《No more Illusions | KV ✔》4
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"Taehyung, Jungkook? The reporters are here", a staff member informed the two who stoically ignored each other, while Hoseok and Jimin have already gotten out of the car, resulting in fans screaming their names loudly. Taehyung heard cameras flashing, reporters calling out questions and he made himself mentally ready for the tumult that was awaiting him.
Jungkook next to him sighed loudly, obviously loudly enough for Taehyung to hear. "Let's get this over with", the raven grumbled, throwing Taehyung not even a side glance while he fixed his suit jacket, checked his tie and cracked his neck.
Taehyung checked himself in the small mirror he always brought with him, smiling at his reflection to practice his sweet but fake smile he always put on in front of the cameras. From the corner of his eyes, he saw Jungkook looking at him.
"Not even a comment?", the mint-haired male asked cheekily and closed the mirror, pushing the small item back into his pocket while Jungkook, of course, glared at the pretty male to his side. "Shut up Kim", there he was again, the mean asshole Taehyung hated and he regretted speaking up first.
With an annoyed snort, Taehyung pushed the door of the limousine open, stepping outside and not bothering to wait for Jungkook. A flash of hurt moved across Jungkook's face, missed by Taehyung who was already outside and waving at his screaming fans. Jungkook sighed silently.
"But you look really good in green...", he mumbled to himself. He shook his head, this was not good to think about, Taehyung was his coworker and an asshole. He seemed so sweet but he hated Jungkook without any reason. To protect himself, Jungkook has started hissing back at Taehyung who got more fiery.
If Jungkook was honest with himself, he liked having Taehyung's attention. And if this was the only way to make Taehyung talk to him, who was practically the younger's idol before he got to know him more, then so be it. If Taehyung hated him, Jungkook had to protect himself from his antics.
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Not knowing that Taehyung didn't hate him, the opposite even yet the proud male was too stubborn to admit it. Taehyung didn't hate Jungkook, he hated the role that was forced upon him with the appearance of Jungkook.
The men were both stubborn and too proud to talk about their feelings, too proud to communicate with each other about something that was so obvious to their friends. Their attraction was obvious to their friends but they closed their eyes from the truth, staying oblivious and with the churning feeling of hating each other without a reason.
What a duo these two made.
Jungkook got out of the car, following Taehyung to the red carpet and annoying the elder by wrapping his arm around Taehyung's thin waist. No matter how many movies they shot, Jungkook was still surprised from how delicate but strong Taehyung's body was formed, all gentle curves and long limbs. In the first weeks of knowing each other, Jungkook has liked to imagine these beautiful legs wrapped around his waist or head.
"Mr. Jeon over here! Mr. Kim!", the calls of the reporters didn't cause the actors to flinch, not anymore and despite the wish to move away, Taehyung allowed the touch of Jungkook to happen. He didn't even stiffen when the younger leaned closer to him until he was able to whisper something into his ear.
"You do look gorgeous by my side, in my arm. Perks to have such a handsome partner, don't you think so, Kim? If you were maybe a bit more friendlier, I would've given in to you and fucked you already", Jungkook purred into Taehyung's ear, the words only meant for him and they left Taehyung blushing before he quickly coughed, smiling for the cameras.
But inside, he was boiling from held back irritation.
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"Excuse me? I'm not the one trying to get into someone's pants, mind you. I have standards", Taehyung whispered back harshly, despite his fast beating heart and the fluttering wish of butterflies for the words to be true. But Taehyung knew it wasn't the case, the words only meant to mock, to confuse him, to make him angry. If he could allow himself to, Taehyung would be incredibly upset with how Jungkook was playing with him.
In front of the camera, he could make Taehyung feel the prettiest, the most gorgeous ever but behind the camera, Jungkook's true colors shown through. The first scene they ever shot together, of 'The last Omega', Jungkook as told Taehyung what an honor it was to work with him, he had smiled happily and his eyes have been bright.
Where did this version of Jungkook disappear? He only acted like this around Taehyung when a camera was nearby. It used to bother Taehyung, used to upset him pretty much until he realized that this was also just an act, a mocking because Jungkook was not his fan, nor his friend. Despite his words of him being his idol, Jungkook the day after was told the praises Taehyung has been told, taking the natural dominant role in the movies and leaving Taehyung with dust.
And no sweet words could undo this for Taehyung.
"You won't be standing anymore when I'm finished, Baby", Jungkook purred, sensing how Taehyung tensed and thinking it was because of him. It was, partly but Taehyung had another reason to be upset, reflecting his own insecurities by the way Jungkook was praised. The younger had no idea that Taehyung felt this way, his confession has been honest so he has been very much upset when Taehyung treated him with coldness.
A misunderstanding making the two hate each other but yet again, they failed to communicate.
"Shut up, Jeon, people are looking at us", Taehyung only hissed, his elbow merely meeting Jungkook's stomach as a warning and the raven distanced himself from the mint-haired male, now not in the mood to tease anymore.
After they got quickly interviewed, pretending to be in love and happy with each other, which was so not the truth, the two followed their co-actors into the cinema in order to watch the movie for the first time ever, waving at fans and throwing some silly hearts yet their fans seemed to love it.
Their fans always managed to make the two forget about their mutual hatred for each other. And they all loved 'For Eternity', cooing at their cute dynamics and bickering with Yoongi, gasped when Jungkook's character acted out and screamed for Jimin's character to get the fuck away from their TaeTae or they'll whoop his ass. Jimin next to Taehyung sunk into his seat while Taehyung laughed loudly at his friend's misery.
Jungkook, by his side, could barely conceal the admiration in his eyes by the sound of Taehyung's happiness. Hoseok, over Yoongi's head buried into his chest, threw Jungkook a small knowing smile.
At least one of them knew.
~
I'm trying to not give any heavy spoilers for the other books even though I want to hehe
Elaboratae
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Entangled Fates Book 1 - Quantum Beginnings
“By far, the greatest danger of Artificial Intelligence is that people conclude too early that they understand it.” —Eliezer Yudkowsky Hey all, we're moving over to book 2. This content is in a state of transition. The book is now availble on Amazon (includes extra chapters): https://www.royalroad.com/amazon/B07W1534R8 Artificial intelligence was nearly mankind’s last invention. AI took off like a rocket, then when it racked up an impressive death toll, it crashed before it could blossom and took most high-tech industries with it. Resistance and fears became deep-set. Two decades after the infamous Rev. 4.6 incidents, humanity hasn’t quit dreaming of the wealth and power that could be at their fingertips. A new generation of mega-corporations rose from the ashes. When one melds a quantum computer to a barely functional mental patient as a PR move, there are those who seek to profit, those who want to destroy it, and Alex. Alex Sage is a typical college student trying to keep up his grades and maybe find a meaningful connection with the fairer sex. Then, an automated semi crashes into his home, killing his family and turning his head into a pin cushion in the process. Alex awakens to find most of his memories gone and an illegal AI hidden in his brain implant. Now the pet project of a tech billionaire and heavily in debt, Alex struggles to stay valuable enough to be kept online. Still grappling with the repercussions of his injuries, and threats from a dangerous anti-augmentation political movement, there are no easy answers and threats loom around every corner. Alex must use whatever resources he can to escape from under the thumb of a ruthless corporation, while keeping those he comes to love safe. Chapters will stay up on RRL until Aug 10. It'll go up on Kindle Unlimited after that. How do you get those extra chapters I didn't have planned for RR? If you want them, they'll be in the published book. Book 2 will still make sense without them - I made sure of that. But... isn't $3 a lot for extra chapters? Think of it as tipping me for a good job and you'd also be getting my eternal thanks. If you enjoyed it so much that the idea of missing out a few chapters haunts you, I did my job as an author and made an engaging story. What's in those extra chapters? Resolving a few issues, set up for the cybernetic revolution, a rather intense sex scene with a new partner, revelations of who's really pulling strings, and a bit of set up for book 2. Complaints that people missed out on it when it was published here won't help (sorry!). I posted this for the folks who helped me shape the book, which is you all! (Again, yay!) But... Why! Why not keep it all on RR forever? My editor likes being paid for one. For two, I'd like the ability to get broader readership. If I break even on editor costs, I'll be incredibly happy. What about book 2? Drafts for Book 2 will go up around Sept 10. My draft of Book 2 is done, and it will be handed to the editor once Book 1 is published. Feedback has been even more positive. Beta readers devoured it and wanted more. I'll add a link to Book 2 once it's up on RR. I'm more or less, using you all for Beta Readers, so you get it before it's "canon" and edited. I invite active and meaningful feedback during this process. In return, you get early access to chapters. That does mean that the book content or plot might be adjusted before it gets published as I refine it. Sex Y/N? Yes. I heard the feedback, 90% wanted it explicit. You all will get the "full" experience. Will I dump all of book 2 here? Honestly, I'm not sure yet. At a minimum, it'll be up to the 75% mark as we collect feedback, much like what I did with book 1. It really depends on how good the feedback is and how nice people are. Lots of support + meaningful feedback to make it better = higher likelihood you get all the book. Will be it up here indefinitely? No, it'll probably go up on KU at some point, but I'll make sure there's enough time for a large readership to grab it here. Then we move to book 3 which already is around 60K words already. What about other adventures in the same universe/characters? Yep. Absolutely. Nothing ready to share yet though. I plan to keep those side chapters and more slice of life stories as RR exclusive. Since I'm carving this off in book-sized segments, I'll have to figure out where those disconnected story arcs belong. I'm open to suggestions.
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