon look towards the sound.

     Hoseok and Seokjin were walking together, a weird combination since the two didn't necessarily talk like such, but there they were, making their way down the hall.

     "Hi, hyungs." Namjoon greeted, giving his infamous smile to the two who shortly returned it.

"Yeah, hi," Hoseok said. "Namjoon, we got to go to the senior meet. It's just to talk about prom and settle on a theme. Maybe about graduation as well, I didn't listen too much into it."

     Yes, prom. Prom was a bit close to be deciding on a theme but guess the senior class was struggling on a final decision. Jeongguk just remained silent, this meeting talk not really being his conversation. Especially since it was a senior prom and he had no parts of it.

     "Oh, yeah, sure." Namjoon nodded, directing his attention over to the younger. "Sorry to cut this short but we'll catch up during lunch, 'kay?" He spoke. It was important and something Namjoon had to attend.

The younger gave a small nod, bidding the trio a goodbye though not much was said. That or he just blanked and blocked everything said afterwards. He just knew they had to get to whatever Hoseok was talking about.

     Jeongguk turned away and went about his own business, his mind lingering on something that Namjoon had said earlier in their conversation.

Namjoon mentioned not seeing Kim all morning and to Jeongguk's knowledge, the two seen one another quite frequently, especially in the morning.

With that in mind, he pulled out his phone, going straight to his messages.

Jeongguk:
Wru ? U not here yet ?

     He didn't know when Kim would have the time to see that but it was worth a shot to see where the elder was when he should be roaming the halls, annoying people with his morning attitude.

Jeongguk didn't miss the elder, hell no. He just was confused on why the boy wasn't here. He seemed just fine when they were texting back and forth so the sudden change was a bit mind-boggling to say the very least.

The teen decided to get over it for now and whenever Kim replied is when he would have obtained his answer.

Until then, he figured he could go to class and turn in the homework he got help on.

***

     If Jeongguk decided to wait for Taehyung to text back, it would've taken him all day considering the boy never texted back.

He wasn't upset that the boy never responded (he wasn't even sure what he expected) but he was confused on why he couldn't reply. Again, when they were texting, the boy was just fine.

Jeongguk wasn't even surprised if he were honest. Again, just confused. He tried to think of scenarios and give the elder the benefit of the doubt. Maybe he was just busy, maybe sick from Jeongguk's younger brother, he didn't know.

He just hoped Kim was okay.

     Besides the point, Jeongguk was sitting on his back porch alone. He had his laptop on his lap, glasses hanging on the bridge of his nose, and relaxing on his father rocking chair.

It was pretty late in the evening, six o'clock to be exact. The weather was breezy; nothing too hot and nothing to cold, just a pretty weather coating his pale skin as he relaxed.

     Jeongguk didn't have any homework to do, all of it already being completed, he just wanted to enjoy the relaxing evening. All to himself at that.

He didn't go outside often but he always enjoyed it when he did, having himself surrounded by the sounds of Mother Nature to comfort him. The pretty songs of the wind brushing through the leaves of the trees and the grass on the ground, a slight whistle as it grazed through many opticals.

     It was so peaceful. So peaceful that he didn't notice the figure leaning onto the roughly four-foot fence that guarded the backyard.

     "Awe, look at you, little nerd sitting and relaxing all by himself." The voice was all too familiar to Jeongguk by now.

He sighed and looked up, being greeted by Taehyung. He didn't even get to say anything since the aforementioned was already opening the fence and walking on inside.

He did that quite a bit now that Jeongguk noticed but he wouldn't go out of his way to say it bothered him per se, it was just a bit too often for his liking. He didn't think the two were that close yet.

     "Oh. You." Jeongguk shut his laptop, setting it off to the side. He tried to contain his huff of sudden annoyance.

"Yes, it's me." Taehyung weakly smiled, pulling up the other rocking chair beside Jeongguk's, sitting down and feeling his muscles ease once he was off his feet. "You don't sound too keen on my presence."

"Of course I'm not, it's you." Jeongguk scoffed, glancing over to catch the reaction given by the elder. He can say he wasn't disappointed.

Taehyung rolled his eyes, shaking his head. "I know you low-key care about me. You wouldn't have messaged me earlier and asked my whereabouts."

"So you did get my message?" Jeongguk questioned, brow cocked. "Why didn't you reply then?"

"When you sent it, I was sleeping. My ass was not coming to school after texting all night, hell no." Taehyung answered. "I saw it when I woke but I just thought it was too late when I did see it. I was beauty sleeping, I don't maintain these amazing looks by losing sleep."

"Whatever, you could've responded." Jeongguk uttered.

"Man, I was joking when I said you care about me but, I don't know, I don't think it's a joke anymore." Taehyung commented, a small smirk playing his lips.

"I don't care but it's annoying when people don't answer to the messages I send. Value my time."

     The two continued to talk and share a few insulting remarks, as usual. It felt normal to them; especially since Taehyung learned he could throw a few daring jokes around here and there, much like he did to Hoseok.

Eventually, the nightfall came quick and with that, it brought cooler weather, making both boys a bit cold from the newly brought breeze.

With chills running down their arms, they decided to finally go inside, Jeongguk ready to inform his father that there was a guest but it turned out his father already went to bed. His brother too since the boy wasn't anywhere to be found downstairs.

     "Oh, look at that," Taehyung dug his elbow into Jeongguk's side. "All to ourselves." It was clearly a joke, making the younger roll his eyes.

"Are you hungry? I can heat up some leftovers while you get settled." Jeongguk offered, disregarding what the other had to say.

Taehyung thought for a moment, shaking his head a moment before he answered. "No, I'll pass." He spoke. "I had a little something before I came here, not really that hungry."

"Suit yourself," Jeongguk replied. He walked over to the living room, taking a seat on the sofa and fiddling with the remote. "Anything you want to do?" He wondered, eyes focused ahead of him.

The elder thought, lips slightly pursed. "I mean, not be lazy pigs and lounge around on the couch. The night's still young." He rolled his eyes, loosely crossing his arms over his chest.

"Lazy? Sir, I'm quite the opposite." Jeongguk held up a single digit, showing just how offended he was by the comment. He then used his arms and pushed himself to his feet, standing directly in front of Taehyung.

"Now what, loser?" Jeongguk gently shoved at Taehyung, the boy smiling joyfully. It was a small something to push the boy's buttons.

Taehyung definitely wasn't letting that slide though. "Keep your filthy hands off of me. I'll get Jihyun on you, you know I will." He pushed the boy back, taking a small step forward.

"Her five-foot-three self?" Jeongguk rose a single brow. "What is she going to do? Be my armrest?"

"Hey! She's feisty, she'll leave you with bruises." Taehyung told as a promise, not realize how much he was smiling until his cheeks began to ache.

"Sure, we'll go with that. I always liked a good tall tale." The younger remarked, wanting to walk past Taehyung but the elder wasn't done with him.

He shoved Jeongguk harder than he did before, making the aforementioned fall back. Not only that, Jeongguk had reached forward and grabbed Taehyung, pulling him back so they both fell onto the couch.

     Taehyung caught himself before he would've been completely on top of Jeongguk, his arms on either side of the boy's head.

The captain had one leg between Jeongguk's thighs, holding himself up as the other was laying underneath him.

The laughs and giggles slowly came down and they had locked eyes in the position they were placed in.

And then it was silent.

     Jeongguk kept his eyes forward, the smile worn down into a look of slight shock. He could feel Taehyung warm and uneven breathing, the boy looking quite surprised himself.

     Being in this position, Jeongguk felt like he could see small details he's never noticed before on Taehyung. The small scar by the boy's lips, the mole placement like the one on his lip, his nose, and the one by his eye.

Jeongguk felt like he could count the eyelashes on Taehyung's lids, everything so close and clear to him.

He didn't even notice his heart beating against his chest, the loud thumping of his internal organ making it hard for him to hear anything else.

     The raven-haired boy slowly picked his head up, not realizing he brought himself closer to Taehyung but he wasn't regretful.

Taehyung noticed the sudden forward motion and pulled back, Jeongguk realized the boy pulling back which made him drop his own head, feeling like he made the wrong move. He didn't want to push Taehyung to do something he didn't want to do.

All those worries washed away, however, when Taehyung dipped his head down and connected their lips together, closing his eyes and letting his and Jeongguk's lips mold together.

Jeongguk didn't hesitate for even a second, kissing back immediately. He even placed his hands on Taehyung's sides, holding him close and enjoying the intimate moment.

     The elder pulled back, opening his eyes and seeing Jeongguk under him, cheeks a pretty shade of pink and lips wet.

Realization pooled sooner than later and hit Taehyung like an avalanche.

     "What?" He frowned, eyes going wide. Taehyung quickly stood up, damn near getting dizzy with the speed of which he stood. "What the fuck!" He couldn't believe what he just did. He was a taken guy so why he decided to kiss another was mind boggling.

      "I-I— I got to go," he uttered, hurriedly making a beeline to the front door so he could leave.

Jeongguk pushed up, trying to chase after him but Taehyung threw the door open and left, walking away as quick as he could.

The younger tried to think if it would be smart to go after him but he opted out, believing Taehyung would need as much space and time before they tried to talk about it.

Jeongguk just pushed the door shut, resting his forehead on the wood as he too thought about what just occurred between them.

They were enemies but enemies didn't kiss on the sofa.

________
A/N:

I just know some of you hopped out your seat when they kissed. You're very welcome!