The Fallen

VII : DECEPTIONS

"You're such a contradiction, Tae."

Jungkook's laughter rang in his ears and Taehyung rolled onto his side to throw grass at him. Jungkook smiled wide and happy smile back at him, nose and eyes scrunching up from how big it was.

"Hey, be nice," Taehyung playfully admonished.

He dropped more grass onto his face and smiled as Jungkook tried to blow it away with huffs of breath that had his cheeks puffing out ridiculously.

"I am being nice," Jungkook said. He grinned and rolled onto his side, propping his head on his hand, elbow on the ground as an anchor. "It's a good thing. It makes you, you."

Taehyung chuckled. "Oh yeah? How's that?"

Jungkook's hand reached over and trailed along his side, and Taehyung felt electric under his touch. His skin tingled wherever Jungkook touched, goosebumps rose in the trail of his fingers sending shivers into the core of his being.

"Your body is hardened by years of training," Jungkook said, voice low.

His eyes followed the movement of his hand on Taehyung's skin, and Taehyung's breath caught in his throat as the calloused fingertips lightly moved to his abdominals and back up to his chest. He felt heat pool in his gut as he watched how Jungkook's expression darkened with desire. His hand stopped over his chest, palm pressing down over Taehyung's rapidly rising heart.

"But your heart is gentle, soft, and untainted," Jungkook whispered, his eyes finally rising and meeting Taehyung's. "You're a beautiful contradiction."

Their noses brushed as they leaned closer, their warm breaths mingled as the desire and tension within each of them rose, thickening the air with the depth of their feeling.

Taehyung reached over and took Jungkook's hand in his own. He looked imploringly into Jungkook's dark eyes.

"Do you promise this is real? What we feel - it's real, even if it's forbidden?"

Fondness softened the intensity of Jungkook's stare and he leaned his forehead against Taehyung's, both of them briefly closing their eyes and lingering in the closeness before Jungkook softly pressed his lips to the tip of Taehyung's nose. He felt himself blush under the affection, at the gentleness of the action.

"I'll love you forever, Taehyung," Jungkook promised. "No matter what happens to us, I will always love you."

I will always love you...

Taehyung felt a tear roll from the corner of his eye as he slowly woke.

His body and mind were weighed down from the dream, the memory of days long gone. Faintly he was aware of the buzzing of his phone on the bedside table. It was why he'd woken up. But the dream lingered in his consciousness, and kept him in from moving. He put his hand over his eyes, holding back a sob from breaking out, and wiping away the wetness. He sniffled pathetically before he blindly reached out for the phone.

Squinting, he saw a missed call from Jimin and sighed seeing the time. He knew it had to be something important seeing as it wasn't even nine. The silence from the rest of the apartment indicated that Jungkook wasn't awake. Maybe he was still a heavy sleeper, difficult to wake.

Taehyung unlocked his phone with a heavy exhale and called Jimin back. He cleared his throat a few times to clear it of the thickness of sleep, and the emotions choking him from his dream, before Jimin answered.

"Tae?"

"Morning," he mumbled tiredly. "Is something wrong?"

"No, no. I'm sorry for calling so early," Jimin replied, his voice hesitant. "Um. Is everything okay there?"