in which kim taehyung was an artist in search of a muse for his upcoming gallery collection, and jeon jungkook was just a pretty boy who worked in a coffee shop.
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"am i really that pretty?"
"oh my darling love, there is no such painting that...
اوووه! هذه الصورة لا تتبع إرشادات المحتوى الخاصة بنا. لمتابعة النشر، يرجى إزالتها أو تحميل صورة أخرى.
"𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒎𝒔 𝒂𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒍𝒂𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒕,"
[𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐲 𝐬𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧]
"good morning hyungs!" jungkook grinned as he walked through the kitchen doors, an hour before the cafe opened that morning. inside, seokjin and namjoon were busy with decorating a fresh batch of cupcakes and cookies, while hoseok was sipping on his morning latte as he watched. "where's jimin?"
"hey kook-ah," namjoon looked up, smiling. "jimin's on his way. how've you been? how's yugyeom?"
"i've been... good." jungkook's smile turned a little shy. "yugi's good, too..."
"that's good." namjoon chuckled. "i think hobi hyung has a new crush."
"really?" jungkook's smile grew, and he grabbed an apron from the hook, tying it around himself and finishing it at the front with a little bow. "about time... who is it?"
"well-" hoseok started, seokjin cutting him off with a big grin.
"min yoongi."
"min yoongi?" jungkook's eyes widen in wonder. "taehyung's friend?" his smile faltered a little as he spoke the artist's name; having known that he'd most likely ruined whatever they had when he rejected the man. "h-how did you meet?"
"yoongs came in for tae's coffee." seokjin looked back at jungkook, his brow raising, as if silently saying something that the younger should understand. "he's not been too good recently-"
"honey," namjoon gave his husband a scolding look that the youngest didn't miss. "let's finish these cakes, hm?"
jungkook gulped, quickly busying himself with the icing as if to distract his guilty thoughts. truly, he never meant to hurt taehyung's feelings or reject him... but... yugyeom had already asked to try again and jungkook had a bad habit of being unable to say no.
as his mind wandered to the conversation about yoongi and the artist; a pang of guilt tugged at his heart as he remembered the rejection he had delivered to taehyung, the hurt that must have causedj.
despite his efforts to focus on his work, jungkook just couldn't shake the weight of his actions. the artsit had been nothing but kind to him, and yet he had pushed the man away without fully understanding his own feelings, because he didn't know what he wanted.
lost in his thoughts, the younger worked in silence, the sound of frosting being spread over cupcakes filling the air.
he couldn't help but wonder if he had made a mistake, if he had let his fear and uncertainty get in the way of something potentially beautiful with taehuyng.
he couldn't shake the twinge of guilt that lingered in the back of his mind. hearing about yoongi's recent visit to the café only served as a painful reminder of the rift that had formed between him and taehyung.
he hadn't seen the artist since that day.
despite his attempts to focus on the task at hand, the brunette couldn't help but replay the events of the gallery night in his mind.
the look of disappointment in the older man's eyes when he declined the dinner invitation haunted him, casting a shadow over his otherwise cheerful demeanor.
jungkook had ruined the special night.
as he carefully piped frosting onto the cupcakes, he couldn't help but wonder if he had made the right decision in choosing to give his relationship with yugyeom another chance.
afterall, there was a reason why they didn't work out in college, right?
yet the thought of hurting taehyung, someone he deeply admired and respected, weighed heavily on his heart.
"it's not your fault." namjoon pat his back. "the circumstances are just... unpleasant. taehyung just needs to come to terms with it. you shouldn't feel like-"
"but hyung..." jungkook looked up at him, his lip twitching down. "w-what if our friendship is ruined?"
"hey now, i'm sure that's not the case." namjoon just chuckled. "tae's is a reasonable guy. he understands that sometimes things don't work out the way we want them to," he reassured jungkook, his tone gentle. "your friendship is strong, kook-ah. It'll take more than this to break it. maybe just give him time, yeah?"
jungkook sighed, his shoulders sagging with the weight of his guilt. "i-i just wish i could make things right with him. i hate that i hurt him... b-but i like yugi and-"
"we all make mistakes, jungkook," hoseok chimed in, setting down his latte and walking over to the younger man. "but what matters is how we handle them. taehyung will appreciate your honesty and sincerity when you talk to him."
"yeah, you're right," jungkook nodded, a small smile tugging at the corners of his lips. "i'll talk to him if i see him. thanks, hyungs. i needed that."
with that renewed determination, jungkook resumed his work, the warmth of his hyungs' support giving him the strength to face the situation head-on.
—
it was late evening when jungkook finished his shift.
the rain was heavy, as to be expected of early november, and after he locked up the cafe, he practically fell out the door as he ran to yugyeom's car, the other having come to pick him up.
"how was work?" the younger asked, gently pecking jungkook's lips as he buckled up. "the weather's awful."
"work was fine, yug..." jungkook smiled softly, sighing as he leaned into the seat. "can you drop me off at mine to tonight?"
"aren't you sleeping 'round mine again?" yugyeom rose a soft brow, his eyes on the road. "i thought-"
"i need to feed coco.." jungkook looked up at him, smiling. "poor thing, she's probably anxious without me around."
"ah, right." yugyeom chuckled, a fond expression taking over his face. "let's get you home, then."
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college and work has been kicking my ass recently...
i'm so sorry for the late update, i promise to speed things up <3
