ETERNAL | namjoon ✔️

𝚜𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚎𝚗.

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𝚜𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚎𝚗.

⤜ ✮ ⤞

Jungkook drained the dregs of champagne from his third glass, gazing out at the bejewelled night sky of Seoul from his bedroom balcony. He was lucky to get the balcony room, forfeiting an en suite for it, and it was nights like this that made it worth it.

"Kookie!"

He turned, seeing Taehyung stepping out onto the balcony beside him, his breath forming warm puffs against the cold night air.

"Hey Taetae," Jungkook replied, taking in Taehyung's ruffled hair and puffy cheeks. He knew him well enough to know that this only happened when he drank too much, and sure enough as he came closer, Jungkook saw his shining eyes that indicated he'd also had a few glasses of champagne.

Taehyung glanced around them. "What happened out here?"

Jungkook laughed. "I let noona decorate my balcony with Christmas decorations. I fear it may have been a mistake."

Taehyung giggled, taking in the brightly lit balcony that shone with snowdrops and small twinkling stars. "I like it. It's kinda cute."

Jungkook grinned. "Mmm. She's got your taste, hyung."

"No one's got my taste, Kookie. It's on another level."

He rolled his eyes. "Whatever you say."

They stood side by side, gazing out at the night in comfortable silence. Of all his hyungs, Tae was the one he had this level of comfort with the most, the pair of them able to spend days on end with one another not saying much, but still enjoying the closeness.

"I think this was the best Christmas so far," Taehyung mused, finally breaking the silence.

Jungkook nodded. "Because of her."

Taehyung paused. "Well. Not just because of that."

"What do you mean?"

Taehyung turned to him, forcing him to meet his eye. "Thank you for my gift."

Jungkook grinned. "Oh, you're welcome. I'm glad you like it. I'm sorry it's not a real gift, I just... you work so hard, Taetae, and you love your family so much, it's a shame you never get to see them."

"I know, but flying them all the way up here next week-"

"Don't mention it, hyung. It was noona's idea, actually, she told me I should show my appreciation for you, and I realised I couldn't do it with material things. I just wanted to show you how much you mean to me."

"Jungkookie-"

"No, hyung, you deserve it. I want you to have some time with your family on your birthday, especially if we're gonna have to make up for the army bombs and everything-"

"Jungkookie," Taehyung urged.

"What?"

Taehyung gazed at him for another split second, and then his lips were on his.

It was over before it had even begun, just a simple press of mouths, but even so it lit a fire in Jungkook's stomach. Taehyung's lips were soft and warm, and he revelled in it for the fraction of a second that they were joined with his, even allowing his eyes to close slightly, before Taehyung was pulling away.

Neither of them spoke for a moment. Neither of them moved.

"What was that for?" Jungkook breathed, heart pounding.

Taehyung didn't reply, just pointed above them, and Jungkook glanced up, his stomach somersaulting as he did.

I should never have let her decorate out here.

"Oh," he murmured, taking in the sprig of mistletoe tied to the roof of his balcony. He looked back at Taehyung, and his heart stopped.

Maybe it was the alcohol. Or maybe it was how beautiful his best friend looked in the dim sparkling light of the balcony. But before he could question it, he was leaning back in.

If Taehyung was surprised, he didn't show it. He opened his mouth to the returning press of Jungkook's lips, allowing their mouths to tangle against one another, warm in contrast to the coldness of the air around them. Jungkook was vaguely aware of a hand coming up into the back of his hair, fingers threading into it delicately, and before he knew it his own hands were winding around Taehyung's waist, gripping him closer as his eyes fluttered shut fully.

Jungkook didn't know what to think. His head was empty of all rational thought, as if it had been drained from him and replaced with just feeling. The feel of Taehyung's lips, soft but searching, as he opened his mouth under Jungkook's, and the noises that came from him as their tongues tangled, and the clench of his fingers in Jungkook's hair, and the slender waist below Jungkook's fingers that he just wanted to squeeze harder, looking for more, more, more-

He was in heaven. Sure, he was drunk, and so was Taehyung. But he was free of inhibitions, and it was Christmas, and he was kissing his best friend.

And it felt so good.

"Hey Jungk- oh."

The voice from the balcony door startled them and they jumped apart, trying to look inconspicuous. But from the look in Namjoon's wide eyes and burning red cheeks, he had seen enough to know exactly what was going on.

Taehyung coughed awkwardly, looking away, his cheeks bright red and his lips swollen. Jungkook's heart beat wildly, thumping against his chest as he froze under Namjoon's gaze like a rabbit in headlights.

What the fuck had just happened?

Jungkook's head spun, desperate for his hyung not to scream at him, or disapprove, or shout at him for being an idiot, but he needn't have worried.

Instead, Namjoon said something that immediately put what had just happened with Taehyung under the mistletoe out of his head.

"S-someone saw you," he said, holding his phone out for him to see. "At the shopping centre. Someone saw you, and they're gonna leak the photos."

Jungkook's stomach dropped even further than he had thought possible as the screen came into focus.

There, in plain view, was him and the beautiful purple-eyed woman, arms wrapped around one another, as he placed a consoling kiss into her hair.

Oh, shit.

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