House of Cards

Chapter 11

Taehyung supposed that he should find it very strange that he once again woke up in a room that wasn't his own. He wasn't surprised in the slightest however, because it was something he was very much starting to get used to. The sensation of the silken sheets against his bare skin rather than the usual cotton was pleasant, but not as pleasant as the sound of soft humming from somewhere in the penthouse suite. When he breathed in he could detect the mingled scents of Jimin's perfume and Jungkook's cologne, almost taste them. The perfume was floral and feminine whereas the cologne was woody and obviously masculine, a wonderful blend that he was now used to the scent and taste of. Taehyung recognised it with his tongue just as well as his nose.

His muscles were quite simply aching. It had been Jimin's idea to visit the apartment block gym of course, and being woken up at 6am to be his training partner had been more than tiring. It had been nearly two weeks of missed workouts with Hoseok and his body had started to get used to limited exercise once more. So the workout routine had quite simply drained him and Taehyung hadn't even realised that he had fallen asleep in the bed again after showering but he had. Had probably passed out in fact. But that wasn't the only reason his muscles were aching, particularly his thighs. Taehyung shifted with a low series of groans, propping his head up on the palm of his hand so he could look across the suite.

He saw Jungkook in the kitchen area by the entrance door, moving around from the stove to the counters as he was presumably cooking. He had thought that the humming had been Jimin and yet he discovered it to not be the case. The younger man had a pleasant sounding tone, soft and husky, and it was strange hearing him hum like that. Probably because it was a normal thing to do when cooking or cleaning, and Jungkook wasn't exactly normal. There were various pans on the stove bubbling away, the scent of meat hanging in the air.

"What time's it?" Taehyung mumbled sleepily, forcing his eyelids to stay open. Jungkook glanced at his watch and told him that it was 7:30 am. Well, that meant he had had close to a half hour nap. "Shit, Jungkook, how're you so awake right now? Do you ever sleep?"

"I'll sleep when I'm old, or dead," Jungkook retorted as he carried on flitting around the kitchen area. Taehyung shifted to sit up, suppressing a yawn behind his hand as he did. His damp hair was practically dry in the warmth of the suite air but when he swung his legs over the side and his feet brushed against the marble flooring it was cool on his soles.

"Mmm, that sounds like you." Taehyung rubbed at his eyes hard enough to see stars and then he dropped his hands to his lap. From somewhere else in the suite came the sound of the shower, presumably Jimin still cleaning up. He wouldn't be surprised if Jimin's cleansing routine took half an hour. All of that scrubbing and washing and shaving and moisturising. It was a workout routine of its own. "Good morning, Jungkook."

"...Good morning, Taehyung."

He noticed the slight pause before the younger man replied, saw how he stopped in the act of stirring the contents of a hissing wok. It was as if he had been caught off guard by the affection even though he had said it to him every morning. Maybe it was the fact he was sitting on one of his beds, voice husky and bare skin on display, instead of standing by the check-in desk? Taehyung got out of bed and he felt his muscles complaining as he stood upright. He couldn't help but press a hand against his lower back.

"Stiff?" Jungkook asked as he lifted an eyebrow at him languidly. "I'm used to the routine as is Jimin. You'll get used to it soon enough."