Still My Venus

Dinner🍲

At noon.

Lost in the series finale of Stranger Things, Taehyung sat on the couch with his eyes glued to the screen, occasionally taking a bite from the apple in his hand.

"Oh... no, no, no... STEVEEE!" Taehyung shrieked, dramatically recoiling as Steve almost took a fatal plunge from the Upside Down tower.

The apple he was holding straight-up abandoned ship, rolling across the floor and vanishing into the void.

"Oh God... Jonathan... that was way too close. My heart..." He clutched his heart with a sigh.

He let out a huge sigh and instantly locked back into the screen, completely forgetting the apple was now living its best life under the furniture. Right then, the doorbell rang.

Taehyung’s brow furrowed.

‘Who is that?'

Realization hit, and his eyes went wide. He paused the show on the TV, sprinted to the door, and pressed his eye against the peephole.

‘Oh... Mrs. Kim. Is he with her? Oh my God, I look like absolute trash.’

Taehyung quickly tidied himself in a panic, running a hand through his hair and smoothing down his clothes. Effortlessly forcing a neutral expression onto his face, he swung the door open.

There was just Mrs. Kim and a very enthusiastic Bam standing on the threshold.

‘oh…’

Disappointed?

Nahh.. Just top-tier over-expectations.

Everything faded away the moment she flashed a warm, radiant smile.

Pure angel energy.

"Hi, Auntie! Come on in."

She walked in with Bam trotting right beside her.

The second they settled onto the couch, Bam went full detective mode to inspect the living room, leaving the humans to catch up.

"Let me get you something to drink…"

Taehyung rose from his seat, but Mrs. Kim gently pulled him back down.

"No need, sweetie. I just popped over to invite you to dinner tonight."

"Dinner?"

"Yes! It’s Sunday, and Kook has to leave early tomorrow morning. We always do a big family dinner on Sundays," she smiled warmly.

"Want to join us?"

How could he possibly say no? He didn't want to play third wheel between the mom-son time, but turning down this woman was literally impossible.

"I'd love to! As long as... I'm not intruding?"

"Oh, Vi-hoo, stop that!" She laughed, softly pinching his ridiculously cute cheeks. "You're never a bother. Just be there, okay?"

‘Such a sweetheart’.

Taehyung practically beamed under the

affection. Mrs. Kim was sweet, attentive, and genuinely lovely, he was falling in love with everything about her.

Certain doe eyes flashed in front of his eyes. And a sharp chill shot straight down to his gut. He blinked rapidly, desperately trying to sweep the image of those dark, intense orbs out of his head.

If only he knew.

_______

Taehyung hit a quick pose in front of the mirror, checking out the fit, a soft pink casual shirt paired with clean white trousers.He purposely ditched the glasses this time. They were strictly for going out, and honestly? He hated the vibe anyway

He turned to see his full view.

"Did I overdress for a simple dinner? Maybe.. It’s not like I’m dressing up for anyone in particular. Hmm.., whatever. At least I look cute.” He proudly smiled at his reflection giving a flying kiss.

sassyyy..

Taehyung was ready before time. There was no way he was letting Mrs. Kim slave away in the kitchen alone, so he decided to pull up early under the guise of "helping out."

...Okay, he was actually going to help.

_______

Mrs. Kim pulled open the door and straight-up glitched. Wide eyes, zero oxygen, her system completely froze until Taehyung broke the spell.

I mean, how was she supposed to act normal? The boy looked effortlessly stunning.

A whole peony garden would look mid next to him, and that smile? Lethal.

’Wait, is there something on my face?’

Taehyung thought, totally caught off guard by her reaction.

"Good evening, Auntie..."

Her brain finally reconnected.

She quickly smoothed over her frozen pose with a warm smile.

"Good evening, dear. Come on in."

She stared for another second, unable to hold it back. "You look... so beautiful, dear. Seriously."

Taehyung instantly blushed.

‘Okay, compliment received.’

Meanwhile, Bam caught a crush for the new guest, running over with his tail wagging at top speed to sniff around.

’Alright... two out of three Kims down. Where’s the final boss?’

Taehyung scanned the empty living room.

Probably out running errands.

‘Seriously? Did Kang Vi-hoo possess Kim Taehyung or something? Why do you even care?’

He internally cursed at his own dumbass thoughts.

His mind was once again totally rebooted by HIM.

Mrs. Kim guided him toward the couch, but Taehyung flashed an adorable, soft smile.

"Auntie, I actually came over early to help you whip up dinner."

Mrs. Kim was officially a goner.

‘This boy is dangerously sweet’, her heart completely melting.

"You're the guest today, so absolutely no helping," she declared. "Some other day!"

But Taehyung, officially the most stubborn human in his entire bloodline was not backing down. He kept begging with full puppy eyes until she finally caved.

"Fine... how am I supposed to say no when you smile like that?" She cooed, gently pinching his still-blushing cheek.

She led the way to the kitchen, but the second Taehyung hit the doorway, he completely froze.

The exact same glitch-face Mrs. Kim had at the front door was now pasted onto his. Same to same, just copy pasted.

There standing at the centre of the kitchen. A hot man. Jungkook his name if he's not mistaken in his dazed off state.

He was kneading the flour for God knows what. His arms, the tattoos bulging and calming when muscles move, his body is tightly hiding beneath the white casual tshirt. He is so focused.

‘Oh my God.. He is hotttt…’

“Kookah.. look who’s here.” Mrs. Kim stepping up next to her son.

Jungkook paused and locked eyes with Taehyung.

Five whole seconds.

Which sounds short, until you're actually in it.

Taehyung was now seeing two black orbs tickling his soul and the only background music was the insane, syncopated rhythm of his own heart.

It wasn't normal, and they both knew it.

Looking at each other hit way deeper than it had any right to.

A past connection, or a total spoiler for the future. Neither of them had a clue.

Mrs. Kim stood there watching them cautiously, her eyes darting back and forth between the two of them, completely locked in that suffocating silence.

‘Okay… now that was chemistrying in real time’,

she thought, hiding a shy, knowing grin behind her hand.

Being the ultimate savior of the night, she broke the spell before the room completely caught fire.

“Ahem.. Ahem…” Tooo.. slow to be realistic.

Anyways it worked.

Taehyung finally looked away, somebody had to save the room from combusting.

Meanwhile, Jungkook’s brain was completely offline.

If you asked him what he was doing right then, he couldn't tell you a single thing, except the exact way Taehyung blushed, got super flustered, and looked away in pure embarrassment.

"He wanted to help out in the kitchen," Mrs. Kim told her son, turning to look at Taehyung, who was currently fighting for his life trying not to stumble over his own feet.

"So, Vi-hoo... you two work together, okay?"

She gave Jungkook's shoulder a firm pat, finally rebooting the man's system.

’GOD... HOW IS HE ACTUALLY THIS GORGEOUS?’

Jungkook thought, his brain completely short-circuiting.

With a mischievous grin, she trotted out of the kitchen right after handing an apron to a very flustered Vi-hoo.

She pulled a totally fake excuse out of thin air, saying she strictly needed to take a bath and do some meditation, just to give these two dumbos room to actually interact.

Mastermind behavior.

Taehyung aggressively nodded along, not because he actually processed a single sentence she said, but strictly because her lips were moving and his brain was running on 1% battery.

Honestly? Even if she had just mouthed complete gibberish into the air, both of them would’ve blindly nodded along anyway.

The next 10 seconds were crucial for Taehyung as he tried to hide the creeping blush taking over his entire face.

He fumbled with the apron strings, praying his hands wouldn't visibly shake.

‘I am NOT looking into his eyes again. I pledge.’

He was a man on a mission, completely oblivious to the fact that his promise was about to go up in flames - sooooon...

Taking a cautious step closer, he leaned in to inspect what the doe-eyed man was actually cooking up.

Realizing he had to say something to break the awkward stillness, Jungkook cleared his throat.

"You don't have to do anything. Everything else is prepared, and only the pizza is left."

'Wait, he knows how to make pizza?? REALLY?' Taehyung’s eyes widened, his brain instantly visualizing chef Jungkook.

“...And I'm on it. You can go chill in the living room. Or maybe watch something’’.

The doe-eyed male added, finishing off the dough kneading like an absolute pro.

He gave him the options that's nowhere near his actual intentions of keeping Taehyung locked in the kitchen with him.

“No.. it's totally fine.Tell me what I have to do.” He said proudly.

Zero stutter, zero awkwardness coating his tone, strictly because he kept his eyes glued to the dough.

I repeat - he is a man on a mission.

“Okay, dough is finally done.”

“Are we letting it rest now?”

“Yeah, it needs to rise for about an hour in this oiled bowl until it doubles in size.” Jungkook said covering it with a damp towel.

“While the dough rests, we can get started on the chicken and the glaze. I’ve already cut the chicken thighs into bite-sized pieces.”

He wiped his hands on a towel before turning to face Taehyung head-on.

‘He's strictly avoiding my gaze.

Bold move.’ Jungkook thought, suppressing a smirk.

“Let’s toss them with garlic powder, salt, pepper, and potato starch. Okay?”

"Okay," Taehyung replied, strictly locked into chicken prep mode.

They were totally engrossed in the work, though not without stealing secret glances at each other, taking in every small movement, every bit of grace, and the effortless way they worked together.

Taehyung couldn't help but stare at Jungkook’s utterly focused puppy face as he measured out the gochujang and honey, preheated the oven, and gave soft directions on what to do next.

'Focus.. Taehyung.. FOCUS.. Look at the bowl. Look at the honey. He is not the HONEY...'

Meanwhile, Jungkook was an absolute goner, a detail he intelligently hid behind his signature cool mask.

The cute little pout on Taehyung's face as he watched the oil sizzle-

'Is he seriously pouting at oil?'

The literal sparkle in his eyes at the rich scent of fried chicken-

'His eyes are actually shining..'

That adorable frown when Jungkook explained the necessity of the double-fry method.

And then came the moment of truth. When Taehyung tasted the double-fried chicken, he subconsciously bit his lip in pure satisfaction.

'Did he really just do that on purpose?'

Oh God..

'Yeah, I'm done. Completely COOKED.'

Something was happening to Jungkook.

He walked over to the refrigerator, grabbed a bottle of water, and gulped it down instantly.

He glanced sideways at him.

Bad decision.

From behind, his frame was pure temptation.

Jungkook gulped again. This time, zero water involved.

“You need some water?”

Taehyung spun around, looking back over his shoulder.

BOOMMM..

Two pairs of eyes locked.

The mission officially failed.

Taehyung was super-sure that his soul just pulled a 360-degree lap around the room before reincarnating back into his body.

They were completely pinned by each other's gaze. Heavy. Intense.

Different orbs..

Same thought

Exact same feeling..

“You are going to ruin me.”

And the telepathically scariest part?

They both knew it.

___________