New Newer Rules

10 - Jeongguk can do red.

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"You're driving away business."

Jeongguk looks up from the Haikyuu!! episode he's watching on his phone and glances between Seokjin, standing in front of him on the other side of the bar, and the rest of the room. "Hyung. It's empty."

"Because of you," Seokjin says, wiping down the same glass he's been cleaning for the better part of an hour. "You look so depressed, no one wants to come drink next to a depressed man-baby."

Scowling, Jeongguk tries to tune Seokjin out and go back to his anime, but he can't focus properly, sighing through the overdramatic matches and passionate speeches about volleyball. The bar has been mostly empty all afternoon, attributed to the fact that it's a goddam Monday and Seokjin knew they had movie plans but still chose to work for no money anyway. A few stragglers had wandered in for drinks after work, but for the most part the afternoon has passed with Jeongguk ignoring his papers and Seokjin washing glasses.

"I can still hear you sighing," Seokjin says from across the bar, where he's rearranging bottles of whiskey after another bartender fucked up their placement. "Either tell me what's wrong or go away."

Jeongguk pouts, pausing the show. "You're mean."

"I literally fed you this entire week."

"Mean, hyung."

Seokjin whips him lightly with a dishrag. "What's wrong? You've been distant for more than a week."

"It's just." Jeongguk squirms a little in his seat. He doesn't know how to discuss what he's been feeling lately, least of all with the object of his frustration's best friend. How is he supposed to tell his cousin that he can't stop thinking of how Taehyung fucked him in a dirty, grimy bathroom stall? So he settles for an issue that Seokjin knows about, and that is, "Do you think Taehyung hyung is ever going to accept me?"

Seokjin's expression softens, and Jeongguk immediately sits up straighter, not liking the way Seokjin is looking at him like a wounded child. "Listen, Jeongguk-ah. I'm sure he's going to come around eventually, but I wouldn't push it."

"What do you mean?"

"He- okay, he's still mad that you slept with Jiae. Even if he won't say it, it's still bothering him."

"But Jimin hyung said-"

"Regardless of whatever he said, Jimin's not the one experiencing Taehyung's feelings." Seokjin says gently. He wipes at a sticky spot on the counter, worn and discolored from years of use.

"But-"

Seokjin raises an eyebrow. "But?"

Jeongguk splays his upper body across the countertop, resting his head on his bicep and he whines, "But he fucked me so good, hyung."

"Disgusting. Absolutely disgusting. How dare you bring this into my good, Christian household."

"When I was thirteen you barged into my room and said, 'Jeongguk, you can be straight, you can be a weab, but you'll never be gayer than I am.'"

"I don't recall."

"You literally want to be sandwiched between Yoongi and Namjoon hyung."

Seokjin's eyes open comically wide, and he smacks Jeongguk's arm with the dishtowel again. Jeongguk laughs, sitting up to combat Seokjin's attack. "How the fuck did you-?"

"It's obvious," Jeongguk says through a laugh. "You're too touchy with Namjoon hyung. It's like you gave up on the concept of subtlety."

"Shut up, I hate you so much."

"You do not," Jeongguk says, reaching behind the bar for a lemon wedge to pick at. "Now tell me how to get Taehyung to fuck me again."

Seokjin makes a face. "I really don't want to think about your sex life, Jeongguk."

"Well, too bad! This is what you signed up for when you agreed to be my roommate-"

"You were too broke to pay rent on your own-"

"When you agreed-"

"I don't know if Taehyung's a good match for you," Seokjin says, his tone suddenly much more serious than before. "It might not be a good idea for you to go back to him."

Jeongguk frowns, brows furrowing. "Is he... is he, like, a bad guy?"

"No, no, not at all," Seokjin says hurriedly. "He's one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet, the kind of guy you bring home for Christmas because you know your mom will approve. He organized the Pet A Puppy event during finals last semester. He's so pure."

"Then what's the problem in sleeping with him again?"

"He's not a fan of relationships," Seokjin explains.
"Jiae was a kind of exception because they had slept together enough times that Taehyung felt obligated to ask her to dinner. He was too nice to say no when she asked to be exclusive, but he's pretty bad with feelings. Combine that with being cheated on for so long and I don't know if he's going to want to try again. Least of all with you." He pauses, picking up the little pieces of lemon that Jeongguk had ripped onto the counter. "No offense, Gukie."

"None taken. I think." Jeongguk doesn't say anything for a moment, watching as Seokjin cleans and then greets a customer as he walks in and settles on the adjacent side of the bar. The guy orders an Old Fashioned- pretentious fuck- and Seokjin mixes the drink before returning to Jeongguk. "Hyung, you know I don't. You know I don't want a relationship."

"I know. But I also know that you get attached easily."

Jeongguk feels his cheeks burn. "Shut up."

"It's not a bad thing."

"Yes, it is," Jeongguk mutters, dropping his chin onto the bar.

Heaving a heavy sigh, Seokjin folds his arms on the countertop to meet Jeongguk's eyes. "Hey. It's not a bad thing, and there's nothing wrong with being into Taehyung. I'm just telling you to be careful."

"Yeah, I know."

"Taehyung likes red," Seokjin says quietly, straightening up as a wave of college students come meandering into the bar. "Do with that what you will."

Red. Jeongguk can do red.

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