Flying first class| Taekook

Chapter 8 🌷

Jungkook stood at the balcony, his drink hanging lazily from his fingers, but his eyes—his eyes were glued to Taehyung.

He watched  older from afar, the way he nodded politely at the businessman blabbering beside him, occasionally lifting his glass to sip the drink Jungkook's father took way too much pride in.

Taehyung looked—so damn good it hurt.

"So he's the father of that adorable little thing?" Jimin's voice broke through Jungkook's daze as he leaned casually beside him, following his gaze.

"Yeah," Jungkook mumbled, eyes still locked on Taehyung. "Adorable, just like him."

Jimin made a dramatic gasp, then immediately squeezed Jungkook's shoulders like a scandalized old lady.
"Oh my god. You're in love!" he half-whispered, half-squealed.

Jungkook looked up at him with the kind of drunken, helpless eyes that only a man falling in love could have, then silently took another slow sip from his glass.

"I don't know what this is exactly," Jungkook finally said, voice low, staring back at the crowd. His eyes found Taehyung again—just in time to catch him smiling faintly across the garden.

Jungkook's heart jumped in his chest like a startled cat.

He smiled back, tight-lipped and a little shy, before lowering his gaze. He backed away from the railing to stand flush against the wall, needing to hide a little from how overwhelming it felt.

"As I'm looking down," he mumbled, "I see a hundred men. Not a single one stirs anything in me. But—when I look at him—"

He shook his head, laughing at himself bitterly. "My heart beats so fast. I love how handsome he is. How much of a gentleman he is."

Jimin followed him, still clutching his drink, standing shoulder to shoulder against the wall. He sighed dramatically.

"Yeah—I had one gay moment too, you know. Remember Min Yoongi from senior year?"

Jungkook barked out a laugh, nearly spilling his drink.

"How could I forget?" he grinned.

Jimin grinned wider, tipsy now, nostalgia hitting him hard.
"I was in love with that grumpy cat for almost a year. I used to sit next to him during lunch just to breathe the same air. One time he gave me half his cookie and I swear I heard wedding bells."

Jungkook cracked up at the memory, the sound warm and boyish.

"Yeah, until he told you he already had a boyfriend. Hoseok, right?"

"That betrayal broke me," Jimin said dramatically, clutching his chest. "I spent three days mourning. Three whole days! Hoseok even brought me brownies to apologize for stealing my man."

"And you still ate them," Jungkook laughed, bumping their shoulders together.

"Well. They were good brownies."

They both laughed, the sound easy, and for a moment Jungkook was grateful for Jimin's existence—someone who always made the heavy feelings feel lighter.

But even as they joked, his heart kept pulling in the same direction, back toward the man standing across the garden, the man who made everything else blur into the background.

Taehyung pulled away from the crowd, slipping out from the grasp of another conversation he wasn't really paying attention to anymore.

The night was winding down, and he felt a pull, almost instinctive, that he owed Jungkook something — time, attention, a goodbye, anything. His feet found the stairs, one step at a time, until he spotted Jungkook, standing  by the terrace railing, bathed in the soft blue of the full moonlight.