thief.

the invite.

She heard a conversation behind the door in hushed whispers; presumably Taehyung and Jungkook.

She was surprised though when she knocked on the door then opened it, it was all seven of the men from his executive board.

Jennie smiled awkwardly.
"Oh...sorry for interrupting."

"Jennie!" Hoseok shrieked, grinning. "Come chat with us."

She blinked a few times, then closed the door behind her. "Are you sure? If you guys have something important to discuss, I can just stop by later. I was just um..."

She bit her lip, trying to think of an excuse. "Lisa wanted to see you." Jennie pointed to Jungkook. "Yeah."

He rolled his eyes. "Whatever makes you sleep at night Jennie."

"Shut up." And promptly sat in between Hoseok and Yoongi. Taehyung tried to hide his amusement, but it didn't really work.

Jimin, noticing the change in behavior from his friend, glanced in between Jennie and him, then pursed his lips in understanding.

"Well, I'm going to go find Rosé and try to bother her. Anyone come with?"

"I will! I love bothering her, she's so annoying sometimes." Hoseok bounced up from his, then bent over Jennie to yank Yoongi up from his seat.

"You're coming too."

"I was just going to chat with Jennie though. I haven't spoken to this girl in ages, she's always busy." He whined.

"No no," Hoseok hissed, lowering his volume. "We gotta' leave her alone with V."

Yoongi's lips pursed into an O.

"Well then, I guess I'll be going too!"

"Me too!" Namjoon echoed, patting Taehyung's shoulder, who watched them leave with a slightly confused look.

"Huh?"

Jin was the last to leave, winking at Jennie.

"V, they didn't want to intrude on your...personal business with her."

Jennie choked on her own air. Taehyung didn't say anything, but was clearly taken aback.

"Okay, you can leave." He muttered to the older, then got up to get his water bottle. Jin grinned gleefully, then slammed the door behind him.

"That," He pointed at the door, then looked to Jennie. "You always do that whenever you go home."

"Huh?"

"Slam the door."

Wait what?

"I'm confused." She whined. "How would you know that?"

He shrugged, sipping at his water bottle. "I don't know, you tell me."

Taehyung pulled his coat over his sleeves, then smiled lopsidedly at her.

"Let's go get some coffee."

•

"Wait, wait wait." Jennie crossed a leg over the other. "You've been my neighbor this whole time?"

Taehyung nodded, then sipped his coffee.

She slumped her shoulders. "And you didn't even bother to say hello or anything?"

"I'm surprised you didn't even greet your neighbors once you moved in." He retorted. "Isn't that what normal people do?"

She scoffed. "I was a very, very stressed and busy med student. I didn't have the time."

Taehyung rolled his eyes. She found herself laughing strangely.

"Wow. You live right next to me, just like old times. Seriously though, why didn't you say anything?"

Jennie already knew bits and pieces of the answer to her question; had he even approached her, Jennie would've been so eager to get back into his life.

And maybe even stepped into his work life. She was sure he probably would've kept this a secret from her.

"I didn't want to get you involved. That's literally it. But then Lisa brought you to SBS that one day, and now...here we are."

She was sure had Taehyung approached her once she moved in, maybe their relationship they held now would've been a bit different.

It made Jennie's inside flutter.

Jennie also had the feeling he was the telling the truth for once, the complete truth. No halfway lies, none of the "yeah, something like that." This was the whole story.

He didn't want to get her involved? She wanted to believe he meant it in another way, but Jennie knew she was being delusional.

Glancing up, she found Taehyung's eyes already on her. Probably trying to figure out what exactly she was thinking in her mind. Jennie was always thinking about something, whether it be relevant or not.

He was silent, finding no use in saying anything else about the topic, but his eyes wandered to her hands, then lips curving into a small frown.

"You still do that too."

"Hm?" She glanced down where Taehyung was looking.

Jennie found it relieving to press her nails into the flesh of her hand until it was left with those strange little crescent-like marks. It was painful, but alleviating.

"You know one day if you do that, you're just going to hurt yourself." He pulled her wrist away from her other hand.

"I guess I can't help it sometimes." Jennie smiled, taking her coffee in one hand. "You act so different around other people."

"There's an image I have to keep up." Taehyung shrugged, pulling the neckline of his turtleneck higher. "It gets tiring though, always having to act like that serious man who doesn't like to hear jokes or laugh."

"Does Dahyun know this side?"

"What side?"

Jennie grinned more. "The Taehyung that I grew up with. The one who smiles like a box, made a lot of jokes, laughed a lot, who was very smart..."

She glanced at her coffee then at him.
"Who was also very compassionate towards everyone?"

It was definitely more than just a superficial attraction for Jennie, she couldn't even deny it anymore.

All her old feelings were resurfacing again, like they never left. It gave her a strange euphoric feeling that made her feel like she could describe all the colors in the rainbow, it made her feel like the stars glittered a little brighter at night.

What was it then?

"No, she hasn't. I never really felt anything towards her." Taehyung's eyes didn't leave Jennie's.

"There hasn't been anyone who has really seen that side. That's only for people who I care about."

"Really?" She blinked.

"There was one girl though." He found himself looking out the window. "But only one girl."

Taehyung was still holding her hand.

a/n: i really didn't want to ruin this chapter with an author note at the end but—
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