arrows and aces (a taegyu text ff cause uh yeah)

ch. 24

as the guys finished their meal, they noticed matthew looking back at gunwook and jiwoong. taehyun's eyes zeroed (haha get it anyway ill shut up) in on their intertwined hands, and he felt a surge of irritation for his friend. it seemed he wasn't the only one who noticed, as beomhan leaned over and whispered something in matthew's ear.

gunwook, trying to break the awkward silence, started a conversation. "hey matthew, this is jiwoong." he said, his voice shy. "he's my boyfriend."

the announcement caused a collective sinking feeling in the group's hearts. taehyun's expression tightened, but matthew just smiled and extended his hand to jiwoong. "nice to meet you." he said genuinely, shaking jiwoong's hand.

after a brief goodbye, matthew rushed back to the group. yeonjun casually threw an arm around his shoulders, giving him a reassuring squeeze. as they turned to leave, yeonjun glanced back and noticed gunwook watching them, his eyes filled with a mix of emotions.

"you okay?" yeonjun asked matthew softly, worry lacing his voice.

matthew nodded, though his eyes were slightly watery. "yeah, i'm fine. let's just go."

they made their way to the cars, the group splitting into smaller units like nct yk. taehyun ended up with beomgyu, matthew, and wooyoung in his car this time. the atmosphere was tense, causing the car to be filled with silence the whole ride.

when they finally got home, matthew walked upstairs without a word, his shoulders slumped. beomhan made a move to follow him, but yeonjun placed a hand on his shoulder, stopping him.

"give him some space." yeonjun said softly.

beomgyu and taehyun settled down on the couch, the rest of the group sitting next to them. the atmosphere was heavy, everyone processing what happened just about 10 minutes ago.

wooyoung, never one to hold back, commented arrogantly, "gunwook's such a jerk. can't believe he'd just flaunt his new boyfriend like that in front of matthew. was it not obvious enough that he was head over heels for his best friend?!"

beomgyu shushed him immediately. "wooyoung, matthew could hear you."

yeonjun nodded in agreement. "let's leave him alone for a bit. he needs time to process."

after a brief silence, yeonjun added, "though when we were leaving, gunwook was giving matthew a weird look."

sunoo perked up. "what do you mean by that?"

"i don't know," yeonjun replied, frowning. "he just seemed...off. like there was something he wanted to say but couldn't."

soobin mulled over that, his expression thoughtful. the room fell silent again until heeseung suddenly pointed out, "yeonjun, what's up with those red spots on your neck?"

yeonjun blushed madly, stammering as he tried to explain, "uh, it's just an allergic reaction, i swear."

the rest of the group exchanged knowing looks. wooyoung, ever the tease, smirked. "sure, allergic reaction. you're allergic to soobin."

yeonjun's blush deepened as soobin leaned over and kissed one of the spots. "love you junnie. and i'd do it again, you know." he murmured, causing yeonjun to flinch and the rest of the group to groan in disgust.

kai, unable to take it anymore, yelled, "go the fuck to your room! and close the door behind you! don't worry i'll have heeseung clean the sheets—" the mentioned boy slapped kai.

soobin didn't hesitate. he picked yeonjun up in a princess carry, and with yeonjun still blushing furiously, carried him upstairs.

back downstairs, the group sat in a moment of stunned silence before taehyun sighed. "today's been a lot."

beomgyu nodded. "yeah, it really has."

after heeseung had gone to clean the kitchen, beomgyu leaned closer to taehyun and whispered, "be prepared for the attack upstairs." taehyun immediately panicked, grasping beomgyu's wrists in an attempt to neutralize him.

just then, yeosang came over to the couch and asked, "what are you two doing?"

taehyun quickly let go of beomgyu's wrists, embarrassed. "we're just talking," he explained, his cheeks tinged with pink.

yeosang raised an eyebrow but didn't push it. "okay, well, i'm heading upstairs. wooyoung's already yelling at me from our room." with that, yeosang turned and made his way up the stairs.

taehyun turned back to beomgyu, who was marveling at him with a mischievous glint in his eye. "no." taehyun said firmly, already anticipating beomgyu's next move.

beomgyu pouted, his lower lip jutting out adorably. "but why not?" he whined.

taehyun was so confused as to why beomgyu wanted to torture him so much. "why do you always want to do this? torturing me?" he asked, genuinely curious.

"it's not torture." beomgyu explained, his eyes softening. "cause you smile when i do."

taehyun was still wary. "i don't know..." this must be one of his ways of showing love.

he was conflicted, his mind torn between wanting to give in and wanting to resist, cause in all honesty, tickling was a serious thing. it made you completely powerless, especially with the factor that you are offering your body to be touched, and there are some horrifying lengths that could lead to.

but taehyun knew beomgyu wouldn't do that, he just....wasn't ready to jump headfirst into everything like this. even though it's only tickling, it's still a form of physical touch, and he wasn't even fully comfortable with hugs yet.

just then, a loud, suggestive noise (a moan but i'm not gonna say that) came from yeonjun and soobin's room, breaking the tension.

downstairs, heeseung and kai burst into laughter, though they tried to keep it down, unlike wooyoung upstairs who had already erupted in cackles. taehyun glanced toward the stairs, then back at beomgyu, who was still pouting.

taehyun sighed. "no, and that's final."

beomgyu's expression fell, his disappointment evident. "but why?" he whined. "don't you want to laugh?"

taehyun blushed deeply, feeling a mix of embarrassment and amusement. "not right now, gyu." he repeated, trying to sound firm.

"aww, come on," beomgyu pouted, leaning closer. "please?"

taehyun shook his head, though his resolve was weakening. "nope."

beomgyu sighed dramatically. "fine. whatever you say."