Lost to Lovers | Taekook

11

“I was hoping you would sleep longer. I feel bad for keeping you up so late.”

Taehyung and Jeongguk are walking along the pathway Jonggyu had cleared earlier that morning. The snowdrifts tower around them where there’s more distance between the different tree crops, but as they get to the section with the tallest of the balsam firs, the drifts are smaller piles pushed between the tree trunks. 

“Are you saying you regret last night?” Jeongguk asks nervously, biting at his lip and hoping like hell Taehyung doesn’t say yes.

“I–no–I don’t. Not at all!” Taehyung is quick to reply. “I really had fun last night, Jeongguk. It was…it was amazing.”

It’s such an eager response, and the alpha seems so genuine that Jeongguk badly wants to reach out and take his hand while they walk. But he’s weirdly nervous to do it, and it’s baffling to him to be so apprehensive.

“I had fun too,” Jeongguk tells him as he flashes Taehyung a warm smile. “Hope we can do it again.”

Before Taehyung can respond, Jeongguk is changing the subject, not wanting to push, just putting the suggestion out there.

“It smells incredible out here,” Jeongguk says, breathing in deeply. “But I think there’s only one other smell in the world that I like more.”

Taehyung gives him a curious look before breaking into a grin. “What is it? My apple pies?”

But Jeongguk shakes his head. “No. You. Your alpha scent is…” he pauses to think, wanting to sound romantic and clever, but to hell with it. Better to just be blunt and honest. “It’s so good, Tae.”

He laughs at that. A deep, loud laugh that Jeongguk had not heard until now. As if being out in the open, with no one else around is all the alpha needed to be a little more free and relaxed. No family member ready to burst into the room to say something humiliating, no sense of duty to keep him from being too loud or too joyous. 

From what Jeongguk has heard, alpha leaders take their position in their pack very seriously, and oftentimes behave in a much more intense manner than the rest of the pack. But Jeongguk can tell how all of that goes against Taehyung’s nature, that solemn existence, and there’s something really wonderful about how authentic the Kim alpha seems to be. And Jeongguk wants to discover every layer of who Taehyung is, hopes he has enough time to.

“I can’t believe you think I smell better than a Christmas tree or a freshly baked apple pie,” he chuckles. 

But Jeongguk just shrugs. “If you could smell yourself, you would understand.”

“Guess I could say the same about you,” he replies with a crooked grin. 

Taehyung looks as if he’s about to say more, but stops himself, and Jeongguk’s heart sinks. He’s never met such a cautious alpha before, one that seems to keep everything so close to the chest. Jeongguk wonders how much of it is legit shyness and how much of it is Taehyung protecting himself, and if it’s the latter, why?