It was their class' first lab session, and Bree was so close to freaking out. She hadn't been able to experience the atmosphere of it before but she really would have liked to in a less stressful time. This lab was worth 10% of her final grade, and while that didn't mean all that much, it meant she couldn't make any mistakes. Throwing her lab coat and safety glasses on, she walked through the glass doors of the lab while reading through the guide.

When she got to her group, she looked around to chose someone who was standing with an empty spot next to them to be her lab partner. Sanghyuk in the corner of her eye matched that description, and she didn't hesitate to join him.

"Oh, hey," he looked surprised to see her but smiled anyway.

"Hey!" she grinned, taking in a deep breath, and she knew her nerves were radiating off her in waves.

"Good afternoon everyone!" A familiar voice boomed through the speakers and Bree's eyes nearly popped out of her sockets. What was he doing here?

"Today we'll be starting on our hydrolysis straight away," he told them and a huge sense of calm rushed through Bree, "So just listen to your instructors now to make sure you understand all the procedures."

She no longer felt any shred of anxiety, all her doubts fluttered away and she was excited to get this right.

Sanghyuk grinned as he looked over at Bree, wondering how she expected to hide their relationship when she made it this obvious.

"C'mon," rolling his eyes, he shuffled over to the end of the benches to watch the instructor demonstrate the first half of the experiment.

Once it was all done, the two were on their own and they made sure each of them were focused. But Sanghyuk tried to lighten up the mood, knowing Bree was going to need it.

"Orange," she noted, looking at the colour of the solution as she was about to write it down.

"It's more of a 6 o'clock sunset orange," Sanghyuk corrected her.

"Orange," she said flatly.

"Sunse-"

"We're already arguing?" a voice spoke from behind Bree and she turned, recognising it.

"She thinks this is orange," Sanghyuk told him and Taehyung tilted his head.

"It's more of a sunset-"

"Orange," Sanghyuk and Taehyung finished simultaneously.

"See!"

Taehyung's hand was on her back and everything scary about this lab seemed to vanish.

Bree's smile never budged as she watched him explain how to use the vacuum filter properly because apparently she had put the filter paper in the wrong place.

"Got it?" he asked when he finished and looked to her.

"Mhm, yup," she mumbled, turning to Sanghyuk. "Should we get started?"

Taehyung chuckled before leaning down to whisper in Bree's ear, "Stay behind when you're done."

Bree was suddenly an experienced researcher, although it was her first time in the lab it, she was doing her work at the speed of light, wanting it to be over so quickly.

"See, I told you there was nothing to be scared of," Sanghyuk told Bree when they were done, holding up the container with their substance in it, fully crystallised.

"We did amazing!" she gushed, taking the container up to their instructor who marked on their sheets that he had checked their product before putting it in the pile with all the other students' work.

"Let's go," Sanghyuk grabbed his pencil case and safety glasses, "Do you wanna grab something to eat before going home?"

"Uh..." Bree remembered Taehyung asking her to meet with her after the lab, as she bit her lip.

"Ah..." he smiled, nodding, "You had other plan, right. That's okay! I'll see you tomorrow Bree."

"See you Sanghyuk!"

The students started leaving and finally Bree was the only one left in their pod.

Taking her phone out, she checked to see if anyone had texted her.

Tae, where are you?

Want me to wait outside?

A reply came back in seconds.

No! Wait! I'm still inside the lab :)

Bree sighed, texting Taehyung that she's standing by the entrance before putting her phone into her pocket.

Looking around the room, she started to read the various Did You Know! facts on the walls, apparently Aspartic acid has a pH of 4.1! Did you know that? It's an amino acid with an acidic side chain and so is important in helping buffer the blood pH!

"So! I hear you make quite the best dry crystals," Taehyung's cheery voice spoke up from behind her.

She laughed, "That would sound so weird out of context."

"I missed you," he hummed, snaking his arm around her waist but she only stiffened.

"Tae!" she hissed, "We're in a lab!"

"So?" he grinned, leaning in closer to her, "No one will see us."

"I doubt this is even allowed in a lab," she whispered back, taking his hand in hers and dragging him to the door. But he remained put, didn't move at all.

"Come, I want to show you something," he said instead, pulling on her hand in the other direction, leading her to a smaller lab room.

"Are you taking me to your evil lair?" she joked, following.

"Even better," he opened the door for her, "Welcome to my research lab."

Bree looked around at the humble room, microscopes here and there, permanent Bunsen burners and spectrometers spread out on the tables and tons of scribbled paper just everywhere.

"What... is this place?"

"It's where I work on my research for lab reports, mini thesis, all that jazz."

"Wow how romantic," Bree chuckled, looking to him, "When you said you wanted to show me something this was the first thing I thought of."

"Oh?" he smirked, walking closer to her, "really?"

"Mhm," nodding, she picked up the nearest paper, reading off it, "I always wanted to see your findings on... different gene weights of the Bacillus thuringiensis bacteria's DNA."

"Yeah," he shrugged as he was finally only a few inches from her, "I bring girls here all the time."

She dropped the paper from her eyes and glared at him, "You better not have."

Laughing, he pulled her closer, one hand clutching her waist, the other taking the papers from her hand and setting it onto the table behind her.

"Don't worry, I'm kidding," he leaned down and pressed his lips to hers, "You're the only woman I've allowed in here."

"Mmmm," her voice was muffled, he didn't let her speak. But she didn't mind, her arms draped around his neck, he hugged her waist and lifted her to sit on the bench behind her, "I'm not-" she started and he lifted her up for air, "so sure if this will ruin any of your research data."

He grinned, "It's worth it."

--

"So the actual reason you asked me in here is to do your dirty work for you," she shook her head in disapproval as she peered into the microscope.

"Oh no, you have figured out my plan, what to doooooo?" he joked from across the lab room, looking into another microscope.

Bree grinned, "You used to do this all day?" she asked, changing the slide to the next one.

"Yeah, isn't it fu-" Taehyung's voice dragged off, and when it did she turned to look at him but found he was staring at something behind her. She followed his gaze and saw someone standing in the doorway.

"Taehyung... hi."

Bree looked down to the microscope, not knowing if she had a place even being there in the room anymore.

"H-Hyung what are you doing here?" she heard Taehyung's voice shift, realising he was looking from her to the man.

"I wanted to talk to you, and it's n-"

"Sorry hyung, I can't," Bree felt a hand on hers and she turned to see Taehyung was tugging at it, "C'mon, let's go."

The man didn't move from his spot in the door, "Taehyung, I just wanted to talk man. Please, we haven't seen each other in ages, I just miss my brother."

Bree heard his voice crack and she immediately looked up to him, bowing, before turning to Taehyung, "I'll leave you two be, I'll meet you after, okay?"

He hesitated before nodding, "I'll call you," whispering, he let go of her hand and watched her slip past Namjoon and head out of the lab.

--

"How did you find me here," his voice was expressionless as he started to pack away his reports.

"Taehyung," Namjoon reached for his hand, making him stop, and turned him around. "I was so delusional all these years, and I'm so sorry for it."

Taehyung sighed, pulling his hands away from his brother's. But listened to him nonetheless.

"But I've been to therapy, I've been focusing on getting better, and I have, I've gotten better."

His eyes were now pools of tears, but Taehyung tried his best to stay grounded.

"I've stopped thinking about the past and I want to focus on who I have in my life right now," he forced a smile, "And that's you, man, only you."

Taehyung looked to the ceiling, because how many times has he heard this before?

But for some reason he actually believed his brother this time.

"So I'm here to ask you out," he chuckled, "will you go to dinner with me?"

It took him a while.

But he nodded.

"I get to choose," he huffed, taking his glasses off the bench and putting them on, "I think I deserve that much at least."

Namjoon sighed, taking Taehyung's hands in his. To this, Taehyung stiffened, he had never had a chance to get close to his brother in between his useless conspiracies.

"Will you forgive me, Tae?"

Taehyung looked away, trying to keep his tears at bay.

"Hyung gi-"

"I don't expect you to forgive me right now, but can you please, think about it?"

Taehyung kept facing the other way when he nodded.

"I'll think about it."

--

"So turns out his favourite TV show is Brooklyn Nine Nine," Taehyung was buzzing after his dinner with Namjoon, as he sat across from Bree at his dining table. She was finishing up some assignments while he was marking some stage 1 chemistry papers.

"Just like you!" she grinned, loving the way his whole manner had changed compared to before he went out with brother.

"Yeah! And he's thinking of starting a literature degree next semester, and actually see if he can get his life going somewhere now."

"I'm happy for him," Bree said softly, looking up and holding Taehyung's hand, "And I'm so happy for you too. You two really needed to reconnect."

"Yeah," he pursed his lips into a fine line, "We did."

"Well! Better late than never, right?"

"Thank you Bree," he smiled.

"For what?"

"Just... for being you."

She tilted her head to the side, and he mirrored her. When he did, she just smiled at him fondly.

"I can be me, because you bring out the best in me," she made sure her sincerity was getting across to him.

"What a coincidence," he grinned, "You seem to bring out the best in me too."

Getting up, he walked around the table and grabbed her hand.

"What are you doing!" she giggled, "We have work to do, Kim Taehyung!"

He shrugged, pulling her off her chair and bringing her closer to him.

"Are your assignments due tomorrow?" he asked and she shook her head, "Well then, I guess it doesn't matter, does it?"

She shook her head, an idiotic smile plastered across her face. She could never stop wondering how she got so lucky. How she was able to find a guy who was only ever making her laugh, despite everything.

"I love you," she whispered, as he dipped his head down to place small kisses down her neck.

"God Bree, I love you so much."

She grabbed a fistful of his shirt, slowly pushing him backwards so that his back was against the wall.

"Have you missed me this much?" his voice was low, a growl in his voice.

"Kim Taehyung, do you want me to go home?" she asked cheekily and he shook his head before his fingers made their way to the hem of her shirt, slipping under and crawling up her back.

"Definitely not."

--

"Rise and shine!" a loud voice boomed through the apartment and Bree's eyes were the first to snap open, turning to Taehyung immediately.

He tiredly scratched one eye, facing her.

"Good morning," the side of his mouth pulled up in a smile.

"Someone's here!" she hissed, pointing at the door.

"Huh?" with one eye open he raised an eyebrow at the door, "Who?"

"Taehyung-ah!" the voice sung and now Taehyung was wide awake, jumping out of bed and running to the door.

"Oh my gosh what is he doing here?"

"Are you inside? Can I come in?"

"Uh, hold on a sec I'm not wearing any clothes," he lied, standing up against the door and points at the closet for Bree.

Her eyes widened, while she mouthed 'what?'.

"Get in there!" he whispered, and then under his breath, "I'm never gonna hear the end of this if he finds out."

"Oh boy," she muttered before getting in.

"Like that's ever stopped me before," Jimin's voice got louder as he walked in, luckily after Bree safely hid.

"What are you doing back home? I thought you had a concert in Busan again?"

"I need to borrow your brown slacks," Jimin replied.

"Huh? What do yo-" Bree could hear them running around the room, "You can't just-"

"Woah, woah, man what's wrong with you," Bree could only assume Taehyung was blocking him from opening the door of the closet. Which, in fact, he was.

"Uh- let me get the pants for you," Taehyung grabbed Jimin's hand from the door of the closet.

"Why? You hiding a girl in there or something?" Jimin laughed and the room went silent. "Oh my goodness."

"No, of course not," Taehyung tried to defend himself... just a little too late.

Jimin raised an eyebrow and shook his head, mouthing that he would wait in his room.

"Okay, well can you get me the pants while I change in my room?"

"Sure," Taehyung shook his head. He was in so much trouble.

Bree let go of the breath she was holding when Taehyung opened the door, sighing with dead eyes. "Wear this," he passed her one of his sweaters and boxer shorts before taking a pair of pants and walking out of his room, not even bothering to close his bedroom door behind him.

"Okay, I'm leaving now!" Jimin chimed after a few minutes, a bit too loudly and Bree realised he wasn't just talking to Taehyung.

He was talking to her.

"Yeah, okay, just get out," Taehyung's voice was tired as he opened the door for Jimin and waited for him to leave.

He appeared in his bedroom just after, sighing.

"Sorry about that," he walked over to the bed and started to pick up his clothes - which were thrown to the ground the night before - before continuing, "Jimin will never stop talking about this."

She shrugged, "It's okay."

"But," he looked up at her and bit his bottom lip, "Damn, you look good in my clothes."

Instantly Bree felt her cheeks heat up, and she tried to slowly look away so he wouldn't notice.

"Don't you have a class to teach today?" she tried to change the topic.

"Yeah, I do," walking past her, he threw his clothes into the laundry basket, "Thanks for reminding me."

She helped make the bed, while he rushed around fixing the last of the mess.

"You can stay here and finish your assignments if you'd like. Jimin definitely won't be coming back until the weekend."

"But that's what you-"

"His competition is over the next two days, he won't miss it."

"Are you sure? I'm fine with going back ho-"

The truth was, that she wanted to stay. She wanted to see him as much as possible now before he got back into his PhD work and disappeared into his lab for days.

"I'm sure," he pecked her on the cheek before walking into his bathroom, "Make yourself some breakfast! Sorry I can't cook you anything, I'm going to be late."

"Baby, it's fine, please focus on yourself right now, get ready for class I'll be here, okay?"

He smiled smugly at the nickname, "Yes, sir."

--

Bree was sitting at the dining table, the setting just like how it was left the night before, when Taehyung rushed out of his bedroom and grabbed an apple from the pantry, "I'm going now, Bree, I'll see you after?"

"Yep! I'll be here," she got up and tip-toed to kiss him, "Have a good day!"

"You too! Sorry I can't-"

She cut him off with the roll of her eyes, "Oh my gosh stop with the sorry's," starting to push him to the door, she opened it and let him out, "It's okay, I promise!"

"Okay, okay," he chuckled, "Bye!"

After closing the door, she shook her head to herself, before sitting back at the table.

But the door clicking opened again made her jump, looking up.

"Tae-"

"Love you!" he said in a rush before shutting the door again.

She stared at the closed door in confusion.

Which was soon replaced with giddiness, a smile spreading on her face.

"Love you too."