a/n: this chapter might be slightly triggering to some readers. continue at your own risk.

it's been two days since jungkook's major fallout with taehyung.

two days since jungkook told namjoon that he won't be coming to work for a while and that nothing can stop him.

in fact, the tattoo artist has barely even stepped foot outside of his bedroom until—

he was jolted from his spot under his blankets by a loud "jungkook-ah! open up!" followed by a series of strong knocks against his door.

"yugyeom...?" jungkook murmured in mild confusion, reluctantly getting out of his bed and trudging over to the front door, swinging it open with as much energy as possible.

"hello, jungkook," yugyeom greeted with a smile, clad in a plain gray suit and seemingly just gotten off of work. "got your address from taehyung's cousin, seokjin-hyung, since taehyungie wasn't quite willing to give it to me. mind if i come in?"

"yeah, of course," jungkook answered, opening the door wider. "so, what brings you here?" he asked once yugyeom had comfortably settled down on his couch with one leg crossed over the other.

"it's about taehyungie," yugyeom replied without hesitation, warily gauging at jungkook's reaction.

the ravenet's somewhat-bright expression immediately dimmed as he averted his gaze away from yugyeom.

"what about mr. kim?" he forced out, nervously fiddling with his tattooed fingers on top of his lap.

yugyeom rolled his eyes at that. "you don't need to pretend, jungkook. taehyungie told me about everything last night."

"oh?" jungkook scoffed. "so are you going to hate me now too just because of what mr. kim told you?" he seethed before he could stop himself.

but luckily, yugyeom seemed unfazed by the older's statement and simply shook his head. "i won't judge you for something that's way in the past, i assure you that. but taehyung's not like me — especially not after what happened with his ex-boyfriend, park bogum. i'm sure you've heard of his name, right?"

jungkook slowly nodded.

"ever since they broke up, taehyungie started having problems with getting close to people again, apart from those he was already close with prior to his toxic relationship with bogum," yugyeom began explaining as he watched the clock on the wall tick away with each second. "you were the first person taehyung has gotten this decently close to in a long time, jungkook. that knowledge should help you understand a little more as to why he was so affected by finding out about all your previous wrongdoings and bad intentions towards him."

"i-i still don't get it," jungkook muttered after trying to digest every piece of newfound information. "why would he keep comparing me to that bogum bastard? i know i fucked up, but i didn't want to hurt him anymore because i actually cared about him— no, i still care about taehyung. why doesn't he get that and fucking hear me out?" he let out, tugging at his black locks in frustration.

yugyeom gently placed a hand on jungkook's shoulder, giving it a light squeeze of comfort. "taehyung was completely shattered after bogum casually tossed him aside, but not before robbing him of almost everything he had, including his heart. it's only been 2 years since then, and taehyung's heart still hasn't healed yet. he's not ready for something like that to happen again in such a short span of time. but, as you know, it unfortunately just did," yugyeom paused to sigh. "and this time, he's not keen on forgiving you that easily."

jungkook groaned and pinched the area between his eyebrows, his head beginning to throb painfully.

the truth was that throughout the entire last 2 days, he couldn't stop thinking about taehyung. not even today, and it didn't help that yugyeom was also talking about taehyung at this moment.

he wanted these thoughts to leave.

the picture of a certain blond male's pained expression as he found out about jungkook's regretful past was now deeply engraved in his brain and he desperately wanted to tear that image to shreds in whatever way achievable.

"yugyeom, can you do me a favor?" jungkook soon breathed out, staring straight at yugyeom who was bearing a slight frown at the sudden proposal.

"what is it?"

"help me forget about taehyung," jungkook requested, no emotion at all present in his dark irises.

for a second, the younger figured jungkook had lost his mind. "what are you saying—"

yugyeom's breath gets caught in his throat when jungkook swiftly stood up from his seat, striding towards him and pushing him back until he was lying flat on the couch, glancing up at jungkook in shock.

"j-jungkook, what are y-you doing?" yugyeom stammered out, nervous hands hastily flying up to grip at jungkook's arms which were placed on either sides of his head, effectively caging him underneath his muscular torso with his four limbs.

"i want to forget about taehyung," jungkook mumbled, gazing down at yugyeom with a smirk. "and i know you can help me do that," he finished, sensually trailing one finger across yugyeom's clothed groin while his other hand was pinning the brunet's own arms down on the couch.

yugyeom felt his blood run cold at the realization of what's happening.

"what— n-no! get off of me!" yugyeom shouted, roughly kneeing jungkook's abdomen with all the energy he could muster and gasping when jungkook instantly reeled back with a strained cry, slipping off of the couch and landing on the floor.

"fuck!" jungkook let out a pained cough, bending over in agony whilst clutching his stomach.

"i'm so sorry!" yugyeom apologized in a hurry, sitting up and rushing to check if jungkook was okay. "i didn't mean to knee you that hard! it's just—"

"no, don't apologize. i-i can't believe i just— shit, i should be the one saying sorry," jungkook claimed, running a hand down his face in shame. "you can punch me if you want, i deserve it. hey, i guess taehyung was right — i'm exactly like bogum," he concluded with a humorless chuckle.

yugyeom felt his chest constrict at how much jungkook was beating himself up over what occurred with taehyung and knew he had to do something.

"don't worry about it, jungkook. i know your mind isn't in the correct place right now," yugyeom spoke, sliding down to the carpeted floor so that his gaze was leveled with jungkook's. "this might not be the best time for me to say this, but listen, i know you feel some sort of attraction towards me and i'm sorry if i was somehow leading you on all this time, but i'm really not interested in a relationship right now."

a sad smile was plastered on jungkook's chapped lips. "i wouldn't want to go out with an asshole like myself if i were you too, yugyeom."

"no, look," yugyeom started with furrowed brows. "what you feel for me is attraction, not affection; those are two totally different things."

"why do you think that?" jungkook asked in a soft voice.

"i don't think that, i know that. don't get me wrong, i think you're a nice guy and all," yugyeom said with a lop-sided grin. "however, i'm not who your heart currently wants. but who may that be? well, that is something only you really know."

jungkook stayed silent, his head starting to hurt again.

who does my heart truly desire?

"but let's focus on the more important thing at hand here," yugyeom then stated. "listen to me, jungkook. please go back and mend things with taehyung because even if you can't go back to change the beginning, you can start where you are and change the ending."

the tattooist's eyes widened at that.

"i'm not saying this because i'm taehyung's friend. i'm saying this because taehyung needs you in his life, even if he says so otherwise. he doesn't have anyone else he can depend on beside me, not even his own family, and that pains me to think about," yugyeom confessed with a frown.

it pains me too, jungkook thought.

"i'll try," jungkook resorted to saying after a while, followed by a hesitant exhale. "i'll try to fix things with taehyung, i promise."

the younger male quickly brightened up at that with a large beam, rushing over to wrap his arms around jungkook in a tight hug which took the older by surprise. "thank you, jungkook. you have no idea how much this means to me."

"you also helped me a lot, yugyeom," jungkook declared once they've pulled away from each other. "once again, i apologize for my stupidity earlier and... honestly, thank you for always staying by taehyung's side. from what i've heard, he really needed a friend like you in his life."

he needs someone like you in his life too, was what yugyeom wanted to tell him but never did.

but before yugyeom stepped foot out the door, he suddenly remembered something and came to a halt.

"oh, and you know what else i realized, jungkook?" he queried from the doorway, to which the ravenet replied with a hum of acknowledgement. "you need taehyung, too."

jungkook choked.

"i'm not telling you to date him or anything," yugyeom reassured. "i just hope that you can be there for him when he needs it, you know, like a friend," he added before he finally disappeared from view, leaving jungkook in the middle of his living room with multiple thoughts running through his mind all at once.