Silence Behind Glass

I’m in love

A week passed like water through fingers.

Jungkook came to the studio every evening—sometimes at seven, sometimes at nine, once close to midnight with dark circles under his eyes and a stack of contracts still haunting his briefcase. He would sit on Taehyung's tiny bed, still in his expensive suit, and talk about his day. About Mina's latest exasperated looks. About the board members who questioned his every decision. About the weight of running an empire that never stopped demanding more.

And then, inevitably, his phone would buzz. A crisis. An emergency. A meeting that couldn't wait.

"I'm sorry," Jungkook said each time, standing, already reaching for his coat. "I have to—"

"I know," Taehyung would answer softly. "Go."

Jungkook never spent the night again after that first time. He always left before midnight, kissing Taehyung's forehead—a gesture so gentle it made Taehyung's chest ache—and disappearing into the dark hallway. The sound of his footsteps faded down the stairs. The three deadbolts clicked into place.

And Taehyung would sit alone in his studio, surrounded by the ghost of vetiver and warmth, and wonder if any of it was real.

---

By Friday, Taehyung couldn't keep it inside anymore.

He texted Jimin: Can we talk? The usual place?

Jimin's response was immediate: THANK GOD. I've been dying. Meet you in 20.

The usual place was a small café near Jimin's work—narrow tables, terrible coffee, excellent croissants. Taehyung arrived first, choosing a corner booth where he could watch the door. His leg bounced under the table. His fingers twisted the silver chain at his throat.

Jimin burst through the door like a small hurricane, pink hair bright under the fluorescent lights, and slid into the booth across from Taehyung with a grin that promised chaos.

"Okay," Jimin said, not even ordering first. "Spill. You've been weird all week. Weirder than usual. You keep smiling at your phone like it personally insulted you and then apologized with flowers. Who is it?"

Taehyung's face went crimson. "I don't smile at my phone."

"You literally smiled at your phone three times while I was walking over here. I counted." Jimin leaned forward, eyes narrowing. "Is it a guy? It's a guy. Oh my God, it's a guy. Taehyung, you met someone. TELL ME EVERYTHING."

"I—" Taehyung looked down at his hands. His heart was pounding. "You remember the gala? The one where you left me with that man? Bo-gum?"

Jimin's face fell. Guilt flashed across his features. "Tae, I'm so sorry about that. I still feel terrible. I should never have—"

"That's not—" Taehyung took a breath. "Someone stopped him. Before anything really happened. A man. He came into the garden and made Bo-gum leave."

Jimin's eyes widened. "Who?"

"Jeon Jungkook."

The name landed like a stone in still water. Jimin stared. Blinked. Opened his mouth. Closed it.

"The CEO?" Jimin finally whispered. "The one who's on magazine covers? The ruthless, terrifying, probably-a-villain Jeon Jungkook?"

"That's the one."

"And he... saved you?"

"Yes."

"And then what?"

Taehyung bit his lip. "He came to the bookshop. The next day. And then to my studio. And he's been coming every night for a week. He sits on my bed and tells me about his day and borrows my sweaters that don't fit him and—" Taehyung's voice cracked. "Jimin, I think I'm falling for him."

Jimin was silent for exactly three seconds. Then he threw his head back and laughed—loud and bright and utterly delighted, earning glares from the other café patrons.

"Falling?" Jimin gasped, wiping tears from his eyes. "Taehyung, you've already hit the ground. You're buried. You're six feet under and sending him flowers from the grave."

"Stop."

"He wears your sweaters? The ones that make you look like a cozy ghost? On his built body? Tae, that's not falling. That's a rom-com montage."

Taehyung buried his face in his hands. His ears were burning. "You're not helping."

"I'm not trying to help. I'm trying to enjoy the greatest moment of my life." Jimin reached across the table and pried Taehyung's hands away from his face. "Okay. Serious now. Does he treat you well?"

Taehyung nodded.

"Is he patient? Gentle? Does he listen when you need to be quiet?"

"Yes. All of it." Taehyung's eyes glistened. "He doesn't push. He doesn't touch without asking. Last night I had a nightmare—about Bo-gum, about the memory I told you about—and he just... sat with me. Held my hand. Didn't say a word until I was ready."

Jimin's teasing expression softened into something tender. "Oh, Tae."

"I'm scared," Taehyung admitted. "He's so... much. His world is so big. And I'm just a boy with a bookshop and a studio the size of a closet. What if I'm not enough? What if he gets bored? What if—"

"What if you let yourself be happy for once?"

Taehyung's breath caught.

Jimin squeezed his hands. "You've spent years hiding. Afraid of touch. Afraid of people. Afraid of everything. And now someone looks at you—really looks at you—and doesn't run away. That's not nothing, Taehyung. That's everything."

"But he's so busy. He barely stays an hour before he has to leave."

"Then you go to him." Jimin shrugged like it was obvious. "His world is big. So what? You're not small. You just forgot how big you are."

Taehyung stared at his best friend. The café hummed around them—the hiss of the espresso machine, the murmur of other conversations, the distant sound of rain beginning to fall.

"I don't know how to be in a relationship," Taehyung whispered. "I've never—"

"Neither has he, probably." Jimin smiled. "That's the thing about first times. You figure it out together."

Taehyung's phone buzzed on the table. A text message.

Jungkook: Meeting ended early. Can I come over? I miss you.

Jimin read the screen upside down and grinned. "Go. We'll talk more tomorrow. And Tae?"

Taehyung looked up.

"Don't let fear win. Not this time."

Taehyung smiled—small, trembling, real. He paid for the coffee, hugged Jimin tightly, and stepped out into the rain. The bus to his studio would arrive in seven minutes. Jungkook would be there in fifteen.

For the first time in a long time, Taehyung didn't feel like running.

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