For a long moment, neither of them spoke. The confession lingered between them, quiet and fragile, filling Jungkook's tiny apartment with a silence neither of them seemed willing to break. Jungkook was the first to move. Before Taehyung could stand or retreat behind another carefully constructed excuse, Jungkook reached forward and caught his wrist.
Taehyung looked up in surprise. "Jungkook..."
The younger man gave a small tug. Taehyung, still distracted by everything he had admitted only moments earlier, lost his balance. He stumbled forward onto the couch, catching himself with one hand against the cushion. Jungkook shifted with him.
In the next heartbeat, their positions had changed. Taehyung found himself leaning back against the sofa while Jungkook hovered above him, one hand resting beside Taehyung's shoulder to keep from putting his full weight on him. Despite the fever still warming his skin, Jungkook's eyes were clear. Very clear.
Taehyung blinked. "What are you doing?"
Jungkook's lips twitched. "Making one thing very clear."
Taehyung frowned, completely caught off guard. "What thing?"
Jungkook looked almost offended. "You compared me to a female lead."
"...I did."
"I've been thinking about that ever since."
A reluctant smile threatened to appear on Taehyung's face. "I noticed."
Jungkook leaned just a little closer. "I don't mind if you like men."
Taehyung's breath caught.
"I don't mind that you like me." Those words landed harder than any argument ever had.
"But," Jungkook continued, "don't start assigning me to a female role."
Taehyung stared at him.
"I am not the heroine who misunderstands everything." His voice became softer. "And I'm not someone who's going to let you make every decision for us either."
For the first time that afternoon, Taehyung had absolutely no response.
Jungkook smiled. "You've spent weeks calling me a kid."
"..."
"You've ordered me around."
"..."
"You've treated me like I couldn't think for myself."
Taehyung sighed quietly. "I deserved that."
"You did."
Jungkook's smile grew warmer."So let's get one more misunderstanding out of the way."
Taehyung raised an eyebrow. "What misunderstanding?"
Jungkook closed the remaining distance just enough for their foreheads to touch.
"I'm not following you because you're my boss." His voice dropped to a whisper. "I'm here because I choose to be."
Taehyung searched his face for several long seconds, as though expecting to find hesitation. There wasn't any. Only certainty. Slowly, carefully, Taehyung lifted a hand and brushed a strand of damp hair away from Jungkook's forehead.
"You're still running a fever."
"I know."
"You should be resting."
"I know."
"And instead you're arguing with me."
Jungkook laughed softly. "You started it."
This time, Taehyung couldn't stop himself from smiling. It was small. Gentle. Entirely genuine.
Jungkook looked at that smile as though he'd won something far more valuable than an argument. Without another word, he leaned down and kissed Taehyung. It was unhurried this time. No anger. No challenge. Just quiet reassurance and the need to prove he was not going to let Taehyung be the top.
When they finally drew apart, Taehyung rested his forehead against Jungkook's once more and closed his eyes. For the first time in years, the future still frightened him. But for the first time in years, he no longer wanted to face it alone.
Jungkook moved before Taehyung had the chance to retreat behind another excuse. His fever still left his cheeks flushed, but it did nothing to dull the determination in his eyes. With surprising confidence, he caught Taehyung by the wrist and gently guided him backward until the older man sat against the couch cushions.
The movement was so unexpected that Taehyung simply stared, momentarily forgetting to react. "What are you doing?"
For perhaps the first time since they had met, their usual positions were reversed. Jungkook with a wobbly smirk, "Asserting dominance so that you know who's the female lead in here..."
Taehyung had always been the one standing over Jungkook during meetings, issuing instructions with effortless authority. Now he found himself looking up instead, cheeks pink from embarrassment. "I'm older and the experienced one. Not to mention that I am your boss."
Jungkook remained close, one hand braced against the back of the couch, his expression carrying a certainty that had not existed only a few weeks ago. "I have done my research, Mr. Kim. I know enough to know that I want you to bottom, forever."
Taehyung's composure visibly wavered. His eyes widened before he turned his face away, only to find Jungkook shifting back into his line of sight. A faint warmth crept across Taehyung's ears, something Jungkook noticed immediately. It was almost amusing to see the man who could silence an entire boardroom with a glance suddenly unsure of where to put his own. "Jungkook, move..."
Jungkook's confidence only grew. "Don't you look shy?"
Taehyung clearly blushed. The distance between them remained small, not because Jungkook wanted to intimidate hin, but because he wanted to make one thing unmistakably clear. He was not someone who needed protecting from every difficult conversation. He would make his own choices, stand beside Taehyung by his own will, and meet every challenge with him as an equal. And treat him like his 'female lead' not the other way around.
Taehyung searched his face for hesitation. He found none. Instead, he found quiet conviction. It left him more flustered than any argument ever had. For all his experience, all his carefully maintained control, he had not expected Jungkook to overturn the balance between them so naturally. And the realization that the younger man was no longer simply following his orders timidly, but pinning him down with unwavering certainty, made Taehyung's heart beat just a little faster.
"What do you want?"
Jungkook leaned in enough to brush his lips against Taehyung's ears, "Proving that I'm not a kid. Especially not when you're underneath me, blushing hard and making me hard..."
Taehyung's hands frantically moved to push Jungkook away not because he didn't want it but because he thought he shouldn't. "Shut up, Jeon"
"Make me, Tae."
Jungkook did not give Taehyung another chance to overthink. He leaned in slower this time, allowing the older man every opportunity to pull away. Taehyung never did.
Their foreheads brushed first, followed by a hesitant smile that neither of them expected. The tension that had filled the apartment since Taehyung's confession gradually dissolved into something softer. Jungkook cupped his face with surprising gentleness, his thumb brushing lightly against Taehyung's cheek.
"You really overthink everything," he murmured.
Taehyung let out a quiet, defeated sigh, the corners of his lips lifting despite himself. "I do."
Jungkook smiled before closing the remaining distance between them.
The kiss was slow, patient, and reassuring, lingering just long enough for both of them to settle into the moment. Taehyung felt the last of the tension leave his shoulders as he relaxed beneath the younger man's touch.
When they finally drew apart, Jungkook rested his forehead against Taehyung's again, unable to hide the small grin spreading across his face.
Taehyung noticed it immediately. "Don't grin about it."
"Why not?"
"Because, it's embarrassing!"
"No, it's not. It's sweet."
"You need to shut it."
"Then you'll have to make me, just as I said earlier."
"You're annoying." A faint blush climbed onto Taehyung's face, much to Jungkook's amusement. The confident executive who intimidated boardrooms with a single glance suddenly looked almost bashful under the younger man's unwavering gaze.
Jungkook brushed another strand of hair away from Taehyung's forehead, his movements careful despite his own fever.
For a while they simply remained close, speaking only in quiet whispers, occasionally laughing at how absurd the last few weeks had been. The apartment, usually so small and ordinary, suddenly felt warm in a way Jungkook had never noticed before.
Eventually Taehyung cleared his throat and looked away, visibly embarrassed by how easily he had let his carefully guarded composure disappear.
"If anyone from the office saw me like this," he muttered, "I'd never hear the end of it."
Jungkook chuckled. "They won't."
"And why are you so confident?"
"Because this version of you is only for me."
Taehyung looked back at him, caught off guard by the quiet certainty in those words. His ears warmed all over again, and despite every attempt to remain composed, he couldn't suppress the small, genuine smile that escaped him. Jungkook noticed it immediately, and somehow that only made Taehyung even more embarrassed.
After a few hours, in the evening
The inevitable has already happened, Jungkook, with his high fever showed Taehyung what he meant. Taehyung burried his warm red face into Jungkook's pillow, embarrassed, naked under the thin sheets, clenching his jaw, thinking why did he allow the inexperienced young man do that to him. But the only answer he had was that he had enjoyed it even if it was hurting his pride to admit it.
Jungkook on the other hand felt proud after making his cold boss go all quiet before a slight discomfort flooded his mind making him concerned. "Hey, did it... hurt? Why are you so quiet?"
Before Taehyung could answer, he felt Jungkook's calloused palm right on his bare hip, he gulped the retort back, not wanting to say anything to make him feel bad. "No, I'm not hurt. Don't mention it again."
Jungkook felt him hiding the reality as he got his mobile to search, dramatically reading out, "it is normal to feel sore after being penetrated for the first time."
Taehyung snatched the phone away from Jungkook's hands, shooting him a glare. As he tried to sit up, there was a slight groan, making both the men flush redder.
Jungkook looked sheepish and stuttered slightly, "I'm sorry... I got a little carried away, maybe. Are you sore? You can tell me, I won't laugh about it. I feel bad."
Taehyung sighed realising it was awkward for him as well and just laid back again. "I told you not to yet you did. It's not hurting... I mean, a bit but not bad. Just rest, you still do have a fever, I'm okay."
At that, with relief, Jungkook laid back down, settling beside him, making it worse as he spooned Taehyung from behind, pressing against his back. "Just in case if you're wondering, I'm not guilty. I'd do it again, gladly."