NICOTINE ||TAEKOOK||✔️

🄵🄾🅄🅁🅃🄴🄴🄽

"Would you ever consider dating Jungkook?" Jimin asked in class later that day. Taehyung bit his lip; he definitely wasn't expecting that question of all questions from Jimin, but he guessed he should've been.

"No," Taehyung said passively, hoping one word was good enough. He didn't need this talk now after the confusing time spent in the closet today, and he especially didn't need it from Jimin.

"Really? Because you seem to like him quite a bit," Jimin countered, sounding almost accusatory. Taehyung wondered if he could evade him long enough for the teacher to begin the lesson. With a long sigh, Taehyung began to speak.

"We're two different types of people, Jimin. He likes sex and drugs, I like theater and tea. Trust me, we'd never date," he finished, giving Jimin a look to tell him he was through with the conversation. Jimin looked fairly prepared to argue, but the teacher was beginning the lecture and Jimin was much too good of a student to talk during class. Taehyung thought (or hoped, really) it was the end of the talk. For good.

Taehyung should've known he couldn't hide it forever.

Jimin had ran to catch up with him as he walked out of school that day and to his car, not even a full five minutes after he'd just snogged Jungkook senseless against some lockers in a secluded corner. Taehyung was still a little high off of that as it was—he couldn't have picked a worse time for Jimin to decide to come say hi than right then.

"You went to that party," Jimin said as soon as he caught up. It took Taehyung a moment to understand what was wrong about that statement, and then he remembered who he was supposed to be.

"And?" "

"And you went upstairs with Jungkook," Jimin replied. Taehyung froze. "Did Yoongi tell you?"

"I wasn't even surprised when he did," he said in answer. Taehyung didn't know what to make of the statement. Just as he was about to voice his thoughts, Jimin began again. "You've been showing up to school every day with fresh love bites more often than not, and you're always suspiciously late to come to lunch anymore. Jungkook's been doing the exact same thing."

Taehyung was caught. He was caught and he knew it and Jimin was probably going to hate him forever now. "It's not—"

"As if all of that wasn't enough," Jimin interrupted him, "Yoongi comes up to me today and accidentally lets it slip that at Jung Hoseok's party, he told him all about how he'd bitten your neck and gotten Jungkook to take you upstairs. Apparently, that's not a rare occurrence at all, and I'm a lot less in the know than I thought." He took a breath then, sighing to himself. "Look, you made it pretty obvious that you and Jungkook were—something. I was going to wait on you to tell me yourself, but it's been months and you haven't said a word."

Jimin was hurt—fuck, Taehyung had hurt him by not telling him when he thought he was doing the exact opposite by keeping quiet. He didn't mean for that to happen. "I'm sorry," Taehyung mustered, not knowing where to begin with his explanation; was there an appropriate place to start telling your best friend about how you'd been fucking someone you were supposed to hate behind his back for nearly three months?

"Tell me why," Jimin said calmly—much calmer than Taehyung would've been, had the roles been reversed. "Why you went for him of all people, why you lied to me about it, and why you didn't tell me you were going to that stupid party so we could've suffered together."

Taehyung grinned as soon as the words left Jimin's mouth, ready to attack him in a hug and tell him how he was the greatest best friend ever, but he'd asked questions and Taehyung had already fucked up enough today. The least he could do was give some answers.

After talking him into getting into his car with him for a more private setting, Taehyung explained to him about it all—how he'd tried his best to keep away from Jungkook but he was persistent, and how he thought Jimin would've hated him if he knew what was going on (Jimin had taken personal offense to that. "Do I really seem like the type of shit friend to that?"). He told him how they did stuff, a lot (but not in any detail, because then Taehyung would absolutely die), and how his mother had met him and she adored him and how Jungkook was nothing like what he'd imagined.

"And I think—I might," Taehyung coughed; this was going to be the hardest bit to say aTaed, mainly because he hadn't so much as thought it when he could help it. "I might—more, maybe."

"More?" Jimin questioned, and did he really have to choose now to be thick?

Taehyung groaned, hitting his head against the head rest and sighing. "I think I might want to, like. Not just be a sex thing."

It was definitely not Taehyung' most coherent sentence, but Jimin seemed to understand. Taehyung was thankful he didn't have to say it again.

"Aren't you?" Jimin asked increduTaesly, and Taehyung shook his head automatically. "Wait. You're not together?"

"Not outside of whatever we're doing is," Taehyung replied, and his mind was screaming at him to shut up now before he said something he'd regret. He stayed quiet.

"But you want to be?" A nod. "And you're worried about asking him, right?" Another nod. "Taehyung. Seriously? You're basically doing everything a couple does except calling yourselves a couple."

"We're not—" Taehyung looked out the window; emotions sucked, really.

"You're not what? Honestly, I'd love to hear," Jimin said dryly, turning toward Taehyung in his seat. "Kim Taehyung. You gave this boy your virginity, you let him meet your mum, you went to a fucking party for him, and just a few months ago you'd been ready to shove him off of a cliff." He paused, allowing time for it to sink into Taehyung' mind. "I can't say I understand or that I really like it, but you obviously like him for some reason and I'd be a terrible friend if I told you not to go for it. So," he said reluctantly, "Go for it."

"You know Jungkook," Taehyung argued, his voice rising as he spoke. "You know he doesn't do relationships."

"Does that honestly match up with what you've told me? How you've seen him?" Taehyung was quiet. "Just. Fuck, Taehyung, just go and talk to him and I promise it'll work out. Okay?"

When Taehyung looked at his friend, he knew there was no room for any answer other than, "Okay." 

~~~