Chapter 2: 00:00
Setting/mood: 3 days from the coffee incident, Jimin had been constantly distancing himself from Taehyung.
Suggested BGM: 00:00 by BTS
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Will something be different?
It won't be something like that
But this day will be over
When the minute and second hands overlap
The world holds its breath for a little while
Zero o'clock
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"Taehyung..."
His eyes flicker back to the present, specifically at Ho-seok (J-hope). Noticing his brother's eyes filled with curiosity, Taehyung flashes him a smile to signal his arrival from his deep thoughts.
"What's wrong with you?" Ho-seok asks; frustration and concern coloring his tone. "You missed your cue again."
Taehyung looks around. They've been cooped up in the studio for half the day now, doing their best to put out a promised album for fans. All his brothers were looking back at him; some just as frustrated as they should be, some just plain concerned, but all definitely tired.
All but one.
Averting his gaze and removing himself from the situation at hand, Jimin flips through the music sheet.
RM's eyes bounce back and forth between the two and figured out that something wasn't being said. "I swear if you two are arguing about food again like before, I'm going to flick your foreheads until you apologize to one another," he snapped, referring to the dumpling incident.
Taehyung, not wanting to worsen the situation, clapped his hands and laughed nervously. "Ah, sorry guys. Must be the cold medication." He looked over once more towards Jimin, who tilted the tip of his cap down and continued to flip through whatever paper was near his hands. He knew he was avoiding him and the others started noticing the other day during the endorsement shoot. After today's session, they're going to start berating them to make up and that's the last thing he wanted: Jimin more uncomfortable than he already was.
He signals over toward the technicians at the other side of the glass. "One more time," he bows down apologetically, "last one, I promise."
"You come in during the chorus alone so you have 2 verses to wake yourself up," Yoongi (SUGA) instructs him, choosing to look past the obvious. Taehyung nods and the track plays. Looking over Jimin, he decides to do something about it after the session. He tries not to miss his cue and ends up coming in either a second too late or early, resulting in a couple more runs before the producer called it off for the night.
The other members grab their belongings and head out. As Jimin leaves first, Taehyung lingers for a beat before running out to catch up. He finally reaches the parking area just as RM's car pulls out, leaving just him and Jimin alone.
Closing the trunk, Taehyung gets a clear view of Jimin's troubled face. His eyes shifted to the side, lips muttering words Taehyung couldn't make out... words that might be painful, but definitely words he wanted to hear. He missed his voice so much.
"Jiminie!" He called out, eyes struggling to be hopeful.
Startled, Jimin looks up and lingers. 'Please,' he thinks, 'tell me what anything. Tell me you're hungry. Tell me you're mad. Tell me you want to distance yourself from me. Anything.'
He watches as his best friend walks hurriedly to the driver's door, his own feet hesitating to run to him. Managing to take the first few steps, his body lunges forward to walk faster.
"Let's talk."
The door slams in front of him, making him regret everything he's done in the past minute. Is this how this was going to end? Is this how deep connections get severed; with a door slam?
He gathers all his strength to shout against the window as the engine revs up. "Jimin-ah, let's just forget it! It's not like anyone saw!"
Jimin accelerates to pull out of the spot and out of the lot, once again leaving him frustrated. Throwing his hands up to his head in frustration, Taehyung lets out a heavy sigh and angrily rides his vehicle.
'Screw it. Whatever he feels like doing, I'll let him do it. Let the world weep.'
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Arriving at the dorm space, Taehyung struggles to open the already unlocked door. In the shared living space, Ho-seok and RM watch him enter, drinks laid out on the table. Their eyes meet, all expecting some kind of explanation or question to be thrown.
Ho-seok pats the cushion next to him. "Come and tell us what's been bugging you," his lips curling into a smile, "we promise we won't judge you."
It's not like he had anything more to lose. Taehyung plops down the cushion with a sigh and grabs a bottle, pouring soju into the glasses in front of them. They all take a few shots before sitting in silence for a few seconds.
"Okay," RM starts, "it's definitely something between you and Jimin. You need to tell us what happened so we can help you reconcile."
"No," Taehyung responds as he leans forward to pour himself another shot. "Nothing can be done at this point."
Ho-seok laughs quietly, either out of drunkenness or amusement, and places his arm around Taehyung. "You're soulmates. If this is about a silly mea-"
"It's not about damn dumplings!" Taehyung shouts as he bangs his glass back on the table, coloring his companions white with shock. Ho-seok backs up a seat while RM quickly regains composure, pouring them another round as Taehyung controls himself.
Ushering Ho-seok to assist Taehyung with another shot, RM firmly places a hand on his shoulder. "Out with it, then. We'll just keep on guessing until you do."
"It's..." Taehyung starts, "something that I did that could possibly put us all in trouble if it gets out."
Fighting himself from laughing, Ho-seok clears his throat and regains his spot next to his brother. Sensing that it's probably what they think it is, he looks over at RM as he speaks. "Then we'll keep it between us brothers. No need to show or tell anyone else."
Catching the thought, the leader of the group smirks and leans closer, drink at hand. "You're close to telling us. I can feel it. One more brave gulp and just let it out without thinking."
'Whatever. If Jimin finds out I told someone else and gets mad, I tried what I could to fix it with him. He could get mad at himself for not taking the chance to talk this over when he could.'
Taehyung takes the glass and places it back on the table. Dizzy and a bit strung, he took one final sigh of defeat and muttered it out, half hoping his brothers wouldn't be able to make out his slurred speech.
"Kiss."
Disbelief and amusement sent Ho-seok and RM kicking away in opposite directions, both clasping their mouth to conceal their shock. Taehyung rolls his head back and covers his face. What on earth is happening?
RM and Ho-seok look at each other, eyes wide open. It shouldn't be that surprising, considering that the two have been dubbed soulmates and have their own pair fanbase. They all half expected it a few times before but no one actually thought it would happen. Telepathically panicking together, their eyes move frantically as they convince each other to make a statement before Taehyung's embarrassment settles in.
Throwing a pillow in RM's direction, Ho-seok turns around to disqualify himself from opening a line and to, quite frankly, take a couple more seconds to hide his excitement for his troubled brothers' budding romance. If Taehyung thinks what he did could ruin their public image, his mouth might do actual damage now every time he'd see them within a couple of feet from one another. He could barely stifle a squeal now with Jimin out of the scene, what more could his body possibly give out if their Chimmy coincidentally walks out of his room for a piss at this exact moment?
RM catches the pillow quickly and stomps in panic. Taehyung moves his hand from his left eye and peeks, forcing him to grasp his emotions and translate them into a tight hold on the pillow. "A-ah..." he starts, looking at the Ho-seok's traitorous back. "Maybe if we can get Jimin out here to-"
"Don't. I already tried to talk to him earlier and he just left me." Taehyung moves his hand back to cover his eye. Ho-seok turns right back around and squishes his face. 'Freaking useless,' RM muses, throwing the pillow right back at the selfish clown across him.
The pillow hits him right in the gut. "W-well..." Ho-seok tilts his head to the side and sits back down beside Taehyung. "We could just wait it out. He'll come to his senses." He looks at RM for reassurance. "Soulmates won't be able to stay away from each other."
"Are you okay with just being friends, though?" RM adds, dangling a glass over Taehyung's tired figure. "There's a possibility of that, too."
"Whatever. I just want this over and done with," Taehyung concludes before lifting his arm and downing the whole glass.
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"Wow..." Yoongi, leaning on the wall, crosses his arms. "So, how do you feel about it?"
"I don't know..." Jimin painfully replies from the bed with his legs crossed, tossing a Tata plushie upwards, eyes intently waiting for it to fall on his outstretched arm.
Jungkook, still in shock after hearing the news, stays frozen on the floor with his mouth agape. "I'm... sorry?"
Jimin laughs nervously at him with a faint smile, eyes on the Tata plushie now dancing between his fingers. "What for?"
"I don't know... the TaeKook/VKook things circling the internet. I think I kissed him at some point too as a joke. You know, for the fans," Jungkook responds, earning him another round of laughter from his brothers in the room. He looks over at Jin who was casually propped on the bed. All of them were kind of unsure of how to handle the situation they all thought was near impossible but not improbable.
Tossing the plushie a couple more times in the air, Jimin finally gives into the silence and falls back to lie down, but hits Jin's head in the process. "Ya!" Jin exclaims, partially entertained by the fact that Jimin wasn't totally out of character yet. He places a hand over his brother's chest. "Back to the question at hand, how do you feel about it?" He leans in closer to express his sincerity. "We know you know how you really feel about it."
Jungkook nods. "True, otherwise you wouldn't be telling us right now."
"I told you," Jimin starts, with hands waving in the air and eyes widening out of frustration, "because I don't know what to do. This could be bad for us."
"Mmm... but would it be so bad if you didn't feel towards it?" Yoongi counters as he slumps to the floor. Jin smirks at him for following through with what they were all trying to say. "If you feel against it, then there's nothing more to be done. Let's just walk it off," the rapper continues. Jimin scoffs and rolls over to bury his face in a nearby pillow.
The golden maknae's lips curve to the side. He runs up the side of the bed on all fours, sneaking a look at his troubled hyung on the bed. "You know you're just asking to validate your next action, right?"
A muffled groan escapes Jimin's lips. His three brothers look at each other, shrugging. He knows they're right.
Yoongi straightens Jungkook up from the floor, signaling Jin that they should probably leave Jimin alone. "If you don't feel the same way, just tell him you'll move past it and go back to your usual ways," he advises. "Otherwise, reciprocate. Nobody else needs to know but us. Don't worry about the rest, we'll take care of it."
"And whatever you choose to do," Jin adds, springing off the bed, "we'll support it. 100%."
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Clicking the door closed, Jungkook hurriedly (but quietly) hugs Yoongi from behind. Random slaps of excitement flew around between the three when Ho-seok decides to sprint from the living space, grabbing Jungkook's arm to prance in a circle. RM hurriedly signals them to get lost, pointing at a drunk Taehyung taking a quick nap against the couch.
As the group calms themselves down and pushes each other toward the direction of their rooms, RM slaps Taehyung's thigh to wake him up. Taehyung sleepily looks up and looks in the direction he was pointing at. "It's already close to tomorrow. You might want to sleep in now to get a fighting chance of waking up at 9."
RM walks to enter his own room and closes the door. Jerking himself off the couch, Taehyung looks at the mess on the table. He was too dizzy and tired to clean up. Might as well just leave the mess on the sink for tomorrow to clean.
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Closing the door behind his back, he looks at his bed and begins resigning to the thought of an empty future ahead. Guilt and regret creep up from the depths of his stomach, only to be countered by the bittersweet feeling on his lips. If there was one thing he was sure of now, it was that he did what he needed to. It was necessary. He'd rather face rejection now than live a life forcing himself into fake brotherly actions towards the person he felt a strong love for.
He can easily target his intense brotherly love towards Jungkook instead. If not, there are 5 more brothers to play around with. Surely, happiness with 5 would trump the bitterness from just 1.
'Oh, look. I made a joke.'
How could he not have seen it? Jimin was friendly with everyone. Just because he showed him a little extra doesn't mean there was anything special. Maybe the connection he and the rest of the world felt was one-sided. Maybe that's why he averted so many close calls publicly and stuck with the jump hugs and safe hand-holding. It's not like Jimin hadn't held hands with the other members.
That's it. Tomorrow, he was going to try to pass it all off as a joke and force Jimin to accept it. He'd apologize to him repeatedly until he believes the lie, even if it pains him to do so. He'll do everything to reset it tomorrow.
He looks at the digital clock on his desk. Midnight.
Taehyung walks hesitantly toward his bed and stops midway. Tomorrow has already technically started. Looking at his empty bed, his tired body ached for his warmth.
Damn it all.
He turns around and decides to force himself to sleep next to Jimin, ready to blame it all on alcohol tomorrow if questioned. Swiftly opening the door, he charges out, prepared with excuses to cover up his next mistake-
"Ah!"
'Jimin.'
Air blew his younger brother's hair back, strands softly flowing back in place just as quickly as they flew. He never thought he'd lock eyes with him again. Careful not to look too guilty thinking of sleeping beside him, Taehyung slowly brings his body back inside the threshold of his quarters. "Did you," he starts to ask, quickly smelling liquor from his own breath. He takes another step back before restating his question. "Is there anything you need?"
Jimin looks straight behind him as if expecting another hyung to be around. "Not really," he responds, locking eyes with Taehyung again. "You were going to say something before I sped off. I just wanted to apologize for leaving quickly."
No response.
"I was in a hurry to get home."
Taehyung quickly looks at his chest and looks back at him. He couldn't remember the last time he was so quiet around him. It's beginning to suck more.
"It was getting late and-"
When did he look so cold and distant? It was all a front; he was sure. This is how Taehyung acted whenever he was in pain; wanting to remove himself from the situation. He hated seeing his hyung in pain. What to do?
"-and I had a really bad stomach," Jimin blurted out a little louder than he wanted, causing him to look at the empty living space to the side. "I had to be the first to get to the nearest toilet."
Tch.
Taehyung let out a hearty laugh. He went on to do so for a few more seconds before finally wiping the tears running down his eyes. He knew very well that Jimin lied, but he was glad that he finally showed concern for his feelings after 3 days.
He wanted to wait for Taehyung to finish laughing, but he could sense that he had been uneasy around him for too long. His laughter was a form of easy release. He wanted to put an end to his misery as soon as possible.
What he was about to do might get them into trouble. Everyone worked so hard to be where they were right now and doing what he wanted to do would be selfish of him.
But his hyungs expressed their support earlier. And he could convince Taehyung to behave differently in front of everyone else, for everyone else's sake. It really wouldn't be so bad.
He just needed to release himself too. Laughter won't cut it.
"Taehyung-ah..."
Smiling, Taehyung spread his arms wide open, inviting him for a hug. "I'm sorry," he laughed, twitching his fingers to reiterate his invitation.
Jimin's eyes shifted from his hands to his eyes. "Taehyung-ah, don't be like that."
Slowly lowering his arms, Taehyung felt his gut turn. Did he get comfortable too fast?
"I'm sorry," he repeated, haphazardly moving his hands to fill his pockets.
Jimin noticed a flicker in his eyes. There it was again, the pain. Taehyung looked to the side, turning his head to lead his body around, ready to shut the door. "Well, goodn-"
"Taetae..."
His head snaps back. He hasn't heard that in a while. Whatever hurtful words would follow posed no threat to what weak hope he felt after hearing his special nickname come from his lips.
His younger brother's eyes stared straight at his, his foot stepping forward.
And it all happened so fast.
Either he just felt slow because of the alcohol, or Jimin really air walked to quickly grab his nape. He always moved so fast and light.
Fast, light... accurate.
The burning feeling at the back of his throat disappeared the moment he felt his touch. His mouth grew intensely numb to the bitter taste of alcohol as if the contact pushed the right points in his lips to salivate over the effect.
He wrapped his arms around his waist, allowing a hand to creep up the back of his soulmate's neck. Suddenly, all the stiffness he felt for the past few days melted off.
Jimin's lips had let go, but his weren't so prepared to do so just yet. Aggressively, needily, he caught them halfway, letting his former pain fuel his passion.
Ah, but the world felt like it was spinning too fast.
"Taehyung-ah..." Jimin whispered to him softly, moving his hair back from his forehead. "Go to sleep."
The last thing Taehyung felt was his lips curve up to form a smile as the view of his soulmate's own grin sent him off well into a deep sleep.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
chewychimmy
chewychimmy Well? How are we feeling? Still okay, I hope (~uwu)~
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