Fake || a kth and jjk ff

|| twenty-five ||

Hours later, Taehyung was frustrated for so many reasons. He and Jungkook hadn't counted on how badly Friday rush hour traffic would delay their drive to his parents' home. Knickers had shown up only minutes behind them, along with everyone else, to get ready for the evening. Everyone congregated in the living room as Knickers barked out last-minute orders, as if she were a sergeant in the army. Jungkook was already on edge, thinking dinner would be ground zero for their breakup, so when Knickers announced that Taehyung needed to pack his belongings because he wouldn't be spending the night at the Jeon home, Jungkook flipped his shit.

"What?"

"Jungkook," Knickers had said in her snooty, condescending tone. "It's the night before your wedding. You can't spend the night together."

Jungkook stood at the base of the stairs. "I'm a grown man! I can make my own decisions!"

His mother pursed her lips with determination. "It's already been decided. Your father and I have booked a hotel room for Taehyung."

"You can't just decide on something like that without asking us first!" Jungkook shouted.

Taehyung was proud of the younger for finally taking a stand, even if it was for a cause he had to see as pointless. Jungkook thought the elder was breaking up with him tonight, in which case Tae wouldn't have stayed at the house anyway. But the elder worried that Jungkook was going to spill everything. That couldn't happen yet... not when he and Jin were so close to getting the answers they needed.

Taehyung put a hand on Jungkook's arm. "Jungkook, it's okay."

The younger turned to look up at him, tears in his eyes. "No it's not, Tae."

Then it hit him. Jungkook was upset that he was leaving. Period. Relief seeped through him before the aftertaste of guilt bit in. While he was grateful for the confirmation that the younger wanted more with him, Tae hated to see him this upset.

Tae pulled the younger into his arms. "It's okay, Kookie," he whispered in Jungkook's ear as he stroked the back of his head. "We'll work everything out. I promise."

Jungkook clung to him, and in that moment Tae wanted nothing more than to run away with him. But he couldn't, as much as it killed him. His employees back home were in trouble because of someone else's wrongdoing, and they needed his help. "Ae-ri," he said over the top of Jungkook's head. "It's fine. I'll pack up before we leave, and I'll have Jin take me to the hotel later."

"Seokjin's welcome to stay here tonight, or he can stay with you if you'd like," Knickers said.

Jin stood next to the sofa, watching the scene unfold. Taehyung cast a glance toward his brother, who gave him a short shake of his head. They hadn't found the original plans, so Jin probably wanted to search the basement. Finding the documents would spell game over for LSJ Engineering; it would be proof enough to convince their investor to hang tight. "That's okay. I'm going to be anxious and nervous. Jin won't get any sleep if he stays with me."

Gran had been standing to the side watching. "I'll go with him."

Knickers rolled her eyes. "Mother, you can't stay with Taehyung at the hotel."

"He promised to help me with my research on nudist colonies in Belize. He hasn't done it yet."

Taehyung couldn't help but grin.

"I bet he'd feel less anxious about the wedding if I kept him company. We could have a yoga session. It does wonders for stress."

Taehyung was pretty sure he'd be anxious about something else.

"What do you have to feel nervous about, Taehyung?" Jimin asked with a sneer, leaning his shoulder against the doorjamb to the kitchen and crossing his arms over his chest. "Having second thoughts about marrying my brother?"