The How's of us

CHAPTER 10: LOVE IS PATIENT

"I really like them too, Tae. I want to join their relationship. But only if you want to."

There it was. Tae had seen it coming. He had prepared himself over and over again, and he honestly thought he was ready. Clearly, he was wrong. How was he supposed to let Kook down now? The only person he had come closest to having a crush on was Namjoon. And that he thinks might be only because he is always praising his artwork. Fuck!

"Kook, I don't think your decision should be based on what I want. Especially because all I ever wanted was for you to be happy. So, I think you should join their relationship." Tae wasn't even looking at Kook when he said it. He might as well just hand him over to them on a silver platter. Kook was never a possession to be claimed, so if he wanted to date Jin and the others, all Tae could do was agree. "What do you mean I should join the relationship? What about you, Tae? What do you plan on doing? Why would I join them without you? I might like them, Tae, but I took vows two years ago to be with you till death do us part. I meant every word of it, my love. So unless you are joining the relationship, too, I won't be doing it." Jungkook was frustrated now. Why couldn't Tae just be straightforward and tell him if it's a yes or no?!

Tae, on the other hand, wanted to laugh. Kook had also promised that he would never love anyone as much as he loved Tae, but it had taken him a second to fall in love with Jin. It had taken Tae two years to even get a date. Ironic. However, he also knew one has no control over who and when they fall in love. That's why he couldn't bring himself to hold it against his husband. "Kook, I want you to join the relationship. I just need more time, but I promise I will put in more effort. It might take longer for me, but please, don't hold back because of me. Especially if you are in love with one of them already." Tae answered.

"Tae, I won't......."Before Jungkook could argue any further, Tae spoke up. "If you love me and put me first as much as you claim to, then please don't make me feel like I am holding you back from being with people you love. That makes me feel like the villain in your story. When all I ever wanted was to make you happy." Ouch. That hurt Jungkook. He had just been given an ultimatum. There really was no winning with Tae. "What about you and me? Will we be okay? I would have to split time for you and 5 others, Tae. " Okay, Jungkook admits that he was trying to get to Tae by saying that, but it bothered him that Tae always acted like nothing affected him.

"We are already doing that, Kook. Do you even remember the last time we spent time together? Just you and me? It was one month ago. We are already splitting time between 6 people." For a split second, Tae's eyes gave away the pain he was filling before he wore his poker face again. "Anyway, I have to head to bed now, I have a busy day tomorrow. I am moving to my gallery." Now that was new information to Kook. The last time he had checked, Tae had started the renovations of the gallery. He never knew they were completed. "Tae, how come you never told me you completed the renovations?" He asked, a look of hurt crossing his gorgeous face. "I did, Kook. We even made plans to go see the results together. But then the next day you told me about your plans to go to Busan with Jin. So I decided not to remind you."

Fuck! Kook had really been ignoring his husband. "Tae, I'm really sorry...." "No you're not Kook. You feel guilty, but you are not sorry. You can't be sorry when they led you to discovering Jin's feelings." As soon as Tae said it, he headed to the kitchen. He needed a bottle of whiskey asap.

That night, Tae had locked himself in the guest room nursing his whiskey bottle.

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Tae was in his tattoo parlour watching as his art was being loaded on the truck to be transported to his new gallery. These were the moments he had always wanted to share with Kook. Instead, he was trying to learn how to share Kook. He went back into his office to check that the delicate art had been properly wrapped before they started loading it. He was discussing with the manager of the moving company when there was a knock on his office door. "Come in."

Shit. It was Jin. Why was he here? He wasn't ready to face anyone yet. He had made sure to leave the house early in the morning when Kook was asleep because today he wanted to focus on himself and his gallery. "Seongho, please take care of everything outside for me, I'll be out in a few minutes." Understanding that Tae wanted some privacy, Seongho stood up and left. "Hi Tae, how is the moving going?" Jin asked. He didn't look like it, but he was really nervous.

This morning, he had walked into his hotel only to find a fidgety Jungkook at the reception who broke down as soon as he held him. He had proceeded to tell him what had happened the night before. He was here hoping to make peace between the husbands. "Hi Jin, please take a seat. Is everything okay?" Tae had a clue why Jin was here, but he wanted to know if he was here to scold him or just talk about what happened. "Jungkook came to my hotel this morning. He seemed really upset about your talk last night. So I wanted to know how you are doing as well. I understand if I am the last person you want to confide in." So he was here to talk about how Tae was feeling? Not to try and get Tae to talk to Kook?

"I'm okay. I didn't mean to upset 'our boyfriend'. I just needed time to think." He answered. Jin didn't miss on how Tae referred to Jungkook as their boyfriend. What had happened to them being husbands? He was now completely sure that Tae had taken everything the wrong way. "He is still your husband, Tae. And you are allowed to be mad at us. Especially if there had been a promise made. I didn't know there was a promise made. Otherwise, I would never have kissed him. However, the blame is ours both.Promise or not, we should never have kissed before clearing with you. " Jin explained. He was really hoping that the progress he had made with Tae yesterday wouldn't go to vain.

"It's okay, Jin. It was inevitable anyway. I shouldn't have demanded such a promise from Kookie. He shows his love through actions. I should have known better." Tae really wanted to be done with this topic. "Yesterday I had promised to teach you how to bake a cake, but we never got to that? When can we meet up for that?" Jin asked. He desperately wanted to know if Tae still wanted to try with him. "Well, right now, I am swamped with my gallery, but when I have time, I will reach out." By having time, he meant when he was over the pain he was feeling. But Jin didn't need to know that.

Another knock sounded on the door, and when Tae asked the person  to come in, it was Namjoon. "Jinnie, you're here too?" The two boyfriends exchanged a kiss. Namjoon moved to Tae and hugged him before placing a kiss on his hair. "Hi Bear, how is it going so far?" He had held Tae's hand  and he didn't seem like he would let go. "It's going well. I just took a few minutes off to talk to Jin. But I think I should get back to making sure everything is safely loaded." He was ready to be saved from conversing with Jin any longer. He needed time.  Lots and lots of time.

"Sure, I am here to help anyway I can." He wouldn't admit it out loud, but Namjoon's company was calming him down.

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Do you think Tae will ever join the relationship?

I can't believe we are already at chapter 10!! See you in the next one 💜