Unwrapping Taehyung

Chapter Six

Jungkook

THE CHRISTMAS party was set for Friday night, December 12th. It was the last official day of classes. The week after was finals, so the weekend of the 13th was going to be spent studying like mad. That Friday night was therefore like the Mardi Gras before Lent. Of course, a lot of other houses were having parties that same night. But ours was definitely the most creative. Namjoon loved our party plan, so we started mapping it out. Maybe things were going a little too well, and I was getting a little too comfortable, because that was when the bottom dropped out.

We were in Taehyung's room breaking down a list of things that had to be done, when I noticed Taehyung kept rolling his right shoulder and stretching that arm over his head.

"Hurt yourself?" I asked, breaking off my web search for mulled wine recipes.

Taeyhung made a pained face as he crossed his right arm in front of him, stretching it. "Pulled my shoulder doing deadlifts."

"Do you have any liniment that heats up?" I wasn't sure what it was called in America, but I'd been a fan of the stuff ever since joining the swim team at my high school.

Taehyung shook his head. "It's fine."

"Hang on."

I'd actually brought some with me to the states, because I wasn't sure I'd be able to find anything as good here. I went to my room and came back with the tube.

"This stuff is magic. Wait 'til you feel it."

He grabbed the tube out of my hand and looked at it. "It's in French."

"Yeah, imagine that. A French label on a product I bought in France."

"So how did you end up at PSU anyway, if you were living in Paris?" He asked, as if he'd been wondering.

I sighed. Did I give the quick and dirty answer or the truth? "When I was little, we lived in Busan. I used to visit my grandparent in New York City during the summers." I shrugged. "I liked it there." That was an understatement. I'd adored my grandparents' house. They lived in a real house instead of a high-rise apartment, with a yard full of green grass and everything. "We moved to London when I was in fifth grade, after my grandparents' died, and then Paris my last few years of high school. But they never really felt like home exactly."

Taehyung looked dubious.

"Don't get me wrong," I said quickly. "They're amazing cities, and I'm lucky I got the chance to live abroad but... I wanted to go to college in the states. And PSU has one of the highest ranked veterinary programmes." I grabbed the tube back from him. "It's my parents. They travel a lot. In fact, they just moved to Greece."

Taehyung gawked at me. "You left for college and your parent moved to Greece? Dude! That suck ass."

It didn't really. I was over going to foreign schools, learning a new language, new everything. I had thought about going back to Korea for college but I'd spent most of my childhood in the states so it felt more familiar. I loved how comfortable PSU felt. "Well, I'll still get to visit them there, so it's all good. Now take off your T-shirt."

We both froze once the words had left my mouth. Taehyung looked at me strangely, and I had a stab of self-doubt. What was I doing? I honestly had no intention of seducing him, as if I even could. But the thought of getting my hands on all those muscles, even for a few brief moments, was heady. I wanted to touch him, and that sure as fuck wasn't good, even if I had a perfectly reasonable excuse of needing to administer first aid.

"You know what? You can do it yourself." I tossed the tube back at him and picked up my laptop. I wondered over to his desk chair to gain a little distance. I'd focus on the party plans. No problem.