But I Still Want You {Taekook}

8. Taehyung

To be really truthful, Taehyung, even when signing up for personal training lessons, never thought that he would end up having to train twice a week. Because he was Taehyung and kept, apparently, doing stupid things for stupid reasons, and never once stopped to think about what would happen if Jeongguk still didn't want to listen to him even when cornered at work. He wasn't expecting Jeongguk to get so mad at him, but now that he thought about it, he couldn't say he didn't have it coming.

So the only reasonable thing left to do was to shut up and let Jeongguk coach him and never, ever bring up their history again, but that proved harder than he thought, for many different reasons.

First of all; Taehyung was really out of shape. He was never really one for sports, even in high school, at his peak physical condition, and it was only thanks to a good metabolism that he could put away so many bags of chips without putting on weight. But the older he got, the less happy he was with his soft belly, and he had been complaining about it to Jimin, a few days before meeting Jeongguk. How convenient it had been, then, that his ex-boyfriend, whom he was trying to apologize to, was a personal trainer.

And now, three weeks into it, Taehyung was coming every Tuesday and Friday at six o'clock, after work, and let Jeongguk manhandle him. And it hurt. Boy, did it hurt. He suspected Jeongguk wasn't a soft coach with anybody, but he especially wasn't with him, and even though the plan was designed so as not to exceed Taehyung's physical capacities, it was hard to keep up. Strength exercises, cardio, abs toning... At the end of their hour, Taehyung often felt like he wanted to collapse on the floor and never get up again.

So, there was that.

Secondly, it wasn't easy to motivate himself to do his best when he knew his coach hated him. Jeongguk, as the professional he was, never brought up their argument from the first session again, and he was always even-tempered when speaking to him, never getting mad at him when he couldn't finish an exercise.

But he was also very cold in his demeanor and words, and even though he was more in control of his facial expressions now and was consequently much harder to read than he had been in high school, Taehyung could still see clearly how much of an ordeal it was for him. He knew Jeongguk would immediately jump for joy if he told him he wanted to stop, and it was a rather depressing idea.

Thirdly, seeing Jeongguk twice a week was probably as hard for Taehyung as it was for Jeongguk, but not for the same reasons. He liked spending time with him, even though the sentiment wasn't returned and Jeongguk obviously wished he could be anywhere else in the world except here with him. But even his standoffishness and careful distance weren't enough to make Taehyung regret being here. Two awkward hours a week spent with Jeongguk were better than no hour at all, and Taehyung was half-convinced that if he maybe did well during the training, he could talk Jeongguk into having deeper conversations with him.

He tried to joke, sometimes, or tell tidbits of personal information, but Jeongguk never replied. He tried to act cute, too, when Jeongguk was a bit too hard on him, but of course, Jeongguk was never swayed, keeping a stone face in all circumstances.

The hardest thing of all, maybe, was that Taehyung had come thinking he could somehow worm his way back into Jeongguk's heart as a friend, and that if he could manage only that, then it'd be more than enough. But that first day, when Jeongguk had arrived at the reception desk to get him, sexiness personified in his gym clothes, skin-tight pants doing nothing to hide his incredible thighs and black tee-shirt revealing enough to see the toned muscles of his arms, Taehyung's first thought had been that he was in deep shit.

It was the worst now, how thirsty he was for Jeongguk every time, how aroused he felt when Jeongguk corrected his posture by putting a hand on his back, his belly or his shoulders. Sure, had Jeongguk accepted to go back to being friends, he would have been over the moon, but he still fiercely wanted him, and had a hard time not thinking about kissing him or dragging him to the nearest bed when they were alone.

God, he wanted Jeongguk. He had to jerk off every night thinking about him, and in the mornings too the days they had to meet, just so he could stop himself from popping a boner during the session when he felt Jeongguk's hands on him. That would be awkward.

And right now was precisely one such moment.

"Keep your back straight," Jeongguk instructed, correcting his posture with one hand on his shoulder, the other on the small of his back. "And lower your legs. Don't bring your knees further than the tip of your toes, you don't want to get hurt. That's it."

Squats were a bit of torture for Taehyung, especially since Jeongguk liked to pair it with strength training, making him raise his arms to the ceiling while holding purple dumbbells. Taehyung was sure that Jeongguk knew he hated it, which was why he insisted on doing it as often as possible.

Well, the joke was on him, since he was the one having to touch Taehyung to make sure he was correctly positioned.

"You're doing good," Jeongguk said, even though Taehyung was pretty sure he didn't mean it but rather was contractually obligated to tell this to every client.

Taehyung, panting, didn't reply, but he put down the weights after his series of twenty squats and let out a big, exaggerated sigh. When he looked up at Jeongguk, for an instant, it looked like Jeongguk was fighting a smile.

But he was pretty sure Jeongguk never had the urge to smile when he was with him, so he wondered if it wasn't just wishful thinking on his part.

Still, for the first time in three weeks, it spurred him into asking what Jeongguk would probably consider a personal question.

"Are you coming to the party tomorrow?"

Immediately, Jeongguk's face closed off, and Taehyung regretted asking, but he really wanted to know.

He and Jimin were throwing a party at their apartment the next day. Yoongi had told them, a few weeks before, that Saturdays were usually the day he and his friends met, but since the first time their groups had merged, Saturdays had gradually become a weekly rendezvous for the seven of them. Or rather, the six of them, because Jeongguk had declined the last two times. Apparently, he had told Yoongi he had shit to do, but Taehyung knew that it was because of him.

And it was a shame, because as tense as it was when he was there, it was even worse when he wasn't.

"Please," he added softly. "I know you hate me. But we don't even have to talk. Your friends, our friends, will be disappointed if you don't come."

Jeongguk glared at him, before huffing a bitter laugh. "You've got some nerve saying that when you're the one stealing my friends."

Taehyung gaped, shocked. "I don't... I'm not stealing your friends! This isn't primary school. We're all friends. I love Yoongi and Seokjin and Hoseok, and they love us. And we have fun together, so could you please consider putting your grudge against me aside just for one night and have fun with us?"

"I was having fun before you came along," Jeongguk replied coldly. "And you ruined everything, just like you always do. No, Taehyung. I'm not coming to your fucking party. Session's over now. Pick your shit up and leave."

Without even waiting for an answer, Jeongguk left the room angrily and slammed the door behind him, leaving Taehyung alone, shocked at his reaction.

Slowly, he picked up his stuff and left the gym, foregoing his after-session stretching for once.