Hold My Hand - A Taekook Love Story.

35 - Birthday Portraits Are A Reserved Privilege

It took about another two weeks for Jungkook to agree to move into Taehyung's house again. It wasn't like the younger wanted to hold a grudge or anything. The closeness to Dr Kim's place and the peace of mind he had in Yoongi's house were appealing factors for Jungkook to stay there. Not to mention how close Jimin and he had become lately. Jimin had always been much more than a guard to Jungkook but after living with the elder for this extended period of time, they truly became brothers.

On the other hand, Jungkook couldn't deny he wanted to spend more time with Taehyung. The elder did a marvelous job of opening Jungkook's heart again to the dreams he initially had about his life in exile. Jungkook craved that love of a partner, no matter how hard he tried to hide that fact.

Taehyung didn't exactly push too much in the beginning, but even he couldn't stop himself from doing so as the days went by. He missed Jungkook a little more with each passing day. And this time, he knew better than to keep those desires hidden. If there's one thing he learned about Jungkook, it's that the younger man loves it when Taehyung is vocal about his feelings.

So, when Jungkook finally came to Taehyung's house, it was like a dream come true for both of them.

However, not everyone regarded it as such, although they kept their reluctances to themselves. Taehyung's father was home that day, Taehyung made sure of that. The elder Kim warmly welcomed the newcomer, just as he did the first time. Taehyung's mother was home, but she only showed her face once, before retreating back to the kitchen. Seolhee was nowhere to be found, which was more than okay for both Taehyung and Jungkook.

When Jungkook first stepped into the room he's supposed to be sharing with Taehyung, he was hit with a surge of memories, and most of them were not happy ones. He had spent almost every night in this room with a broken heart and tears in his eyes. The handful of instances which he felt happy at the time, were actually a bare minimum a human can do for another. Jungkook now knew why things happened the way they did, but it didn't make it any easier to remember.

Jungkook was startled a bit when a pair of arms sneaked around his waist and pulled him into a gentle embrace. Taehyung's warm breath tickled the younger's neck, before a soft kiss was placed there.

“Don't force yourself to forgive me, for I will never forgive myself for what you went through in this room.” Taehyung's whispers were full of regret. “I will spend my entire life regretting them and doing whatever I can to redeem myself.”

“It's okay.” Jungkook turned around and gave a soft smile to the elder. “You're forgiven already.”

“The way your face changed when you entered the room says otherwise, my love.”

Jungkook blushed. The air suddenly started to feel a lot warmer despite it being cold a few seconds ago. This was not the first time Taehyung had called him with that endearing term but Jungkook couldn't stop himself from reacting exactly like this every single one of those times. He all but melted into a puddle. He would have slid to the floor with how his legs suddenly felt wobbly, if not for Taehyung's securing hold around his waist.

“Have I told you how adorable you are when you blush?” Taehyung gently turned Jungkook in his arms, so that he could see the latter's face properly. “Your face turns into the prettiest shade of pink. How unfair it is that I can't recreate that on a canvas? Hmm..? It seems to exist only over your cheeks.”

“Stop..” Jungkook's felt as if his entire face was burning, and that fire had already started to spread down his neck and into the rest of his body.

“It was merely an observation. I'm forever in debt of heaves for allowing me the opportunity to see this phenomena up close like this.”

Jungkook gently untangled himself from Taehyung's hold and looked around. His heart had been beating abnormally for a while now and he was actually worried it might be harmful for his health. He needed a distraction and he needed it fast.