taehyung stared at his phone, dressed to the nines in oversized slacks and a button up, crossed legged on his cousin's couch as he waited.

and waited.

and waited.

and waited some more.

it was friday, a day of celebration for most- those who didn't work weekends would go out, get a bit too drunk, they'd be ecstatic to have less than seventy-two hours away from work. what a concept!

jin was one of those people, that got overly excited. a constant need to make the most of it which is why tae had agreed to join him on this outing. to a night club in the same district jungkook lived in.

he wondered if he'd see the boy out, if they'd end up on the dance floor together or was jungkook too good for that. too important to be seen doing something so... cheap.

"are you ready?" jin appeared in a light pink shirt made of silk, his dark hair tucked to the side to reveal a perfectly smooth forehead.

he was undeniably handsome.

"what are you looking at?" the older plopped down on the couch next to his cousin, his eyes staring at the phone in tae's hand as he tried to see what was on the screen.

taehyung tucked it close to his chest, glaring gently at jin, "nothing i'm just-,"

"stalking bogum's social media?" the dark-haired boy raised a brow, eyebrows raised as he dared tae to deny it.

"he's back in seoul for some reason- his story showed him out in that bar down the street from the one we'll be at. you don't think we'll-,"

"run into him?" jin finished the sentence, a sinister smirk on his face, "we can only hope too! then you can rub it in his face that you look this good, and you work for that hottie jungkook, and you're doing just fine!" the older pulled him up and towards the front door, "now come on! hoseok has been waiting for us for like twenty minutes..."

"why didn't you tell him to come up?" tae was baffled at his cousin's social skills sometimes.

"he's dramatic about the stairs and i didn't want to hear about it, now come on!" jin tugged tae out the door and to hoseok's car which was parked in a loading zone.

the younger had only met jin's friend a handful of times but knew that he liked to party. loved to go out, have a good time, and was an exceptional dancer. he was handsome, no denying the way his whole entire face was basically the most beautiful summer day filled with sunshine and wildflowers.

"taehyung!" even his voice felt like the sweetest melody, "i'm so happy you're back from japan."

the younger blushed at his words, excited to be in the presence of somebody so fun,. somebody who could certainly take his mind off bogum, "thanks for picking us up!"

"of course, anytime!" the boy turned to face jin, "what the fuck are you wearing?"

"what the fuck are you wearing?" the older repeated the question before buckling his seat belt.

"you don't wear silk to a bar!" hoseok rolled his eyes, "you're going to stain it in two seconds."

"and if i do, i'll just take it off! reveal my..." a smirk overtook his face, "perfect body!"

taehyung pretended to gag from the backseat, "please keep your shirt on tonight jin! save it for namjoon."

"too bad he couldn't join us!" hoseok interjected, "i haven't seen him in months."

"he's so busy..." jin seemed to get a bit sad at the thought of his boyfriend being so absent. the two had once had tons of time but now, both being so career orientated, it made it hard, "but i'm proud of him. he's doing really great, ya know?"

taehyung felt his hand creep the passenger seat where he squeezed his cousin's elbow reassuringly, "if anybody can make a relationship work while building killer careers and being great people, it's you two!"

"thanks tae!" jin smiled sweetly at his cousin, grateful that he had said yes to tagging along, "so, seok... this guy performing tonight... is he your-,"

the driver cut jin off, suddenly embarrassed and fumbling over himself as he tried to deflect, "no, no! no he's not- he's just- we met casually. he asked me to come to the show and-,"

"as a friend? he asked you to come as a friend?" taehyung was leaning forward now, curious to hear more about this mystery man who had hoseok stumbling over himself.

"maybe more than a friend or maybe not. i don't want to get my hopes up!"

"well you should, because you're a damn catch!" jin continued to spew positive affirmations as they parked and walked to the club, the cold nighttime air no match for the adrenaline that was keeping them warm, "anybody would be lucky to get to wake up to your shining face every morning and i mean that!"

hoseok flashed his identification to the bouncer who let the group in without question, "he reserved a table for us over here..." the boy led the pair of cousin's to a booth at the edge, "what did you two want to drink?"

"tequila. shots. lots of them." jin leaned forward on his elbows, the most innocent smile causing his cheeks to erupt like two freshly steamed dumplings.

"i can grab them!" taehyung piped in, weaving through the crowd before he could hear any objection from his cousin or hoseok.

despite being a friday night, the club seemed even more packed than usual. brimmed to the edge with people, some wearing shirts of the man set to the perform, the one who had grabbed his friend's attention apparently. tae wondered what type of artist he was, what did he perform? smooth as honey melodies like jungkook?

he cursed himself for thinking of the man when he was in the midst of the hottest club in town, filled to the brim with eligible men who would more than love to take tae home for the night and get his mind off of both his ex and the sexual tension that was swirling between him and his (sort of) boss.

"excuse me!" he motioned to the bartender, his credit card already in hand to start the- what tae assumed would be- long tab.

"what can i get for you?"

"six tequila shots, rail is fine and then-," his voice got cut off by the sound of the man he had sworn he could avoid.

somewhere in the back of his mind he knew they'd run into each other. as soon as he saw he was in seoul and that he was out- it was inevitable.

on one hand taehyung wanted to put a brave face on and waltz past him with no regard but on the other, he wanted to talk to reconnect, to see how he looked, how he was doing, who he was out with! it wouldn't lead to anything positive, it never did but he couldn't help himself; he turned.

their stood his ex, tall, tanned with sparkles against the bones of his cheek, he looked so happy with his arm around some blonde man who looked straight from the california sun. had he really picked somebody up that quickly that was worth bringing all the way home?

the unexplainable pang in his heart reminded tae that he wasn't over it.

he really fucking wasn't.

"sir, what else did you want?" the bartender attempted to bring him back to life, six tequila shots already poured out and in front of him on the tiniest tray.

his eyes turned quickly back to the bartender, his hand fumbling with the card in his hand as he tossed it forward before abruptly sprinting off. it felt shameful to be running through the crowd to the door but something inside compelled him. the need for air, for freedom, to escape. for sidewalk and the feel of the moon on his skin. he needed to be anywhere but within six feet of bogum.

he wasn't even sure if the other had noticed him yet seeing him had been more than enough. seeing him with somebody else that is. hot tears streamed from the corners of his eyes, dripping down his cheeks, and the cold air of the night caused snot drips to fly from his nose. taehyung had never felt so utterly unappealing as his feet hit pavement, refusing to stop but with nowhere to go.

it had been merely a few weeks of working for jungkook, of being in that home, he wondered would it be weird if he made it his final stop for the night? would it be weird if he stepped in, took a minute to gather himself or should he just call a cab.

the apartment building was in sight, in all it's overpriced glory and on the floor where jungkook resided, the third window in, he could see a light on.

jungkook's.