The maknae

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

He was going to confess.

Tonight.

Tae thought he had all the time in the world to tell Jungkook what he truly felt for him, all the time in the world to tell him those three little words, but he didn't...

Tae lost him.

Tae lost him before he could tell him he loved him.

No, he wouldn't wait, not this time.

~❇~

Jungkook returned to his room late that evening, having left the room his hyungs Jimin and Hoseok shared, after enjoying a movie night filled with Iron Man, Avengers, laughter, and popcorn fights.

Stepping into his room, he noticed a rose resting upon a small black book, which sat in the center of his bed. Reaching the bed, he lifted the rose, shorn of it's thorns and a purple ribbon tied around it's stem, to his nose, inhaling it's scent, before giving his attention to the book.

The book was the size of a diary, made of expensive leather the color of ebony, it's silver clasp a combination of 'J&V' in beautiful calligraphy, looping together beautifully, to create a heart, the words 'I purple you' engraved delicately on the smaller heart formed from the top loop of the '&' symbol.

Jungkook ran his fingers lightly over the intricate clasp before clicking it open. He was greeted with an enlarged photo of two hands holding onto one another, fingers intertwined, one arm draped in red, the other blue.

Though the photo didn't reveal the identity of those holding hands, he knew.

He knew it was himself and Taehyung.

He remembered Tae reaching over, his long fingers gently caressing his hand before intertwining them with his own, unwilling to let go unless choreography deemed it necessary.

Jungkook smiled at the picture before his eyes landed at the words written in beautiful calligraphy beneath it.

I Love You

His breath caught in his throat and his heart raced, his hands a bit shaky as he turned the page.

His eyes scanned each photo on display, all of him and Taehyung in the desert, the most prominent photo of the two of them, had them facing away from the camera, looking off into the distance, admiring the sunset that painted the sky above them in orange and gold, Jungkook's hand outstretched, shielding his eyes from the last rays of the sun as they reflected off the sand, making them sparkle like tiny crystals, Taehyung's arm gently wrapped around his waist.

His eyes found the elaborate script, reading;

I love you more than there are grains of sand in the deserts.

Jungkook's eyes misted as he turned the page. Again, the photos were aesthetically beautiful, and centered around him and Tae, this time at the beach and near the ocean. The main photo stretched across both pages this time. The image taken upon the beach and out toward the cerelean blue waters of the ocean, ' Vkook' written across the sand, a heart drawn in it's center, between their names, symbolizing the word love, and giving the hastily drawn message a deeper meaning.

I love you more than there are water droplets in the oceans.

Next page, like the one before, had a single picture that monopolized both pages, the photo depicting a starry night, Jungkook leaning back against Tae's chest as he star gazed, Taehyung's arms wrapped around his waist, holding him even closer, as if trying to meld their bodies together into one, his head resting upon Jungkook's shoulder, as if savoring the physical contact between them.