Tales of the Unspoken

Musk

Second thoughts came over him as soon as he pushed Jungkook's door open and stepped in that other Universe he knew well. Taehyung's courage dissipated even if his intuition told him that there was nothing to be afraid of. There was nothing menacing in Jungkook's room and he certainly didn't fear Jungkook. Who was he running from? And most importantly, what was he running towards? He needed to stop but his mind was fuzzy from the alcohol and the scent in the room didn't help in pulling him away from the "woods". It smelled of musk that evening, probably because of some air freshener or perhaps it was only his imagination, yet the air was heavy. The blue light coming from Jungkook's computer was calming and somewhat eerie. Images flickered on the screen, sending ripples of blue and white throughout the unused space between walls and just like the waves of a sea, the light hit both Taehyung's frame and Jungkook's body which was not noticing the storm as he played Overwatch. Tae smiled at the sight of the mundane intertwining with fantasy.

"Who is it?" Jungkook asked, distracted by his game.

Utterly unaware of the beauty of the brief moment Tae was living, Jk continued playing. He didn't notice the long pause either. For Taehyung, in that instance, he seemed untouchable, forbidden so there was nothing else to do but move closer to him. Tae didn't believe in the impossible.

"Taehyung..." Tae said and took a couple of steps forward, unsure of what he needed to do next. He hoped Jungkook would look at him.

"Who?" Jungkook asked again and tried to turn his head but the game didn't allow it.

"It's me..." said Taehyung raising his voice a bit more. He took a deep breath, ready to drown to the bottom of the sea and hide from the world, yet he moved quickly and hugged Jungkook's neck as he rested his chin on Jungkook's shoulder. He smelled different than the room. His scent was lighter just like the cold air on a snowy morning. Tae closed his eyes and planted a small peck at the base of the maknae's neck, which obviously caused Jungkook to lose focus.

"Ahhh, why are you wet, hyung?" Jungkook jumped from his chair when droplets of water fell on the side of his neck. The sudden movement caused Tae to rapidly shift a couple of steps backward almost losing his stability.

It was obvious that Taehyung was acting weirdly. Jungkook watched the other boy grab the edge of a desk and try to regain focus. He watched him hide his face with his hand, shyly. "What happened to you, Tae?" Jungkook asked out of confusion more than concern.

"I'm fine," said Tae in Korean, only to repeat the phrase in English when he raised his eyes to meet the maknae's. He knew the light accentuated his features and he hated the fact that he couldn't focus properly.

Saying "I'm fine" in English always meant something else for Taehyung and Jungkook knew even if they never spoke about it openly. "I called you several times. I texted you." Jungkook insisted. He was prepared to fight against Tae's pleading gaze no matter how miserable the boy looked, no matter how many times his hyung would bite his lower lip and then lick it as he stood in the half-lit room.

Tae took his phone out of his pocket. He had missed calls in his log with Jungkook's name and number in red. He didn't even bother checking the messages. Each time he saw Jungkook calling, he tensed up and pondered if he should pick up or not until the phone stopped buzzing. Tae didn't ignore any of his calls, he had long conversations with Jungkook in his mind and he stopped everything he was doing when the maknae called but he just didn't pick up.

"Do you hate me?" Taehyung bluntly asked when he saw that Jungkook is not approaching him in any way.

"A part of me really wants to hate you..." Jungkook answered drily. "How many times have we done this? How many times have you made me struggle to get your attention?" Jungkook stood his ground. "You ignore me and when I am ready to let you go and I stop pursuing you, you show up. You control this game and there is no way for me to win so why am I even playing it?" he asked. There was no anger in his voice, but there was unhappiness and Tae would have preferred fury.