"he told me that he likes me," taehyung recalled with a shaky breath, burying his face into his palms as yugyeom gently ran his hand up and down taehyung's back.

"he really does, taehyungie," yugyeom assured with a small frown.

the blond male then let out something in between a cry and a groan that was muffled behind his two hands.

"you like him too, don't you?" yugyeom cautiously asked.

"no. fuck, i don't know," taehyung muttered, finally pulling his face away from his hands and looking yugyeom in the eye.

yugyeom's frown instantly deepened at the sullen swirl in taehyung's irises. "you're in denial."

"i'm not."

"why are—"

"i still have feelings for bogum," taehyung revealed, tone sharp and devoid of any emotion.

"what?!" yugyeom nearly shouted but remembered that he was still at work and had to remain professional, otherwise curious co-workers could barge in on them if he's being too loud. "you're still in love with that bastard?"

taehyung let out an exasperated groan. "i know that's fucked up—"

three sudden knocks on the door interrupted him mid-sentence as he quickly shifted his gaze over to his office's door, wondering who could it possibly be since it was currently lunch break and most of the employees must have gone out already.

"come in!" taehyung called out.

however, the person that stepped in his office was the very last person he wanted to see today.

"good afternoon, taehyung and— oh! you look quite different now... kim yugyeom, was it?" bogum greeted with an unnecessary amount of faked enthusiasm laced within his greeting.

"bo—mr. park," yugyeom practically seethed, pushing himself up from the table.

"it's been a while since we've last seen each other, yeah? maybe we should catch up someday," bogum shamelessly offered, tilting his head to the side.

yugyeom clicked his tongue in irritation as he stared across at the other man with pure spite. "you've got balls to just walk in here and assume that hyung and i will instantly rejoice in your arrival after pretending like nothing ever happened—"

"yuggie, stop," taehyung's soft voice then cut in, effectively stopping the brunet's vent. he didn't shift or take back his words when his best friend peered at him with wide eyes and a faint expression of betrayal, and instead gestured bogum to come forward and take a seat.

yugyeom was inwardly fuming at his point because what the fuck is taehyung thinking?

"you're here to discuss the city development project, right?" taehyung queried with furrowed eyebrows.

"of course," bogum replied. "i have no intentions of meddling into whatever conversation you both were having earlier. i'm just here for the contract and then i'll be out in a flash."

"better make this fucking quick, mr. park," yugyeom grumbled under his breath but bogum clearly heard it as his eyes narrowed just the slightest fraction.

taehyung wordlessly retrieved the contract from one of the desk's drawers, handing it to bogum and pointing at where he needs to sign. bogum hummed, quickly reading over all the details in the contract before confidently planting his signature down at the bottom of the page.

"how exciting!" he commented with a whistle while setting the pen back down on the desk.

"thank you," taehyung mumbled, reclaiming the contract. "may our project be a success."

"i wholeheartedly hope so as well. ah, right— mr. kim, would you mind if your little friend leaves us for a minute or two? i have some important matters i want to discuss with you in private," bogum abruptly asked.

"what happened to the 'just here for the contract' bullshit?" yugyeom spat.

taehyung sighed and glanced at yugyeom, wearing an apologetic look on his face. yugyeom hesitated for a second, but eventually rolled his eyes and quietly headed out the door.

"now that we're alone," bogum began with a clap of his hands as soon as the door clicked shut behind them. "let me tell you something which has been running through my mind for the past couple of days ever since our brief meeting outside kim seokjin's cafe that night."

taehyung remained silent, allowing the older male to continue.

"i want you back, taehyung," bogum announced with a sickeningly sweet grin.

"w-what?" taehyung exclaimed in shock, unsure if he heard that correctly or not.

"i want you back," bogum repeated louder, this time with more certainty than anything. "before you start going all ballistic on me, please let me explain."

the blond slowly nodded.

"i've thought about it and i just— i've never stopped loving you, taehyung. not even after we broke up 2 years ago, not even after i knew i fucked up when i saw you cry as you ran away from me. i regretted it so damn much, and by the time i actually realized that i wanted just you and nobody else, you've already long slipped out of my reach."

"bogum, i—"

"sorry, i'm not done yet," bogum claimed with a sly chuckle. "but now, once again, i finally have you so close yet so far from me! i just can't possibly skip the chance on attempting to get you back because i know that this time, i'll treat you like the prince you deserve to be treated as. i'll do all the things right and i'll try my best to be the ideal boyfriend you always wanted in high school. i'm—i know that if i simply let you go one more time, i'll hate myself for the rest of my life."

taehyung was completely frozen, his brain still in the process of piecing together all those things that came out of bogum's mouth.

"i know it sounds like i'm spouting utter shit but i'm not lying. i won't lie to you anymore, taehyung," bogum finished with a sincere beam. "it's a promise."

did bogum seriously change?

wait, he said he still loves me?

there's no way... right?

taehyung's breath hitched in his throat as his eyes met the elder's pair of mysterious obsidian ones.

"i... i still like you too," he uttered out before he could stop the words from coming out between his lips.

but as he felt himself getting lost in bogum's mesmerizing smile, he didn't realize that he just unknowingly made the worst mistake in his life yet as bogum gradually stretched his hand out towards his face.

and for some reason, the moment bogum's cold palm landed on his cheek, the only person flooding his thoughts was a particular hot-headed black-haired tattoo artist with a strong fear of thunderstorms and a love for the scent of lavender detergent and expensive cologne.

i'm sorry, jungkook. he let out a quivery exhale. i hope you won't hate me too much.