TAEKOOK | HOPE

• 25 confession

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It takes Jeongguk a long time to fall asleep that night, unable to calm the thoughts of Taehyung swirling in his mind. He doesn't know what the hell is going on between them, whether he's reading too much into things or there really is something a little more than platonic simmering just below the surface. It reminds him of how he felt over New Year's, like they're dancing around each other, playing with fire but both too afraid of getting burned.

And that's the problem, isn't it? Jeongguk has been burned before, and he never fully recovered.

Any part of him that wants to push his luck, make a move and see what happens, is silenced when he remembers that he's been down this road before and it ended with his heart in a tattered, bloody mess. Taehyung didn't want him when they broke up, didn't want him when they went on hiatus - what reason is there to think that he'd feel any differently now? Jeongguk is probably just projecting his own feelings on to Taehyung's behavior.

He finally falls asleep somewhere between 1 or 2 in the morning, only to be jolted awake what feels like five minutes later by the sound of a voice very close to his ear.

"Guk."

It's Taehyung. Jeongguk assumes he's dreaming and hopes it's not a dirty one. That would make tomorrow awkward.

There's a sharp prod against his side, and Jeongguk grunts, curling in on himself.

"Guk, wake up."

Jeongguk cracks a begrudging eye open and finds that, in fact, he's not dreaming, and Taehyung really is kneeling at the side of his bed, looking far too awake for - he glances at the clock on his bedside table - five fucking thirty in the morning.

What the actual fuck.

"What the actual fuck," he grumbles, eyes drifting shut again.

Taehyung pokes him again. "C'mon, I want to watch the sunrise and Yoongi hyung said no."

Frankly, Jeongguk is surprised Taehyung is even alive after trying to wake Yoongi up this early in the morning.

"It's five thirty in the morning, go away."

"Please?" Jeongguk can hear the pout in his voice without even opening his eyes. "We're in Hawaii, how often do you get to watch the sunrise in Hawaii?"

Jeongguk sighs. He makes a fair point, even if technically they have already watched the sunrise in Hawaii.

"Fine," he huffs, and is greeted with a full frontal dose of smiley Taehyung when he finally manages to pry his eyes open.

Jeongguk is weak as fuck.

He pulls on a pair of gym shorts and a zip-up hoodie, feet sliding into the first pair of flip flops he can find as he fumbles around his room, still only half alive. Then he follows Taehyung out of his room and down the stairs, moving quietly so as not to disturb the others.

The air outside is cool and damp with dawn, the sky starting to lighten faintly over their heads. Everything around them is very still, the world only just staring to wake up, and Jeongguk is reminded that when he does manage to drag his ass out of bed, he really appreciates the peace of the early morning hours.