There's something wrong with Mr Kim today.

Jungkook notices it the minute he walks into the office room. The moment he steps into the room, he's flooded with this sense of gloom that comes straight from the man sitting at his desk. He seems to radiate fumes of hostility that curls itself around Jungkook's throat, replacing the cool morning breeze with a suffocating atmosphere.

Mr Kim isn't exactly the warmest person but for the past few months that Jungkook's worked here, the man started warming up to him. Whether it be greeting him with a slight nod, a small smile or even a teasing comment, Taehyung's cold demeanour had slowly washed away as time passed.

But now it seems to be back, that bitter coldness wrapping around the man with a vice grip.

"Good morning, sir," Jungkook tries, voice hesitant. Taehyung looks up and something flashes in his eyes for a mere second before he averts his gaze back down to his laptop. Jungkook's stomach fills with dread at the cold response, or really, the lack thereof. Questions fill his head as he hesitantly takes a seat at his desk. Did I do something wrong? Did I make a mistake? Why is he mad? Is he mad?

The only other time Taehyung has ever been really mad at him is when Kimberly did his work that one time. But nothing of the sort happened after that. Jungkook has been performing to his best possible standard and has been improving brilliantly. So what did he do to make Taehyung act like this again?

Was it anything to do with yesterday? But yesterday was a rather pleasant day spent with Taehyung at the seaside. Taehyung definitely didn't seem mad when they got back. So what had happened in those few hours between last night to this morning that could have possibly soured his bosses mood like this?

Jungkook nibbles on his lip as he takes a seat at his desk and peeks up to catch a glimpse of his boss. He notices the man rubbing his brows, looking stressed over something. Maybe it's just that? Maybe Mr Kim is just stressed. Jungkook tries to reassure himself.

~

It isn't stress. It can't be. Not with the way the older is treating Jungkook. Not with they way he regards him with cold glances and dismissive hums, not with the way he blatantly ignores the younger who he would normally check up on here and there. No, this isn't Mr Kim being stressed. The man is definitely mad at the younger and all Jungkook can really do is pitifully wonder why.

"Here are the files, sir," Jungkook gulps as he stands in front of the older's desk, anxiously holding out the files he looked over.

Taehyung doesn't even look in his direction, he merely just grabs the file from the younger's hand and continues on with his work. A heavy stone of dread settles in the pit of Jungkook's stomach, his eyes growing bigger with worry. He doesn't like people being angry at him, especially not his boss who's been rather sweet the past few weeks. He gulps and continues to stand there, trying to figure out something to say.

Before he can open his mouth, Taehyung looks up at him, eyebrow quirked. "Do you need something?"

Jungkook bites down on his lip anxiously, "u-uh," he tries, looking down at the floor. "Are you...are you upset with me, sir?" He squeaks out.

Taehyung stares at him for a moment, eyes dull, a little more apathetic than they usually are. "Is there a reason for me to be so?"

Jungkook shakes his head slowly, "n-no, I d-don't think so..."

"Then there's your answer," he states dryly while turning back to his computer.

Jungkook pauses, "I-I just thought- we ended the day on g-good terms yesterday but you-you seem a bit cross with me r-right now-"

"-look," Taehyung suddenly snaps, eyes piercing as he turns towards the younger. "Everything that led up to today, everything we did, think of it as me welcoming you into the workplace, something to make you more comfortable. Nothing more. You've been here for a while so I expect you to be used to it by now, used to the harsh setting. So from now on, I'll treat you more like a professional worker, like my secretary, got it?" Taehyung tilts his head, jaw clenched as he stares into the younger's big eyes.

Jungkook gulps. What..? He's taken aback by the suddenness of the statement. So...so all this time, all those pet-names, all those kisses, all those fond stares, it was just a gesture of welcome, nothing more? It wasn't platonic nor was it romantic... all this time, it was just a facade to build rapport, to build some sort of superficial relationship? Jungkook can't help the small twist in his gut, not exactly understating why he was so upset by that notion. He shouldn't be so upset, right? Mr Kim is right, the more professional they keep their relationship, the better. He carefully nods, "y-yes, sir," and then he walks back to his desk, head bowed, pensive.

Maybe he did this with all his employees, warmed them up to get them to work better. Maybe that's why even Kimberely caught feelings for Taehyung, he must have been somewhat sweet and caring towards her too.

Jungkook tries to gulp down the lump in his throat but he can't, it grows, infesting his airways, making his chest feel restricted, tighter. He isn't special, or even anything of importance to Mr Kim. Just another worker. Just another faceless worker amongst many. But that's okay, right? Because Jungkook came here to work, to be a worker, to be faceless, a simple name under a gigantic company. He came here to work, not to make any special relationships with his boss, not to lay in bed with his boss, not to laugh with his boss or cry in his bosses arms. He came here to work.

But it's as he sits there, on his chair, hands shaking, heart beating dully and breath escaping rather rapidly that he realises. He came here to work, but work has been the last thing on his mind. Instead, his head has been filled with thoughts of his boss, his tanned skin and his luscious black hair and his brooding obsidian eyes and his strong arms and his laugh and his smile and...and just everything about him. It's as he sits there, staring at his boss who ignores his presences and carelessly types away at his laptop that he realises. Fuck.

He's caught feelings for Mr Kim.

And the thought, as it settles into his mind, emerges into his consciousness, tugs at his heart... the thought makes him feel nothing but sick to his stomach.

~

Jungkook likes how it's pouring outside today, likes how the weather, the gloom, the dreadful skies, resonates with his inner turmoil. He decides to continue his day after his 'small' epiphany without meeting his bosses eyes and the task is quite easy, quite simple really. Because Mr Kim doesn't care to meet his eyes either. Both men sit there in that suffocating office room, listening to the harsh pattering rain as they ignore each other's presence. The silence lasts for a while, a couple hours. Until, well...

"Jungkook,"

Jungkook hates it. Absolutely despises the way his heart jumps up, a wave of excitement washing over his body at the mere calling of his name. It makes him feel pathetic, like a stupid puppy who waits all day to get its owner's attention. His excitement soon fades at his own thoughts.

He looks up carefully, "yes, sir?" he asks, voice soft, drained from the conflict within him.

"Take these files to the sales department and get it signed."

Jungkook nods quickly and stands up, rushing over to the older. "Yes, sir."

He rushes out of the office, somewhat pleased to leave the room. He takes a small breath and starts trudging towards the sales department.

-

"Um, excuse me," he asks, peeking over into one of the small office rooms. A familiar pair of eyes shift towards him, followed by a small gummy smile. Jungkook remembers the man. Yoongi.

"Ahh, Jungkook right?" The blond asks, twisting around in his office chair to face the boy.

Jungkook nods. "Yeah. H-Hi."

Yoongi chuckles, finding the younger's shyness endearing. "What's up?" he asks while gesturing for the younger to enter the office.

Jungkook trots in and then lifts the files in his hand. "Mr Kim needed someone from the sales department to sign these documents. C-Could you please do it?"

Yoongi looks up at the boy. "No," he states bluntly.

Jungkook's eyes widen as his cheeks flush pink, "o-oh," he squeaks, backing away. "Sorry, I-I'll-"

Yoongi shakes his head, laughing. "I'm just messing with ya, here, I'll sign it," he says, gently grabbing the files from the boy. He pauses for a moment, staring at the younger's big eyes and pink cheeks. "God kid, you look real young to be working here. Be honest with me, how old are you. 19? 14?"

Jungkook furrows his eyebrows, slightly offended, his lips unconsciously jutting out as he responds. "I'm 23."

"And I'm a lesbian."

Jungkook's eyes widen. "Y-You are?"

Yoongi looks at the kid for a bit, mildly concerned. "I... no, Jungkook. I'm not... jeez, I'm not a lesbian-"

Jungkook nods, pausing for a bit. "Me neither," he says softly.

Yoongi quirks his eyebrows up and then bursts out laughing. "Yep, you're definitely 14. Can't change my mind on that."

"What no! I really am 23," Jungkook whines. He stops and clears his throat when he sees Yoongi's amused expression. "I am," he insists, fiddling with his fingers.

Yoongi nods, barely convinced and opens up the file. "You have to be shitting me," he curses, seeing the pile of documents in the file. He sighs, letting out a heavy breath. "This will take a while, you might want to take a seat."

Jungkook looks around, " oh...there's no where to si..."

Yoongi grunts and pushes a bunch of pens off his desk. "Your thrown, m'lady," he states sarcastically.

Jungkook giggles a little at that and plops himself onto the edge of the desk. He swings his legs as he waits for the older to finish the task and Yoongi looks over at him. "13." He states.

Jungkook tilts his head, slightly confused with what he means before realising that the older is talking about his age again.

He huffs, "am not."

~

Taehyung lifts his eyes from a file to look up at the digital clock hanging on the wall, frowning upon seeing the time. It's been 20 minutes since he sent Jungkook to get the file signed, what must be taking him so lon...

Taehyung's mind comes to an abrupt halt when a lingering thought appears in his head. Could it be... Taehyung shakes his head, dismissing his own thoughts and opting to continue his work. He grabs his pen to write on the paper but his shaking hand makes the task slightly difficult.

"Fuck," he curses loudly as he suddenly gets up, gripping onto the edge of his desk. He gulps down the lump forming in his throat while cursing again. "Fuck."

With wide steps, he rushes towards the door, swinging it open and exiting hastily. He marches down the hallway while searching for a familiar mop of brunette hair. As he surges towards the sales department, a sick foreboding feeling twists at his gut. Fuck, what if...what if he's not... Taehyung shakes off his thoughts and just increases his pace, nearly toppling over a poor girl who walks past him.

He looks around the floor, eyes frantic, trepidation crawling up his skin, clawing at his airway. Where is he where is he where is he. He repeats in his head, feeling restless.

A woman walks past him but pauses to greet him. "Good evening, Mr K..."

"My secretary..." he interrupts, his eyes digging into her, frightening the poor girl. "Mr Jeon. Have you seen him?"

She stops for a moment to think, her silence only riling up the man's impatience, causing him to clench his fists as he waits in scalding anticipation.

"Oh, he was here earlier. I think he went into Mr Min's office. Min Yoongi..."

She barely gets to finish her sentence as he pushes past her, causing her to gulp and anxiously stare at the man's back, wondering what's got him so fired up.

Taehyung's calculating gaze flicks from door to door, eyes searching for a particular name. He stops when he spots a name tag, hung on a small door in the corner of the floor. He strides towards it, fists clenching tighter to stop his hands from shaking. Without a thought, he carelessly swings the door open, disregarding his frantic heart that beats abnormally as he does so.

He stops at the sight, the slightest breath of relief escaping him upon seeing those big doe eyes staring at him before he lets that wave of fear concealed as anger consume him.

~

"My life span's shortening, I'm telling ya." Yoongi huffs as he flips to another page of the document. "I'll be leaving the office in a coffin by the time I'm done."

Jungkook laughs at the older's remark, tilting over and clutching his stomach that starts to ache from how much the older has been cracking silly jokes for the past few minutes. Yoongi is a funny man. The younger, however, tilts over a little too much and nearly topples onto his face but the older quickly grabs hips, steading him before he can fall.

"Hey, easy there," the blond says with a small smile.

Jungkook widens his eyes, slightly embarrassed by his own clumsiness. "O-Oh, thank y-" But before he can say anything further, the door to the room suddenly bursts open, making him still as he turns to face the man standing in the doorway, looking absolutely furious.

"S-Sir," Jungkook squeaks out, already petrified without even knowing the reason behind his bosses contorted expression of fury.

"Come with me," the older all but growls before marching up to the boy and grabbing his wrist. He pulls the younger down and starts dragging him away, causing the boy to stumble as he splutters out,

"S-Sir? W-What's wron..."

"...Shut up," Taehyung hisses, his grip on the boy tightening.

Jungkook bites his lip at the pressure on his wrist and opts to bow his head as he follows his boss, feeling confused, terrified.

Yoongi gulps and watches with wary eyes as the boy gets dragged away.

~

"What the fuck is wrong with you?!" Taehyung shouts, pushing the boy into their office.

Jungkook cowers his head. "U-Uh, wha..."

"I...I thought something fucking happened to you but no, you were just lazing around on some random man's desk."

Jungkook furrows his eyebrows, utterly confused. Why would Taehyung just assume something happened to him in the span of 20 minutes? And he wasn't 'lazing around', he was simply waiting for the documents to be signed, the documents that TAEHYUNG asked him to get signed. "I-I was just..." he starts, voice small.

Taehyung scoffs. "Just shut the fuck up. You were what? Flirting with him? Trying to get into his pants? I saw the way you were staring at him."

Jungkook freezes at the older's words, heart dropping to his stomach. "W-What?" His voice wavers, feeling shocked. Is that how Taehyung thought of him? As some sort of man-whore who couldn't keep it in his pants? Jungkook gulps and bites down on his lip, hard, trying to get it to stop wobbling. Taehyung continues shouting.

"You think you can just go around and seduce anyone in the office-"

"... I didn't," Jungkook tries, voice frail.

"Go around and flirt with anyone?"

"I-I wasn't..."

"Didn't think you were so desperate."

"I'm n-no..."

Taehyung steps closer to the boy, hand reaching out to grab his chin and lift his face up. He stares down at him, eyes ablaze with anguish, something dark within them, something red, a streak of something else too. Fear? Anxiety? Perhaps both. He pauses, eyebrow twitching as he watches the boy's startled expression.

"You're mine." He husks, voice low, gravelly. "You get that? You're mi-"

"S-STOP" Jungkook suddenly yells, pushing the man away, tears pooling in his eyes. "S-Stop. Just stop. Stop acting like that. I...I hate it. Please just- just stop," his voice breaks off at the end as small sobs wrack his body. He mentally curses at himself for crying, for looking so pathetic, so vulnerable. But he can't help it. Not when those angered eyes are glaring down at him.

"W-Why are you doing this?" He asks, stepping further away from the man. "All this time you were being so nice to me, so gentle. Y-You kissed me a-and cared for me a-and t-taught me how t-to speak. B-But then today, y-you act all cold again. You ignore me. You tell me that that was all fake and we should be more professional. B-But now what? Y-You're screaming at me, accusing me of something I didn't even do a-and suddenly, you're calling me yours?" He harshly wipes at his tears, looking up at the man with big watery eyes, looking ever so small as he whispers.

"Sir, how am I yours? When...when was I ever yours?"

Taehyung looks taken aback, heart stilling at the younger's words, at his teary gaze and ever-so-pouty lips. "I..."

"I don't know what I am to you, what I mean to you. B-But you treating me like this, acting like I'm something special one minute and then screaming at me and tossing me away like a piece of trash the next, it makes me feel stupid; Like some dumb employee that doesn't know their place."

Jungkook chuckles sadly, "It's true. I-I don't know my place...not when it comes to you. You treating me like this makes me feel so lost, so...so confused with myself, with everything."

He closes his hands as they start to shake and exhales a deep breath, averting his gaze to his shoes. "I-I understand if you dislike me o-or hate me or t-think I'm some type of man-whore. But if so, you don't have to pretend to like me or treat me nicely. I'll...I'll work hard regardless, I-I can promise you that."

He looks up at the man once again, big eyes glimmering, looking desperate. "But just- please sir... please stop confusing me."

Taehyung is silent for a moment, observing the younger's tear-stained face, feeling his gut twist at the sight. He clenches his jaw, stepping closer to the younger.

"You think..." he hesitates. "...You think I hate you? Dislike you?" He whispers, voice slightly strained from yelling earlier.

Jungkook looks away, refusing to repeat himself. Taehyung stares at the boy, his heart beating fast as he watches him wipe his tears away. He sighs, looking rather tired. "You," he says, gently grabbing onto the boy's chin and turning his head to face him. "You're the last person I would ever hate."

Jungkook furrows his brows at this, taken aback, confused.

Taehyung sighs, looking a bit frustrated as he rubs his hands across his face. "I know my actions must be confusing but... I just- I..." he trails off, looking conflicted. Jungkook gulps at this, noticing the battle behind those obsidian eyes.

"I'm sorry," he finally settles on, pulling the younger into his arms. "I...I just, I'm sorry, bun. I- fuck- I didn't know I was making you feel like this. I didn't think of how my actions could effect you." Jungkook stills in the older's arms, his face pressed again his chest, listening to his frantic heart.

"I..I don't know what to tell you- look, I just, I'm just a bit stressed today but I shouldn't-I shouldn't taken it out on you. Shouldn't have lashed out on you. I...I have no right to treat you like that." He exhales, clenching his jaw as he tries to gather his own thoughts.