ᴛʜᴇ ʙᴏʏ ᴡɪᴛʜ ᴘᴜʀᴘʟᴇ ʙʟᴏᴏᴅ || ᴋ.ᴛʜ + ᴊ.ᴊᴋ ✔️

twenty-nine: warning

As planned, after their morning class, Seokjin invited both Taehyung and Jungkook over his apartment for what he described as "a fun little tea and talk time."

However the moment they arrived at the apartment building, someone already wasn't having fun.

"Hey, I used to live here."

Taehyung and Seokjin both turned to the other boy. His boyfriend took his hand and frowned. "This is the building you got kicked out of?"

"Yeah. Didn't know you lived here, too, Jin."

"You got kicked out??"

"Long story. Well, not really."

"He doesn't wanna talk about it."

"That's fine," Seokjin said quickly, noticing the obvious shift in the others' mood. "Sorry to hear that." Stepping aside, he gestured for them to go into the apartment. "You guys can make yourselves comfortable. Don't be shy. Go 'head and put your feet on the coffee table, doesn't bother me. Namjoon does it all the time."

"Who?" Taehyung asked.

"My boyfriend. Don't worry about it." He chuckled, closing the door behind him before making his way to the kitchen. "So what kind of tea do you guys prefer?"

"Didn't know you had a boyfriend."

"Well, you didn't ask," Jin said jokingly. He faced the cabinets he had just opened. "So about the tea, I got all kinds. Jungkook said you hated lavender, right? What about chamomile? I also have french vanilla, pumpkin spice - lots of the pumpkin spice, actually, I'm one of those people. You might have noticed the pumpkin spice candles on the windowsill."

"I have," Jungkook nodded. "Smells delightful."

"Would you like to try the pumpkin spice tea?"

"May I??"

"You may. And you, Tae?"

"Chamomile is fine."

"Excellent. I shall prepare them posthaste."

As he did so, the other boys made themselves comfortable on the couch, just as their host had encouraged; however, neither let their guard down fully. Without realizing the other doing the same, Taehyung and Jungkook both began to scan the interior of the apartment with skeptical eyes, which was normal and almost instinctive for Tae, whereas Jungkook so easily got distracted and even forgot momentarily that he was supposed to be on guard. He held onto Taehyung's hand to remind himself of this.

Truly, Seokjin did seem like a nice guy, and he wanted to trust him. Jungkook had never suspected anything of his fellow music major before, but ever since he had grown so close to Taehyung, Jungkook learned the foolishness in trusting so easily.

He couldn't lie, he wasn't fond of the feeling. Of being on edge around people he presumed were harmless. And this, he considered, must have been how Taehyung felt constantly for years. Being hesitant, afraid, even, to let anyone get too close, close enough to deceive him, to hurt him.

Jungkook saw himself as the luckiest man on the planet to have broken down those walls. Earning Taehyung's trust was a trophy no other could match.

"You fellas like to sweeten your tea?" Seokjin asked amidst his guests' silent examining of his apartment. "I've got honey, sugar, half-and-half-"

"It's fine, I don't need anything," Tae replied.

"Me neither," Jungkook added.

"Snacks?"

"The tea is enough, Seokjin."

"Yeah, the tea is enough, Seokjin."

"If you guys say so," Jin said and made his way over to the boys with two mugs in hand. He then proceeded to set them gingerly on the coffee table. "Pumpkin spice for Jungkook, chamomile for Tae. Aaand pumpkin spice for me as well."