Jeongguk sat in the makeup chair, staring at his reflection. The stylist was working fervently, applying foundation with haste, since the concert was in less than thirty minutes.

"Jeongguk, you have dark circles under your eyes, more-so than usual," She points out, giving him a worried look while she dabs under his eyes.

"Sorry noona, I just haven't been sleeping well lately." He apologizes, giving the woman a small smile, which she returns before focusing once again on his face.

He hadn't been sleeping at all. Save a few hours here and there. Jeongguk was just too upset to sleep. He was also worried. Worried that Taehyung would tell everyone, and they would get the wrong idea.

But deep down, he knew Taehyung wouldn't tell anyone, he wasn't like that, Jeongguk was just freaking out. Being rejected does that to you.

In Jeongguk's mind, there's no way things could go back to normal with Taehyung, even if they did talk it over. So Jeongguk was just saving them both the awkwardness of confrontation. Even if it hurt.

"Okay, you're done," The stylist said, giving Jeongguk a small pat on his shoulder. Jeongguk stood from the chair, giving himself one last look in the mirror. "Goodluck, fighting!"

Jeongguk smiled at the shorter woman before hugging her. "Thanks noona, good job as usual. Fighting!" He released her and walked away, exiting the dressing room to go to the waiting room with the other members.

When he left the room, the first thing he saw was Taehyung, leaning against the wall, obviously waiting for him to exit. Fuck.

"Jeonggukie," Taehyung called out, straightening from his position and uncrossing his arms. Jeongguk, sticking to his plan, pretended not to notice the older, walking directly by as if he wasn't there.

"Jeonggukie," Taehyung repeated, his voice following Jeongguk as he continued walking, hearing the older's footsteps close behind. Just leave me alone.

"Jeongguk." He heard, this time, firmer, and more demanding, making Jeongguk's stomach tighten. Dammit Jeongguk, nows not the time to get turned on.

But of course, Jeongguk didn't stop, he just continued walking. Which seemed to be working, for he didn't hear Taehyung call his name again, just heard his footsteps behind him. Did he finally stop? Jeongguk wondered, feeling relieved but also a bit sad.

Until he felt a hand envelop his wrist.

"Wha-" He reached to pull his wrist away, only to see Taehyung storm past him, which resulted in Jeongguk being hauled behind him like a dog on a leash.

"Taehyung! Let me go!" Jeongguk protested, trying to yank his arm free while trying to dig his heels against the tile floor, to no avail.

Taehyung dragged him past the stadium's waiting room, and pushed open a door to the performer's bathroom, basically throwing Jeongguk inside.

He hit the wall of the small bathroom with an oof, and suddenly Taehyung was pinning him there, with an arm on either side of his head. There was a deadly glare in his eyes, like he was annoyed to no end, which made Jeongguk gulp. You're in trouble now, Jeon.

"T-Taehyung, let me go." He stuttered, making himself angry, because he needed to appear fine.

"No."

No. Well, okay then.

"W-why? We have to g-go-"

"I'm not letting you go until you hear me out, Jeongguk." Taehyung explained, his face expressionless and voice hard.

"I don't want to hear it." The younger replied, keeping his face as close to expressionless as possible, and trying to keep the nervousness out of his voice.

Taehyung looked like he was thinking for a minute, before locking eyes with Jeongguk again. "I don't care." He states, shrugging.

Jeongguk's eyes widened. Why won't he just leave me alone!? "W-we have a concert to do in twenty minutes, we don't have time-"

"Then shut-up and let me talk!" Taehyung snapped, cutting him off. Jeongguk went silent, his eyes the size of saucers and his mouth forming a pout subconsciously.

Taehyung took this opportunity as his only one and spilled everything to the younger. "Jeonggukie, I-I think I love you."

Jeongguk drew in a sharp breath, feeling his face heat up. "I-"

"No, just listen. I think, no, I-I do love you, Jeongguk. I found out about your crush on me a while ago, when I caught you looking at me and hugging me a lot. At first, I thought it was cute, but it would probably fade. Eventually, I started liking the fact that you liked me, and I-I realized that I liked you back. Fuck, Jeongguk, I like you so-so much,"

Taehyung's voice was strained and unsteady, and Jeongguk's eyes were tearing up while listening to him talk.

"Then we had sex and oh my god Jeonggukie, it was the best thing I've ever done, and I wanted to keep doing it, I wanted more, I-I want you. B-but then I-I hurt you and oh my god Ggukie I'm so sorry," Taehyung's voice broke, his bottom lip trembling, while tears began to spill out of his eyes.

Jeongguk finally came to his senses and wrapped his arms around Taehyung's waist, bringing Taehyung's head to the crook of his neck.

"J-Jeongguk I-I-"

"Shh, Tae, it's okay," Jeongguk whispered, rubbing soothing circles on the older's back, trying not to focus on the fact that his crush just confessed to him.

"N-no Jeonggukie, it's n-not okay, I-I hurt you, a-and I d-didn't want to, I-I just didn't k-know what t-to do," Taehyung continued to cry, messing his stage makeup beyond repair in the amount of time they had.

"It's okay, Taehyungie," The younger assured, pulling away from Taehyung and cupping his face gently with his hands, forcing Taehyung to look at him. "I forgive you."

Taehyung sniffed, letting his hands grip onto Jeongguk's hips. "R-really?"

Jeongguk nods, flashing his signature bunny smile that Taehyung missed so much. "Yeah, I can't really not forgive you, Tae."

Taehyung looked at him with confusion, his face blotchy. "Why?"

"Because," The ravenette starts, using the pads of his thumbs to wipe away the tears on Taehyung's cheeks. "I couldn't even tell you I liked you, you had to make the first move too, which, I'm thankful for. Plus-"

"Taehyung! Jeongguk! Where- Oh, there you are." Namjoon walked towards the two, who let go of eachother instantly, Taehyung trying to wipe his tears as best as he could.

"Taehyung...have you been crying?" Namjoon asks, putting his hands on the male's shoulders while observing his face.

"I-I n-no-"

"His allergies are working up, hyung." Jeongguk cut in, giving Namjoon a reassuring smile. Taehyung nods, accepting the cover-up that the younger made.

"Oh," Namjoon says, returning the smile Jeongguk gave him and looking at Taehyung with concern. "Well there's no time to fix your makeup, but do you think you'll be able to do the concert?"

"Of course, I'll be fine." Taehyung says, wiping the last of his tears and smiling at the older with confidence.

"Okay, well then let's go, we have to go on." Namjoon said, taking one of Taehyung and Jeongguk's hand in each of his and pulling them behind him.

"I found them, let's go." He said once they met up with the other members. They each gave Taehyung worried glances, which he shook off, while Jimin gave the two a knowing-look, making both males gulp nervously.

They each gathered backstage, hearing the fanchant from ARMY roar on the other side of the curtain. It sent a rush of adrenaline through each of the members, causing their hearts to pound in both nervousness and excitement as they all smiled at eachother.

"Everyone in," Namjoon spoke loudly, trying to be heard over the calls of their fans. The members huddled in a circle and piled their hands on top of eachother's, Jeongguk felt Taehyung's hand over his and he looked towards the older, giving him a smile.

Namjoon gave them their preconcert pep-talk, and ended just as the opening started playing, making the screams become even louder, almost deafening at this point.

"Bangtan!" They all shouted, lining up just as the curtain was lifting. Jeongguk kept a hold of Taehyung's hand and leaned close to the older's ear.

He didn't know if it was the rush of emotions or ARMY's screams giving him courage, but he felt an urge to relieve the tension in his chest, just as Taehyung had.

"I love you, too."