CANDID. ᵏᵗʰ

CHAPTER 08; 𝘼 𝘿𝙄𝙁𝙁𝙀𝙍𝙀𝙉𝙏 𝙇𝙄𝙂𝙃𝙏

"call him!"

"you call him!"

"you do it!"

"no!"

jeongguk crossed his arms, his legs shoulder-width apart. he'd be intimidating if it wasn't for the pout on his lips. "hyung, please call him."

taehyung, who was sitting on his bed with his ankles crossed and his phone loose in his hands, narrowed his eyes. "why are you so adamant? who was the one bragging two weeks ago that you'd finally mustered up the courage to ask yn-hyung for his number?"

"i didn't have to muster up the—" he cut himself off. "please. i'm begging you."

"then beg."

"you know him better than i do, for longer," jeongguk insisted and uncrossed his arms, which stopped the material of his long-sleeve shirt from hugging him so tightly and made him seem like a normal twenty-something-year-old guy and not ninety per cent muscle. (the other ten per cent was 'absolute baby', but those percentages were subject to constant change.)

taehyung pulled up his contacts and tapped on your name, showing jeongguk. the little picture was you sitting on a stone water fountain with a large group of crows calmly sitting around your legs and hands. the crows looked a lot calmer than jeongguk felt.

"is this him? the guy you're playing games with all night, every night?" taehyung teased. "if i didn't know he lived on the other side of the city, i'd think you'd be screaming because of something else."

jeongguk's cheeks went bright red and his expression was nothing short of horrified. "hyung!" he cried, slumping down at the foot of taehyung's bed just to do something. "d-don't say that!"

"just telling the truth." taehyung raised his hands in surrender. "wow, you're really red. is the blood rushing to other places too?"

"hyung!"

"i would say i'm sorry, but i'm really not," taehyung said, smirking a little. "okay, i'll call him. i'll do it now, actually."

he pressed the 'call' button and put it on speaker as it began to ring. jeongguk immediately fell silent, putting his arm on the bed and resting his chin on it. he stared at the phone intensely.

you picked up after four rings. "hey, taehyung. what's up?"

"hi, hyung. nothing much, but jeongguk just wants to know if you're free in, like, an hour."

jeongguk looked like he wanted to strangle taehyung. having his name mentioned at all was the same as asking the whole thing himself, in his mind, and he wanted to wipe that stupid grin off taehyung's face.

"in an hour?" your voice was tinny through the speaker but it still sounded warm. "sure, i can do that. where are we meeting?"

"the new mall that was just built." taehyung squinted at his phone, trying to remember the address. it avoided him and he shook his head and sighed. "i forget the street, but you know it, right? down that road with the really big trees and stone arch."

"yes, i know it. will the rest of you be there?"

"yeah, it's all of us. i think we'll be pretty hard to miss."

you huffed a laugh and they heard some voices calling for you in the background, too indistinct to make out their words. "alright. i'll see you inside in an hour. oh, and jeongguk?"

jeongguk jumped. he cleared his throat and moved closer to taehyung's phone when he offered it. "yes?"

"you know you can call me yourself, yeah? i don't bite. not hard."