✔ || Distract Me

Chapter 12

The following days were a whirlwind of activity. Taehyung was the center of the staff's attention as his hair, skin, and diet were perfected so that he could be the ideal visual when his pictures were released. Cameras followed the group even more than they usually did because here was BTS, the group that had been struggling for years to find its final element, complete at last. Jeongguk, always a fan of taking pictures, found a muse in Taehyung. At the boy's solo photo shoots, Jeongguk made sure to capture his own masterpieces - ones just for his eyes, ones to view in the future with a flushed smile because Taehyung was nearly his (he often forgot, and he often felt a stab of fear that that night really had been all a dream). The curve of his spine as he swiveled his head and curled his hips was intoxicating, and it would be a crime to not imprint it to memory.

When Taehyung first caught his dongsaeng with the camera, he laughed. "Are you a part of the staff now, Kookie? I didn't realize I was replacing you in the group!"

Jeongguk laughed back, and it was easy and light and bubbled out of his body like a fountain. "I like taking pictures."

"Of me?" Taehyung asked, and the real photographers at the session were quick to capture his twinkling grin.

"Of many things, hyung," Jeongguk responded, biting his lip in concentration. "But yes, of you."

Taehyung's tongue poked itself out of hiding, wetting his lips, and he tilted his head to smirk at the photo shoot cameras. Jeongguk squatted, stabilizing himself on a box of gear, and chewed on the inside of his cheek.

When the primary solo shoot was done and Jeongguk was getting his makeup done for the group shoot, Taehyung wandered over to him and ran an affectionate hand through his hair. "Such a cutie, Jeonggukie."

Jeongguk waited for the staff nuna to turn away before swatting Taehyung's hand. "I already had my hair fixed, hyung! I'm going to have to go back if you don't stop."

Taehyung proceeded to make a game of picking at parts of the maknae's hair whenever the staff nuna was working so that Jeongguk couldn't do much about it, leaping away whenever Jeongguk was free to attack. Hoseok and Jimin thought it was a hilarious game and decided to join in until Jeongguk was able to slap Hoseok's butt hard enough to be rewarded with an indignant squeak. In the end, Jeongguk fixed his hair by himself and then playfully kicked the back of Taehyung's thigh, laughing as he melodramatically collapsed to the floor. ("Why must you abuse me, Kookie? I thought I was your hyung!")

And though technically they weren't a couple yet, Jeongguk felt so incredibly at ease. Jealousy still overtook him whenever Yoongi hung his arms around Taehyung in a rare moment of skinship, or whenever Taehyung asked Jimin to help pull a prank on the hyungs instead of Jeongguk, or whenever Seokjin hugged Taehyung from behind - but it felt a little more justified because Taehyung was nearly his, and it gave Jeongguk an excuse to tackle him because if they couldn't be truly, truly intimate together, why was he allowed to be intimate with others? It was childish and immature, but Taehyung rewarded his jealousy with extra attention, so he didn't care to stop.

In the group photo shoot, when Namjoon stood with his arm around Taehyung and Taehyung sat on the platform with his ankles on either side of Jimin on the floor, unknowingly boxing Jeongguk out of his space, Jeongguk could give the cameras the "smoldering" look that the photographers were asking for (it looked more like a scowl, but ARMY loved the way his nose crinkled, so it was okay). Then, when they were told to change positions and Jeongguk immediately launched himself into Taehyung's lap, the photographers got to capture Taehyung's purest grin - the kind that in that moment felt like it was made especially for Jeongguk, that was filled with nothing but joy and affection. And Jeongguk got to have Taehyung's fingers tug on his ear, grazing its shell in a new way that made his heart stutter, until it was time to move again.