PaperHearts

The Truth Will Out

The cafe was quiet, there was only Tae sitting at a table, cradling a smoothie and trying to stop mooning over the fact that he'd woken up hugging Jungkook, his nose nestled against his head, inhaling the smell of his shampoo. He knew that his best friend would have a hangover and the events of the blue themed night kept going round and round in his mind so he'd quietly left the apartment. Leaving Jungkook in bed to sit in an empty cafe wasn't his best idea but he really felt like he needed to do something and soon.

He thought he'd be able to put his acting skills to good use and keep the ignorance going for much longer but as he watched Jungkook sleeping, he knew he needed to bite the bullet. Last night he watched four of his friends be open, they cuddled and kissed, shared whisperings between them and he so badly wanted that. He was absolutely petrified of coming clean, it filled him with more dread than he'd ever felt before because once he'd told Jungkook how he felt, once they'd both shared their feelings, there would be no going back. The harsh reality was that such a huge admission would alter their relationship forever and once it was done, there really was no going back. He thought Jungkook might've confessed while under the influence of alcohol but he hadn't so maybe he really did just see Tae as a platonic soulmate... the word 'platonic' stuck in his throat and nearly choked him to death. When he put it into perspective he'd spent far too long being Jungkook's platonic best friend and his other relationships always led him back to one person, so it was now or never. He couldn't spend any more time burying his feelings, he couldn't risk another card arriving and having to put on a Golden Globe winning performance while Jungkook did the same, simply because fear was holding him back.

He left the cafe and walked the long way back, picking up some pastries for breakfast on the way, even though now it was closer to lunch than breakfast... he was going to do it... there was no time like the present... this was it.

**

Jungkook held his head, it felt a bit swishy and he was once again reminded of why he didn't drink alcohol. Tae had been sleeping soundly behind him when he reached for the paracetamol on the bedside table, he moved carefully so that he could snuggle back into him and go back to sleep without disturbing him. His mind was too fragile to think so he'd closed his eyes and enjoyed the feeling of having his best friend so close.

The next time he woke, he was alone and he felt sad that Tae had left him. His head felt better but his stomach felt dodgy and he was caught in two minds whether to get out of bed and get food or stay in bed and wallow. Everything appeared to be awkward with Tae nowadays, so today would be no exception. There was the elephant in the room and Jungkook couldn't work out why it felt as if everything was building up to something. The elephant was growing, it was getting larger with each passing day and pretty soon there wouldn't be any way to avoid it and he couldn't understand why this was happening. One of the conclusions he came to was that it had all become real since Hobi found out. Having that conversation made it reality, it stopped being just him from that moment and it brought with it a pressure to reveal the truth.

The truth had consequences though, he'd always believed that suffering in silence was the better outcome when faced with having to listen to Tae explain that he saw him in a platonic light, only. The embarrassment and shame at the thought was partly what kept him quiet and prevented him from spilling it all. However, last night things most certainly took a turn when Tae told everyone he'd met the mystery man, Jungkook wasn't sure he could take much more and needed to decide which was the lesser of two evils, maybe in time, they would be able to move on, move past the fact that one of them loved the other so deeply.

**

Tae walked to their door and stood the other side, knowing that Jungkook was probably awake by now and knowing that he couldn't spend another day withholding the secret that he knew his mystery man was Jungkook. This was it....