Taehyung drove faster than he should have. His hands remained steady on the steering wheel, but his mind was anything but calm. Jungkook still had not answered any of his calls. Three. Five. Eight. Every ring ended the same way, disappearing into voicemail. It was unlike him.
Even if Jungkook were angry, even if he wanted to ignore Taehyung after everything that had happened between them, he would usually send a short message. Something sarcastic or stubborn. Silence frightened Taehyung far more.
He remembered the address from Jungkook's employee file. He had never imagined he would use it. The neighborhood was barely modest, tucked away from the gleaming towers where Taehyung spent most of his days. Narrow streets lined with small apartment buildings replaced the polished avenues of the business district. Children played near a convenience store while an elderly woman watered potted plants outside her doorway.
It felt... ordinary. A world completely different from his own. Taehyung parked hurriedly and climbed the stairs instead of waiting for the slow elevator. By the time he reached Jungkook's floor, he realized his breathing had become uneven.
He knocked. No answer. He knocked again, louder this time.
"Jungkook." He called out and still nothing.
Just as he was about to call once more, he heard slow footsteps approaching from inside. The door opened only halfway. Jungkook stood there looking miserable.
His usually bright eyes were dull with exhaustion. His cheeks carried an unhealthy flush, strands of dark hair clinging to his forehead with sweat. He wore an oversized T-shirt and loose sweatpants, looking far younger than he ever did in the office.
For a second neither of them spoke. Taehyung felt two emotions collide inside him at once. Relief and concern. Relief because if he had been home all morning with a fever, there was a good chance he had not seen the headlines yet. Concern because the boy looked as though he could barely stay on his feet.
Jungkook blinked slowly. "Mr. Kim...?" His voice was rough, barely above a whisper.
Taehyung reached forward almost instinctively, resting the back of his hand lightly against Jungkook's forehead. He was burning. "You have a fever."
Jungkook gave a tired nod. "I figured."
"You should've gone to a doctor."
"I was planning to... after sleeping."
Taehyung sighed quietly. Without thinking, he placed a hand against Jungkook's shoulder to steady him. "You can barely stand."
Jungkook frowned in confusion. "You drove all the way here... because I have a fever?"
"No." The answer came too quickly. "I mean... yes. No."
Taehyung closed his eyes for a brief second. "I came because I needed to see you."
Jungkook looked at him with obvious confusion. Something about Taehyung was completely different today. The sharp edges were gone. The cold professionalism. The carefully measured tone. Even the way he was looking at Jungkook now held nothing but worry. It was almost unsettling.
Taehyung glanced down the hallway before speaking quietly. "May I come in?"
Jungkook stepped aside automatically. The apartment was small but tidy. Books were stacked neatly beside the sofa, a half-finished cup of tea sat forgotten on the coffee table, and a blanket had been abandoned there as though Jungkook had been trying to sleep before the knocking woke him. Taehyung waited until Jungkook sat down before remaining standing in front of him. He suddenly found himself struggling to begin.
How did someone explain a scandal before the other person even knew it existed? He drew a slow breath. "Something happened today."
Jungkook looked up. Taehyung continued carefully. "A newspaper published photographs of me."
Jungkook squinted his eyebrows slightly. "...Okay?"
"They were photographs of me with Matt."
"The British guy?"
Taehyung nodded. "They're claiming we're in a relationship."
Jungkook stared blankly for a moment, his fever making it difficult to process the information. "Oh."
"There are articles everywhere." Another pause. "They're saying he lives with me."
Jungkook rubbed his temple. "But... he doesn't."
"I know."
"They're lying."
"Yes."
Silence settled between them. Taehyung watched Jungkook carefully. No anger. No disappointment. No questions. Just confusion.
His shoulders slowly relaxed. "I wanted you to hear it from me first."
Jungkook blinked. "Why?"
The question caught Taehyung off guard. He hesitated before answering honestly. "Because I didn't want you to believe the headlines."
Jungkook looked even more confused. "Wouldn't I ask you first?"
Taehyung let out a quiet breath that almost sounded like a laugh. "I wasn't sure."
He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "I've... watched enough dramas to know how these things usually go."
Jungkook stared. Taehyung continued, entirely serious. "The female lead usually leaves the moment she misunderstands something."
Jungkook's eyebrows lifted. "She never lets the male lead explain."
Another beat of silence. "So I thought..." He looked strangely embarrassed. "...perhaps I should explain before you heard it from someone else."
Jungkook simply stared at him. His feverish brain took several long seconds to catch up. Kim Taehyung. The intimidating executive who terrified board members. The man who could dismantle someone's presentation with a single raised eyebrow. Had rushed across Seoul to explain a tabloid article... Because he was afraid Jungkook would react like the heroine of a romantic K-drama.
Jungkook's mouth fell open slightly. "...You watch K-dramas to prepare for relationship misunderstandings?"
The tips of Taehyung's ears turned unmistakably red. For the first time since Jungkook had met him, the man looked genuinely, spectacularly embarrassed.
Jungkook continued staring at him for another long moment before finally finding his voice. "...Why would you compare me to a female lead?"
The question was so earnest that Taehyung closed his eyes for a brief second. "I knew you were going to ask that."
"You've watched too many dramas."
"I have."
Jungkook looked almost offended despite the fever making his thoughts sluggish.
"I don't run away from conversations."
"I know that now."
"No, you should've known that before."
Taehyung let out a quiet sigh. For once, he did not argue. Instead, he pulled one of the dining chairs closer to the sofa and sat down, close enough that only a small distance separated them. The usual authority he carried in the office was nowhere to be found. He looked tired, his shoulders slightly slumped, as though years of carefully maintained composure had finally become too heavy to carry.
For a while, he simply looked at his own hands. "There is... something you should know," he said quietly.
Jungkook waited.
"I've known for a long time that I'm attracted to men." The words were spoken calmly, without shame, yet they carried the weight of years spent keeping them hidden.
"I never hated that part of myself. I hated what it could do to everyone around me." His gaze drifted toward the apartment window.
"My family name isn't just mine. It belongs to generations before me. Every decision I make reflects on the company, the shareholders, my relatives, thousands of employees."
He smiled faintly, though there was no joy in it. "Growing up, I learned very quickly that some truths are easier to lock away than to explain."
Jungkook remained silent, listening carefully.
"When I lived in London for a while, things felt... different." Taehyung's voice softened at the memory. "People weren't free from judgment there either, but I could breathe a little easier. That's where I met Matt."
A small smile appeared on his face. "He was loud. Annoyingly optimistic. He talked enough for both of us." Taehyung let out a quiet breath that almost resembled a laugh. "Somehow he decided we were going to be friends before I even agreed."
Jungkook could picture it.
"He knew who I was," Taehyung continued. "Not Kim Taehyung, the executive. Just... Tae. Eventually we became more than friends."
He paused for a moment. "It wasn't perfect. It couldn't be."
His fingers intertwined loosely. "I always knew I'd return to Korea. I always knew what waited for me here. I couldn't promise him a public relationship. I couldn't introduce him to my family as my partner. I couldn't build the kind of future he deserved."
Jungkook's expressions softened more. "And he stayed?"
Taehyung nodded. "He stayed."
There was unmistakable gratitude in his eyes. "He never demanded more than I could give. He never tried to force me into a life I wasn't ready to live. He simply... stayed beside me."
The room fell quiet again. "When he left," Taehyung said after a moment, "he didn't ask me to choose him."
He looked directly at Jungkook for the first time since entering the apartment. "The only thing he said was that if someone else ever came into my life, I should give that person the certainty I was never able to give him."
Jungkook felt his heartbeat quicken. The space between them suddenly seemed much smaller than before. Taehyung had unconsciously leaned closer while speaking, his voice quiet enough that Jungkook could hear every subtle change in his breathing. Their knees were only inches apart now. The familiar scent of Taehyung's cologne mixed with the faint aroma of tea lingering in the apartment.
Jungkook had been so focused on listening that he had not noticed the distance disappear. Now he did. His thoughts drifted back through the past weeks. The secret meals sent through Hannah. The oversized clothes at the penthouse. The coat draped over him while he slept. The constant irritation whenever someone else got too close.
The way Taehyung had rushed across the city today, not to protect himself, but to explain everything before rumors could reach Jungkook first. None of those moments had been accidents. None of them had been simple acts of kindness. Jungkook looked into Taehyung's eyes, and for the first time, he no longer questioned whether he had imagined the tenderness hidden beneath the older man's cold exterior.
He hadn't. Taehyung wasn't sitting in this tiny apartment because he feared a scandal alone. He was here because he feared losing Jungkook before he had the chance to tell him the truth. And that realization settled warmly in Jungkook's chest.He had not been overthinking. Kim Taehyung had fallen for him just the same way he has.