peace | taekook

chapter twenty-five

per the request of jungkook, taehyung had decided to meet with the agent who had reached out to him at his show. it was beyond nerve racking to face a dream that could be his new reality and he really wasn't sure what to expect but he wore his nicest suit anyways, a plain white button down underneath.

he gave tannie a pet, "your other daddy is going to come visit you after he's done with work, okay?"

the dog gave him a subtle bark, just enough to indicate that he was going to be fine alone.

but tae really didn't want to go. the butterflies in his stomach were anchoring him to his apartment, the only sense of urgency was the car waiting downstairs.

he had agreed to a formal lunch, one of those places that served popovers for a starting appetizer and labeled everything as an entree. it had velvet booth and dark hard wood and it looked like a place that he'd come with namjoon and his dad and whoever they were trying to impress.

it seemed like his old world contradicting his new.

the booth they were in stared out at a pond. tae watched the tiny ducklings with their mom, his own fingers subconsciously tracing the tiny "v" tattoo which he'd grown so stupidly fond of. it felt like a comfort tool, one given to him by somebody who brought him the utmost.

"kim taehyung?" the familiar voice of the agent took him away from his thoughts.

"yes, pleasure to meet you again!" the brunette stood, both hands cupping his as he bowed.

"you too. i am so happy you called!" the man slid into the other side, turning his phone face down so that he could spend his entire time focused on tae and that pretty face, "should we cut right to business or are you into formalities?"

"business is fine. i've made enough small talk to last me ten life times over." tae crossed his hands one over the other, listening intently.

"i think you're great. handsome, charismatic, you have something special." the agent droned on, hurling compliments, "i would like to propose a year long contract, you'd work under our agency and we'd basically hook you up with jobs all around the world."

"so traveling?" tae bit his lip nervously.

"yes and sometimes on a whim. we may need you on flights within the hour in order to make a shoot happen." he smiled reassuringly, "this could be huge though. one year of pain but you'd make so many connections. if you say yes, your schedule for a year is hard, but, you'll come out at this time next year with the ability to pick when and what you want to work on."

"you think?"

"have you seen yourself?"

"i- i guess."

"and here's the deal." the agent pulled out a sheet of information, numbers crunched on every side, "this is the average earning, we take this percentage, the rest is profit in your pocket."

the brunette grabbed the sheet, reading it over, "seems fair."

"we're one of the fairest." he smiled, "i don't need a decision today tae, but the sooner you say yes, the sooner your dream life can begin."

he thought it was presumptuous of this man to assume modeling would lead to his dream life but who was he to deny the passion he'd been housing since the dawn of time. why was he so suddenly willing to put it on the back burner?

"i just need a little time to think on it." he fidgeted with the drink in front of him.

the agent nodded, "as long as you have that face, you can call me anytime."

they spent the remaining portion of lunch going through other successful clients who had said yes to the agency. tae didn't fail to notice the big names, the brands- they were the best of the best. he'd be honored to even be considered for a shoot of the magnitude that some of these were.

the option was suddenly right at his finger tips and yet it still felt too far.

too far away from home, from jungkook and yeontan and jimin and his family and it felt too far from the life he'd been building up for the last few months.

everything seemed to be put into perspective the minute the line went flat and god, he wished he had his grandma here to talk him through.

he said his goodbyes with a blank offer of calling soon, whatever soon even meant.

"gram, mom, what do you think?" tae opted to walk the city streets for a bit, talking to the sky with the hope it would answer.

he just needed a little clarity.

"i think i've wanted it for so long but, i'm realizing that my wants have changed. is it okay to change your dream?" he was aware that he looked like a crazy person who had parked themselves on a bench but he didn't care.

from the pocket of his suit, he felt a buzz, quick to check the notification which was a text from jungkook that contained a picture of him and yeontan cuddled on the couch, giant smiles on them both. he wrote the message "waiting for dad to get home" and tae knew it right then.

anything that would take him away from reality wasn't going to suffice.

he called a car to pick him up, tearing up the business card and the sheet of dreams in the process and chucking it in a nearby trash can. he texted namjoon that he'd be in the office tomorrow and every day to follow.

his brother being proud of him, cheering for him- maybe he just needed validity that he could do something else and now that he had it; he had everything.

tae felt like the richest man in the world.

"look who showed up!" jungkook motioned to the tiny house party that had formed in tae's apartment while he was out.

j-hope had converted the sleek hardwood in the kitchen to a dance floor, forcing yoongi to battle with him while jin and namjoon sat to the side in mature conversation. jimin was busy playing tug of war with yeontan and explaining why he can't chew on gucci loafers and jungkook was (very poorly) attempting to cook dinner-

he looked right at home.

"how did it go?" jimin stared up from his spot on the floor.

"who told you?" tae stripped out of his suit jacket and laid next to his best friend.

"j-hope knows the guy and jungkook has a big mouth so i technically place the blame on them both."

tae chuckled, his head resting on the blonde's shoulder as he cozied up under the skylight in his living room, "i'm not going to do it. i'm way too happy with my life right now to disrupt it. i think i just needed to know that i could do it."

jimin looped their hands together, "well that's good because i'd miss you if you traveled all over the world."

"you have yoongi though!" tae joked.

"he isn't you tae." jimin bopped his best friends nose, pulling him from their spot, "is dinner ready?"

jungkook nodded, motioning for jin to help plate since he didn't trust anyone else with such a task.

"it smells amazing kook! add it to the list of things you can do."

"the list of things he can't do would be way shorter!" tae joked.

jungkook smiled fondly at his boyfriend, his eyes saying those words that he'd been hesitant to admit. taehyung knew that this was love, pure, real, and raw. the type that if it ended left you wallowing.

it was scary but he wasn't scared.

all seven of them settled into the living room, food in hand surrounded in the great company of each other. strangers that turned to friends, a mass amount of opposites bonded by serendipitous moments.

tae felt the presence of what he'd been searching for all along right here in his living room-

peace.