i. partner in crime | vkook

46. forest fires

a day later.

intricate rain drops fell on the pavement, swirling and clouding his imagination with empty thoughts.

"this could be my last day with him," taehyung whispered as he sat on a bench to escape the suffocating feeling of the el royale fight club. he glanced at the gloomy skies and bustling people around him, unbothered by everything. he wondered if anyone else in the world had as many problems as he did.

cut to a few hours earlier, jin had his entire wardrobe, makeup kits, and shoes scattered over jungkook's suite for the big event.

"you're going to look amazing," he fawned as basically played dress up with them.

taehyung looked beautiful; glowing inside and out. jin had dressed him in a silk dress shirt, unbuttoning the top button to reveal his honey skin, pressed slacks, and a dainty gold cartier bracelet around his dainty wrist. he had also lightly curled his bangs and applied a sheer lip gloss on taehyung's soft lips which he decided not to question.

jungkook refused lip gloss or anything being done to his hair, however, he wore his signature versace suit.

in the present, it's time to enter the building. taehyung imagined this to be just like a red carpet event; cameras flashing, almost too many camera shutter flares to handle, hands in every direction waiting to be shook.

holding onto jungkook's arm, making shy eye contact, taehyung was his plus-one. he was confused as to why everyone was dressed up; especially jungkook, who would just be taking his suit off anyways. jungkook explained that was half of the fight; first impressions and showing up looking good for the camera.

he thought he couldn't be anymore in love with the way jungkook was handling this, so modestly, his hair pushed back as he greeted important looking people left and right.

it felt like they were celebrities.

his lips trembled as he saw the vast amount of people in attendance to watch the match. rows and rows of occupied red leather seats were filled with men and women with cocktails in their hands. he couldn't help but to think what if jungkook didn't win; would he be embarrassed? what would that settle?

taehyung squeezed the distracted jungkook's arm. he was filled with so much warmth with the fact that jungkook was showing him off like this tonight, saying he was his. "are you gonna be okay?"

"i'll be fine," jungkook replied nonchalantly through his teeth, trying to keep his smile up.

as people streamed in, hoseok, jin, jungkook, and taehyung gathered in a lobby by the entrance, the red velvet flooring and black interior walls making everything much darker than it needed to be. glasses of champagne adorned everyone's hand but taehyung's.

jungkook apprehensively looked at hoseok.

"listen," he stated. "you're my boss and i respect you, but stop pulling shit on me. that's all i'm gonna say."

hoseok nodded silently, but on the inside he was celebrating.

suddenly, two guys with pretty faces approached the group. one had soft brown hair and pouty lips and the other had boxy black bangs and the palest skin ever.

"park jimin and min yoongi," jin beamed, clearly excited to see them while hoseok got all giddy.

a few small 'heys ' were exchanged. taehyung let out a few 'oohs' and 'ahs' as they introduced themselves, fascinated by the stories they were telling. he was sad when they eventually left.

just then, a tall, muscular man walked in the back doorway; his blonde hair and posture stood out for sure. it was namjoon. it was very typical of him to ignore the cameras and action.