jungkook excused himself after a few minutes of sitting with taehyung and his friends. don't get him wrong, namjoon, jin and hoseok were wonderful people, but it still made him uncomfortable. it makes him uncomfortable to see people who used to know him, so he walks out.

taehyung walks him to the door, and just before the other walks away, he clutches his shirt from the back. jungkook turns around to look at him, "are you coming back?" he asked.

jungkook was surprised to hear the hurt in taehyung's voice, it sounded almost broken, so he was quick to reassure him as he pulled him closer and kissed his forehead, then whispered to him, "i'm sorry about the way i am. i'm sorry i always leave without a warning, but i'm not going anywhere right now. i just have a few things to do and i'll be back tomorrow. i can even pick you up from work, yeah? how does that sound?"

taehyung couldn't help but relax as the other spoke, "i'll be waiting for you then." the little smile he wore grew a bit bigger when jungkook kissed him. "go back to your friends now, don't keep them waiting."

and he did. once jungkook left, taehyung went back inside to his friends. "what the hell was that tae?" was the first thing jin asked.

"how do you know jeon jungkook?" now it was namjoon. "are you two dating?" it was hoseok's turn to ask. it made taehyung anxious so he said, "jeez, one question at a time, can we?"

then he sat down on the couch next to jin, "okay so first, i met him the night of your party when your parents where in paris, remember?" he pointed at hoseok, "then we became friends, good friends actually. and we're not dating, we're just friends, i guess. yeah."

"but that party was long ago. a little over a year maybe?" hoseok pointed out. "uh, yeah."

he's thankful for jin who spoke quickly after, which means he can avoid being asked why he hasn't told him if he knew jungkook for so long, "i can swear i saw you kissing out there. and he walked out of your bedroom earlier, then you both went inside to finish something, sounds suspicious if you ask me." he said, winking in the end.

taehyung grimaced at the other's words, "yeah no, you saw wrong. i spilled my drink on him so he was changing in my room. and he was helping me put up the closet i bought a few days ago when you came. does that explain your concerns?"

it surprised taehyung how quickly he came up with these lies, and for what exactly? he doesn't know. he just knows that he wants the weird thing between jungkook and him to stay between them. he knew if he told his friends, they will start asking him questions, they'll get worried about him and he appreciates that they care for him, but he doesn't want what jungkook and him have to end.

because apparently, namjoon knew jungkook. and what he said, it worried taehyung. because that means jungkook doesn't just disappear on him. namjoon said jungkook fell of the face of earth so suddenly during high school, no one knew anything about him. and up until the night of the party, taehyung had never seen him before. and even now, when jungkook goes away, he just completely disappears with absolutely no signs at all. rare, short texts. no explanation. no warning.

but then he comes back as if nothing has happened. now taehyung was actually worried. not for himself though. he wasn't afraid of jungkook. he doesn't think what the other is doing is suspicious. but he's worried for jungkook. where does he go? why does he disappear for months? sometimes he goes away just for a few days, weeks. and sometimes for long months. why doesn't he ever answer taehyung's calls? why just his texts? why doesn't he ever say anything about it? and most importantly, why did he panic like that when namjoon recognized him?