19-Downright Suspicious
When he knocked, Hoseok opened the door. "There you are, was wondering if you fell asleep in the shower," he smiled, steering Taehyung inside.
"Did you see Yoongi on your way down? He stormed out of here and he's not answering his phone," Jin asked, frowning in worry.
Taehyung blinked, then nodded. "Y-yeah... he's gone to shower, he said he'd be down here afterwards. He wants to know if anyone's going to the studio with us."
"Called it," Hoseok said, sitting back down next to Jimin.
Jin's brow furrowed a little as he watched Taehyung. Had Yoongi actually talked to him about what happened? It wasn't entirely clear, but Jin could pick up a bit of nervousness in Taehyung's eyes. He needed to get the younger man alone for a minute.
"I'll go, nothing better to do," Jimin said. "I have to talk to Yoongi anyway."
"I think I'll tag along for a bit," Jin said, glancing at Namjoon. "Until Yoongi annoys me too much."
Namjoon looked at Jin in surprise. "...he's going to use that to get me back in there," he said with a sigh.
"Don't worry, eomma will last five minutes before Yoongi sticks his foot in his mouth," Hoseok grinned. "And because I wouldn't miss that for the world, guess I'm coming too."
"He'll be happy to hear that," Taehyung smiled, going to sit down next to Jimin.
"Hey, I can last more than five minutes, remember I've known him a lot longer than all of you, I know how to shut him up," Jin said, reaching over to flick Hoseok in the forehead. "I don't appreciate you laughing at my misery."
Hoseok yelped, leaning back with a pout. "But eomma, watching you chew people out for being stupid is the best entertainment," he said.
"That wasn't what you thought when you were the one he was mad at," Namjoon raised an eyebrow.
"Because I'm too cute to yell at, of course."
"No one is too cute to yell at," Jin pointed at him threateningly. "To be honest you could use more scoldings, I just don't have the energy after dealing with Yoongi and the other three idiots."
"Hey," Jimin pouted a little. "I'm not an idiot... most of the time."
"You are too, and soon as I see Jungkook I'm calling him an idiot too, you people make me want to tear my hair out some days," Jin huffed before looking at Taehyung with a sweet smile. "Don't worry honey, I don't know you well enough to call you an idiot yet."
Taehyung gave him his usual bright, beaming smile. "Thanks, eomma."
"That wasn't a compliment," Hoseok snorted. He stood up to clean the dishes. "Other three? Hey Namjoon, you're in the doghouse with the rest of us!"
"What did I do?" Namjoon blinked.
"Took you two years to ask me out for starters," Jin said, crossing his arms.
"I'll help you with the dishes Hobi hyung," Jimin said, glad to get away from the table and whatever was going on there. "Jin eomma's in a mood."
"How is that entirely my fault? You didn't ask me out either," Namjoon pointed out, one eyebrow raised. Taehyung didn't seem particularly concerned about being in the line of fire, checking his messages on his phone.
"Well I had no idea you could do that!" Jin retorted. "Like I would know anything about dating."
"I had no idea you didn't know how to ask another guy out," Namjoon sighed. "So still failing to see how it's my fault."
"Just kiss him already," Hoseok hollered from the kitchen.
Jimin poked Hoseok in the side, hushing him. "Quiet, I can't hear them," he whispered.
"I didn't say it was your fault, I said you're an idiot," Jin countered. "You'd have to be an idiot if you thought dating me was a good idea."
"Why? The only downside is Yoongi knocking on my bedroom door to harass us, which he does anyways." Namjoon covered Jin's hand with his own.
"He's an idiot too," Jin murmured, leaning over and giving Namjoon a kiss. He didn't hear the door opening behind him, Yoongi stepping in. He immediately made a disgusted face, covering his face with his hands.
"I thought you said they were fighting, that's not fighting Taehyung," Yoongi groaned.
"You just missed it," Taehyung said, not looking up from his phone. "Took too long in the shower."
"Technically, they're now fighting with their lips," Hoseok leaned out of the kitchen to say with a wide grin.
Namjoon reluctantly broke the kiss. "Are you all done?"
"Are you?" Yoongi retorted, lowering his hands reluctantly. "Oh good, I didn't feel like throwing up again."
"Poison, definitely poison," Jin said, giving Namjoon a level look.
"Anyway, you ready Taehyung? I want to leave, before Namjoon throws Jin down on the table," Yoongi said, keeping a respectable distance between himself and Namjoon.
"I'm ready." Taehyung hopped up from the floor and skirted around the table to join Yoongi at the door.
"You won't be getting any of my help today," Namjoon pointed at Yoongi. "Or tomorrow. Maybe longer, depending on how long it takes you to stop being even more of an asshole than usual."
"Oh calm down, you act like I'm not like this to everyone," Yoongi wrinkled his nose at Namjoon. "I said this shit all the time to Jimin and Jungkook. I earned this after all the shit I put up with from you two."
"I'm going to enjoy the second he decides to care enough about someone to have a boyfriend, and never letting him hear the end of it," Jin said. "That's a fair warning Yoongi."
"That'll be the best entertainment we've had all year," Hoseok grinned. "Yoongi, Jimin and I will stop by after cleaning up here." He disappeared back into the kitchen to finish dishes. Taehyung scuffed one foot against the floor, skirting around Yoongi to put his shoes on.
"Alright, guess I'll see you two lovebirds later," Yoongi said to Jin and Namjoon, giving a little wave at them before following Taehyung to the door.
Jin sighed a little, leaning closer to Namjoon. "I'm still going, were you serious about not?" he asked quietly.
"Yes, because if I give him an inch he'll take a mile," Namjoon shook his head. "I'll catch up on studying instead. And... will I be seeing you later today?"
"Of course, I'll bring you a snack later," Jin said, chuckling a little. "You know he does it just to get under our skin, and he especially likes teasing you."
"I know." Namjoon wrinkled his nose, leaning over to press a soft kiss to Jin's mouth. "I'll see you after then. Try to resist decking him."
"I make no such promise," Jin murmured, giving him another kiss before standing up. Yoongi and Taehyung had walked out already, so he hurried to get his shoes on and catch up. "Yah, wait up," he called once in the hallway, seeing the other two at the elevator.
Taehyung looked back as they were stepping into the elevator, and reached out to hold it for Jin. "Eomma! You're joining us right away?"
"Yes?" Jin said, slipping onto the elevator and giving Taehyung a warm smile. "I wanted to walk with you, is that alright?"
"I figured you two would be back to being rabbits and wouldn't get anything out of you until at least next week," Yoongi said blandly. "Ow!" he flinched when Jin flicked him in the forehead.
"Would you stop? It's not funny," Jin scowled, flicking him again. "We didn't have sex, so stop."
"... Alright, geez," Yoongi mumbled, rubbing at the red spots on his forehead. "Just kidding."
"And it's not funny to me," Jin said, putting his arm around Taehyung's shoulder. "There's impressionable children around, they'll think bad things of their eomma."
Taehyung blinked, happily leaning into Jin's side. "Eomma, will you be singing again today? Maybe we can do a duet together!" He looked up at Jin with a wide smile.
"That entirely depends on if Yoongi will calm down, before I murder him," Jin said, still a sweet tone to his voice.
"You're starting to sound like your boyfriend," Yoongi grumbled, flinching when Jin raised a hand towards him. "Okay! I'll stop, god damn everyone's out for me today."
"Your own fault," Jin said, looking back at Taehyung and returning his smile. "I think a duet would be great, we'll pick a song out and practice, okay?"
"Okay," Taehyung nodded, linking arms with Jin when the elevator doors opened.
The studio hallways were still pretty empty the second week into school, especially on a Sunday. Taehyung tried to peer into a few rooms as they passed, before stopping to wait for Yoongi at the room he always booked out. "Which part are you working on today, hyung? Still the beginning?"
"Yeah, it's really bugging me," Yoongi said, unlocking the door and going straight to the computer to boot it up. "Jungkook really pisses me off you know? He's the voice I need and he has to go and be a fuck boy and ruin everything."
"I'm sure the song will survive without him," Jin said with a sigh. "You could try Jimin again, or Taehyung, they have similar voices."
"Taehyung's voice is too deep," Yoongi said, loading the files. "... Maybe Jimin will work, I don't know."
"In the meantime, why don't we find a song to sing Taehyung, and practice a bit, hm?" Jin suggested, sitting down on the couch and patting the seat next to him.
Pouting at Yoongi's comment about his voice, Taehyung perked up. "Right!" He dropped his bag to the side of the couch before curling up beside Jin. "What kind of songs do you like, eomma?" He fished out his phone and started scrolling through the large list he had downloaded. "Any of these maybe?"
"Hmm, some of these I don't even know," Jin said, reading over the list. "Oh, wait, that one, I like that song," he pointed at one of the songs he liked from a recent drama. "How about that one?"
"Ah, sure! I like that one too," Taehyung grinned before hopping back up. "Yoongi hyung will get mad if we practice in here. But the room across the hall is empty."
"Sounds good," Jin nodded, getting to his feet. "We'll be back in a few Yoongi."
It wasn't clear if Yoongi understood, already engrossed in what he was doing, but he gave a dismissive wave. Jin ushered Taehyung out and across the hall into the open room. It was pretty much identical to the other room so Jin sat down on the couch and waited for Taehyung to join him. "I didn't take you for a drama fan, did you watch that one?"
"My little sister watched it," Taehyung grinned, dropping down beside Jin on the couch. He pulled out his laptop from his backpack and found lyrics for them to follow. "I just sang along to all the songs to annoy her. What about you, eomma?"
"I love a good drama, I watch as many as I can, which is a lot when you're unemployed and not in school," Jin sighed wistfully. "That was a good one, really sad though."
"I don't think I watched up to the end," Taehyung said. "I like more comedy shows myself. Does Namjoon hyung watch them with you?"
"Kind of? Mostly he just studies while I'm watching," Jin said, a small happy smile at that. "But... maybe I can convince him to watch one with me now."
"Maybe," Taehyung grinned, making himself comfortable. "I'm happy for you, by the way. Yoongi hyung's happy too, but it would give him a stomachache to say it nicely."
"Yoongi is bad at feelings," Jin snorted. "I've known that about him for a long time, and I know he's just teasing, but he can go a little too far sometimes."
Taehyung nodded a little, chewing on his lower lip as he copied the lyrics over to a blank document. "Um... so... you sing these parts, maybe?" He highlighted some of the lines in blue.
Tilting his head a little, Jin squinted at Taehyung. "Yeah, that will work," he nodded, putting his arm around Taehyung's shoulders again. "You know, you and I haven't talked in a few days, how are things going? You and Yoongi getting along?"
"...Yeah," Taehyung nodded, smiling up at Jin before turning back to the lyrics. He finished highlighting the parts for Jin to sing, dividing up some lines so he sang the first half and Jin finished it. Maybe that would sound nice? Would Yoongi be impressed if he heard them sing? He wasn't that easy to impress. "He's a good roommate."
"I suppose, I probably would have killed him with how messy he is," Jin said. "But, is that all you think of him? Just a roommate? You guys seem pretty close."
Taehyung blinked, fingers pausing against the keys. "Well... I guess we're friends too," he said after a moment. Friend was a step up from roommate, so it was a legitimate answer. "I think of him as my friend, anyways. You're all my friends."
"Then how come you haven't asked me what my favorite foods are, or Jimin's? Like you did with Yoongi?" Jin asked, watching Taehyung's profile.
"Cause... he's my roommate," Taehyung said, worrying on his lower lip. "If I'm going to start learning how to cook properly, might as well start with something my roommate will try, right?"
"Yeah, that's true," Jin nodded slowly. Something was bit off, Jin had noticed it before but still wasn't sure what was going on. "Taehyung... I heard about what happened last night, did Yoongi talk to you?"
"Eh?" Taehyung looked up at Jin, before nodding. Jimin must have told Jin... must have told everyone, since Yoongi hadn't seemed to remember when he woke up either. "Yeah... we talked, it's fine now," he smiled.
"Did you kick him? I would have kicked him, really hard in the shin," Jin said. "I told him he had to apologize properly, and I think he did if things are really fine?"
"Why would I kick him? Or hit him, or yell, or anything?" Taehyung sighed. Why did everyone think he had to be violent over these things? "He apologized, so... we're fine now."
"Tae... it doesn't really seem like it's fine," Jin said quietly. "What's going on? You've got this nervous fawn look to you and if you keep worrying at your lip anymore it's going to start bleeding."
Taehyung self-consciously touched his lip, removing it from between his teeth. "...It really is fine though," he said quietly, looking down at the lyrics. "Like I said... we talked things over. It'll be okay from now on. I don't want to keep focusing on things that can't be helped."
"Things like what?" Okay, maybe Jin was prying a little too hard. So what if he was nosey, everyone else seemed to be. Besides, something was seriously bothering Taehyung.
Taehyung was quiet for a moment, fingers still against his laptop. But like the frequent comments of having no backbone, the younger wasn't all that great at standing up to persistent interrogation either. "Like... not being able to be that special person to Yoongi hyung," he mumbled.
It was quiet enough that Jin was able to pick that up and he smiled sadly at Taehyung. "Ah... I had a feeling," he said, pulling Taehyung in a little closer. "So did you tell him?"
"No," Taehyung looked down. "There wouldn't be a point. It wouldn't work out."
Jin blinked a little in confusion. "No? But I thought... I mean... the way Yoongi's been acting... why wouldn't it work?"
This would be the third person he'd told in less than 24 hours. Somehow, Taehyung's secret wasn't much of a secret anymore, and he could feel his ears burning red. "Because I don't like sex, and Yoongi hyung does."
"... I see," Jin nodded slowly at that. "Um... was it from a bad experience, or do you just not have any interest?"
"No interest," Taehyung replied, voice quietening. "I tried once, and it... didn't work out. I don't know if I'd ever be able to give him anything like that."
Jin sighed a little, understanding exactly where Taehyung was coming from. It was not an easy place to be at. "Let me ask you something, because I know we joke around a lot about Yoongi, and how I call him a tramp and all...but, do you honestly think that's all he wants? Is just sex?"
"I don't think it's all he wants," Taehyung shook his head. "Humans aren't one-sided. But it's a big part of what he wants. So he should be with someone who can give him that. Besides... he told me himself that it wouldn't work. That's why there's no point in thinking about things that can't be changed."
"... He told you that he couldn't be in a relationship with you because of sex?" Jin was dumbfounded. Was Yoongi really that big of an idiot? "Tae... I've known Yoongi for a while now, and I think you have the wrong impression about who he is, and what he wants... probably from Yoongi himself. Because he's an idiot."
"What do you mean?" Taehyung frowned. "I thought what he said was pretty clear."
"I doubt it, you have to read between the lines with Yoongi," Jin said with a small sigh. "What you have to understand is that Yoongi, is a giant marshmallow. Covered in concrete. It takes a whole lot to chip through that mile thick layer of concrete before you get to the soft squishy Yoongi. He calls me a romantic, but he's worse. Much worse, and will refuse to admit it."
"...I'm not sure I understand, eomma," Taehyung looked up at him. He didn't get where Jin was going with this. Yoongi's words had been very easy to understand... Taehyung wasn't right for him. "He said he liked me... so I told him that I don't like sex, because I didn't want to lie to someone about that again. After I told him, he said that I was a good person to like, but I wasn't right for him. I don't see any o-other way to understand that." Taehyung's voice cracked and he looked away.
"Oh Tae..." Jin wrapped his other arm around Taehyung and tried to cuddle him, the laptop making it awkward. "You don't understand, Yoongi's never said he's liked anyone before. You two are like... opposite sides of the same problem. Sex is meaningless to him, it's the only way he has of connecting with someone, but it's not what he wants."
Taehyung leaned into Jin's arms, eyes downcast. "But he said I wasn't right for him. How else am I supposed to take that?"
"That was Yoongi's defenses coming up," Jin said, frowning. "What he heard was you thought all he wanted from you sex, and because Yoongi is a coward, wasn't going to explain himself. He thought you were rejecting him. I think. It's hard to know a hundred percent what that idiot is thinking."
"Rejecting him?" Taehyung looked up at that. "I was just warning him... because he'd been looking forward to getting laid the night before, and I thought I should be upfront with him that it... isn't possible for me. I wanted him to have a chance to decide if that was something he could really be in a relationship without."
"Listen, Yoongi... isn't interested in sex in that way, for him it's... a way of feeling something," Jin said, rubbing at his forehead. This was hard to explain. "I have spent so many hours listening to drunk Yoongi tell me how lonely he is, and how he wished he could... like someone enough that he wanted to be with them. That's all it is... Yoongi's lonely."
Taehyung was looking up at him with wide eyes. "...You really think so?" he asked quietly, something like hope sparking in his chest. "You think he would want to be with someone who doesn't like sex?"
"I think he does, because he likes you," Jin said, lifting a hand to brush Taehyung's bangs out of his eyes. "And that's... saying a lot for Yoongi."
A small smile tugged at Taehyung's mouth at that. "I guess... I should talk to him tonight," he said. "If he's not drunk again. He's a little hard to talk to drunk."
"We'll make sure he's not drunk," Jin laughed. "And... just so you know, if you ever want to talk about things, things you may not be comfortable talking to Yoongi about, you can talk to me. You and I aren't so different when it comes to... physical relationships. I never had any interest in sex or kissing or... even other people for a very long time, I struggle with it too, so I understand."
Taehyung's eyes widened at that. "...Really?" He'd noticed that Jin wasn't all too fond of the others' sex discussions, but that could have been for any number of reasons including Jin just being fed up at their crassness. "But, then... Namjoon hyung?"
"Namjoon... definitely an exception," Jin said, unable to help the silly smile. "I... had no idea that you could fall in love with someone at first sight, but the first time I saw him, I felt like I'd been hit by a ton of bricks and I couldn't stop staring. I had no idea what the feeling was, and it took me so long to figure it out. Let alone the idea of anything physical... that's still... something I'm working on, and figuring out if it's right for me."
Taehyung looked up at Jin with something like wonder. "I've never known anyone who had the same problems as me," he said. "I always thought there had to be something really wrong with me, that I couldn't make myself like what everyone else seems so obsessed with. All people talk about is sex sometimes."
"I know, and it's irritating," Jin agreed. "But there's nothing wrong with people like us. I like to think there's something wrong with them that they can't go five minutes without thinking about sex, I mean... there's more to life. Yoongi only says things cause he knows it bothers me. But Jimin and Hoseok... I think there might actually be something wrong with them. I've never met anyone as horny as Jimin and still act all innocent and Hoseok... I blame everything on Hoseok, he's a bad influence."
"They do like sex way too much," Taehyung said, lips pursing. "But they're great people outside of that. Jimin... was the first person I told after my ex-girlfriend, and even if he likes sex he was still very quick to say there's nothing wrong with me. And he's fun to hang out with. Hoseok hyung is kind of crass, but he really cares about everyone, especially Jimin."
"They are good people, and I'm so glad I have each of them in my life," Jin said. "And I'm glad you've joined our little family here, even if we're a little dysfunctional at times, and I want to kill them on a daily basis. Each of them has helped me grow in different ways, and I like to think I've helped each of them as well."
That made another smile appear on Taehyung's lips. He placed his laptop aside so he could wrap both arms around Jin, burying his face against the older man's shoulder. "...Thank you, eomma," he murmured, holding on. "I hope I can help all of you too one day."
"I'm sure you will," Jin chuckled, squeezing Taehyung in a tight hug. "You can probably start with Yoongi, just don't be discouraged if he gets all grouchy again."
"I'll try," Taehyung said, closing his eyes. "I think I'm immune to most of his grouchiness by now."
"Don't let him know that, he'll just try harder," Jin said. "So, feeling up to learning that duet yet?"
"Yeah," Taehyung nodded, holding onto Jin for a moment longer before letting him go to pick up his laptop again. He settled it so they could both see. "Once we've got it down, can we try singing it for Yoongi hyung?"
"Of course, I think he'll appreciate it," Jin nodded, making himself comfortable again to read over Taehyung's shoulder. "He really likes your singing voice, I think it caught him off guard."
"...really?" That made Taehyung puff up, smile widening giddily. "Okay, let's try once with the song playing." He brought up the song on his laptop, hitting play.
Jin realized they'd lost track of time when he glanced at the clock and saw they'd been practicing for an hour already. "We should probably wrap this up, see how Yoongi's doing. I think I heard some screams earlier so Hoseok and Jimin made it."
"Oh, great," Taehyung grinned, closing his laptop. He'd very quickly found out the truth behind noise following Hoseok where ever he went, especially when Jimin was with him. "Feeling okay to sing for them?" He really did like Jin's voice, and felt it worked great with the song choice.
"Absolutely, it doesn't bother me singing in front of people anymore, I used to get so nervous since Jimin and Jungkook were so good, but they're very supportive," Jin said, getting to his feet and stretching his back out.
"I don't think eomma has anything to be nervous about," Taehyung said, zipping up his backpack and shouldering it. "You have a great voice, especially for this song. It just works. I'm sure Namjoon hyung would say the same, but Yoongi hyung would just say he's too biased to have a valid opinion."
"Well, Yoongi isn't wrong on that," Jin laughed, opening up the door to let Taehyung out first. "Namjoon is biased, they joke about him being whipped for me and... I don't disagree."
Taehyung was laughing as they both stepped back into the other room. Hoseok was in the sound booth at that moment, though not singing, and he waved at them with a wide grin.
"Hi," Taehyung grinned, looking between them. "What's happening now?"
"I'm waiting for the slavedriver to decide if he's going to release me or not," Hoseok joked, voice coming through the speakers.
"Debating on just leaving him in there for another hour, if I turn the speakers off then I don't have to hear his voice," Yoongi said blandly. "It's very tempting."
"If you do that, then I don't get to record my part," Jimin said, stretched out on the couch, his hands behind his head. "And if I don't get to record then I'm just going to leave."
Yoongi scowled at that. "Okay fine," he waved for Hoseok to come out. "I guess I've got what I need from him for now."
"Freedom!" Hoseok opened the door and stepped out, arms out in relief.
Taehyung laughed at his overly dramatic exit, licking his lips before speaking again. "Before Jiminnie does his recording, can eomma and I show off our new duet?" Once Jimin got into the booth, he'd be there for a while.
"Do a what?" Yoongi looked up at them in confusion. "A duet? Why?"
"Because we want to?" Jin made a face at Yoongi. "We like to sing you know, not just what you tell us to."
"I wanna hear it," Jimin said, holding out his hand towards Hoseok, motioning for him to join him on the couch.
"Ugh, fine, but if you're going to sing, I'm recording it," Yoongi said, pointing at the booth. "If you've got the instrumental, give it to me."
"He's so bossy when he's in that chair," Jin grumbled a little. "You're going to make a horrible producer with that kind of attitude, no one will work with you."
"Yes they will, I'm too good for them not to want to work with me," Yoongi shrugged.
Taehyung just grinned nervously, pulling out his phone and bringing up the instrumental. "Here," he walked over to Yoongi's side, placing the phone down. "Does it work fine if it's on here?" He'd seen Jimin pass Yoongi his phone before.
"Yeah, I just plug it into the board, like this," Yoongi said, plugging a cable into the earjack of the phone. "Then, turn on the channel," he clicked a button below a slider, then pushed slider up. "And then record on the computer once we're ready," he said, looking up at Taehyung with a smile. "Pretty easy."
Taehyung smiled back, heart thudding in his chest. "...Yeah." He would really have to get a chance to talk to Yoongi tonight. It shouldn't be too hard, right? They were roommates after all. He stepped back after a moment, going to link arms with Jin. "Let's go eomma!"
"Jin and Taehyung, fighting!" Hoseok yelled after them as they disappeared inside the booth, door closing behind them. Taehyung went to the other side of the microphone, finding one of the two headsets and sliding it over his ears before holding the other out to Jin.
Taking the offered headphones, Jin slipped them on and made sure they're comfortable before nodding at Yoongi to start. The first run through was shaky, Jin stumbling a little over the words and could see Yoongi making that face he made when Jin went flat. He hated that face. The second run through was much smoother, both of them getting more comfortable with the words and the melody and each other.
Yoongi allowed one more run through, and Jin knew it was the best yet, just by the way Yoongi was actually nodding along. Jin put his arm around Taehyung's shoulder as they finished out the last of words, and he grinned at the younger. That had been a lot more fun than he had thought.
When they emerged from the booth, Jimin and Hoseok were clapping for them. "That was fantastic!" Jimin said, his eyes disappearing in his smile. "You guys sound so good together."
"Yeah, great job!" Hoseok grinned, giving them both thumbs up. "Perfect sync!"
Taehyung was smiling widely, leaning into Jin's side. "It was really fun. We need to sing it again." He tried stealing a glance at Yoongi for his reaction; he hadn't been able to look at him much while in the booth, too focused on getting his lines right.
"I would love to sing it again," Jin said, ruffling Taehyung's hair. "You know what, we haven't done karaoke in ages, we should go do that tonight."
"We haven't gone because you got mad at us last time when we got kicked out," Yoongi pointed out.
"I could go for some karaoke tonight," Jimin agreed, making room on the couch for Jin by crawling into Hoseok's lap.
"Taehyung, your phone," Yoongi motioned for Taehyung to sit down at the chair next to him.
Hoseok didn't seem too fussed about Jimin in his lap, grinning and securing his arms around the younger man's waist. "There's a new place that opened up not too far away, better song selection. Plus they don't know us on sight yet."
Taehyung separated himself from Jin's side to obediently drop down into the chair beside Yoongi. "Karaoke sounds like lots of fun. Thanks for letting us sing, hyung," he said, reaching out to disconnect his phone from the cable.
"... You guys didn't sound horrible so..." Yoongi shrugged, closing the channel on the board. "It's good mixing practice for me. So yeah, good... do you want a copy?"
That sounded like a compliment from Yoongi, so Taehyung broke out into a beaming smile. "Nah, I'll just ask Jin eomma to sing with me sometimes," he said, looking down at his phone. "We should sing something together at karaoke tonight. It would be fun."
"I don't sing," Yoongi shook his head vehemently. "It's bad, really bad."
"It kind of is, he sounds like a cat in heat in blender," Jimin said. "Why do you think he has all us singing for him?"
"You said that about dancing too, but dancing with you was very fun," Taehyung pointed out. "Besides, it's karaoke. Singing great isn't the point."
"You're not going to go to karaoke with us and not sing again, Yoongi," Hoseok snorted.
"Yah, don't tell me what to do," Yoongi made a face at Hoseok over his shoulder. "And I didn't agree to karaoke."
"If you don't go, I won't sing," Jimin said sweetly.
"You can only use that so many times before I say fine," Yoongi grumbled. "Fine, we can go to karaoke. But I'm not going to sing."
Taehyung pouted at him before giving up, for now. They still had a while to go before karaoke tonight anyways. "If you say so." he reached into his backpack to get his notebook; might as well continue lyric practice. Though it was debatable if there were more words or doodles in his book at this point.
"So, your turn?" Hoseok poked Jimin in the ass. "Slavedriver's waiting."
Jimin winced at the poke, swatting Hoseok's hand. "Ow, don't do that, you know I'm still sore," he huffed, rolling off of Hoseok's lap.
Frowning a little at the way Jimin was walk walking stiffly into the booth, Yoongi looked at Hoseok over his shoulder. "Please don't tell me you and him again, I thought once was enough."
"...Once was enough," Hoseok said, smile fading once Jimin had closed the door to the booth. "Wasn't me. He snuck off to Jungkook last night." Taehyung winced a little beside Yoongi.
"... Seriously? What the hell is he thinking?" Yoongi's eyes widened. Was Jimin such a glutton for punishment?
"Yoongi..." Jin tried to soothe the other down. "Let them sort it out, it's not our place to judge what he does. You don't just stop loving someone once you break up."
"Pretty sure once you break up you don't keep fucking them either," Yoongi snapped. He turned back around, looking at Jimin through the glass. It frustrated him how content the younger looked and gave him such a warm smile when he noticed Yoongi was watching. "I just don't understand why he wants to be hurt like that, love can't be worth that kind of pain."
Taehyung was quiet next to Yoongi, pen scribbling circles in his notebook as he chewed on his lower lip. "Right, you're not him so of course you don't understand," Hoseok said, a sharp tone to his voice. "None of us can understand, because we're not in his head. So call him an idiot if you want, but it's not going to help him one bit."
"Would both of you shut up, you're like over protective momma bears when it comes to him," Jin sighed. "Let him make his own mistakes and keep your noses out of it."
Grumbling a little under his breath, Yoongi let it drop. He could see the confusion in Jimin's eyes as to why they hadn't started yet, so he leaned forward, to turn on the booth mic. "Sorry Jimin, technical difficulties, you ready? Start from the top of the first verse."
Jimin nodded, giving Yoongi a thumbs up. Starting the playback, Yoongi sat back in his chair and glanced at Taehyung beside him. "Hey... you got anything new for me?"
Taehyung looked up from his notebook. "Ah... nothing I think you'd like, no," he said with a small smile. The few times he'd shown Yoongi his notebook, Yoongi had been less than impressed. By the content of his 'lyrics', the amount of drawings, or both, Taehyung wasn't sure. "I'll let you know if I have anything."
"Okay... hey can I see that butterfly picture again?" Yoongi asked, pulling Taehyung's chair closer. "I think... I have an idea."
"The... butterfly picture?" Taehyung blinked. The one from his very first day in the studio? Yoongi hadn't really liked his reasoning behind it. But Taehyung flipped his notebook back to the first few pages, finding the butterfly on the second page. He slid the notebook across and in front of Yoongi. "This?"
"This song is... kind of about an unrequited love right? About holding onto something too hard," Yoongi said, taking the notebook and writing in very small letters under the picture.
"You're just like a butterfly from afar, I steal glances; if we touch hands, will I lose you?"
"What do you think about... the theme being a butterfly?" Yoongi asked Taehyung, his voice low.
Reading the new words under his drawing, Taehyung looked up into Yoongi's eyes after a moment. With his chair pulled closer, their shoulders and arms brushed with each small movement. Since when had he started noticing it this much?
"...I think it works," he replied, a slow smile appearing. "It... really works."
"Alright, good, I think I can work on the chorus again, it needed something more," Yoongi said, passing the notebook back to him. "See? That's how lyric writing works, sometimes you just get inspiration from something as simple as a picture."
Taking his book back and looking down at the drawing, Taehyung's smile widened even more. "Glad I could help," he said, gaze lifting to Yoongi's face again. "I'm a little surprised you remembered it."
"Why wouldn't I remember it? It's a good drawing," Yoongi said, turning back to the monitor. Jimin had finished the first run through at that point and was looking between Yoongi and Taehyung with a curious smile. "Alright Jimin, I think we got it," he said into the booth mic.
"I think it's a good time for a break? I can go make some lunch and bring it back," Jin said, getting up to his feet. "You want to come help me Taehyung?"
"Sure, if hyung didn't need me to sing any parts," Taehyung agreed, standing up. He left his bag there for now, just pocketing his phone as he went to Jin's side.
"What's on the menu today?" Hoseok asked, looking up from where he was playing a game on his phone.
"Does it matter? You'll eat it anyway," Jin said, glancing over to see Jimin coming out of the booth. "We're going to make lunch Jimin, do you want to come with?"
"Uh, no, I don't think I'll be much use today," Jimin said. He sat down next to Hoseok and leaned over to whisper something in his ear.
Hoseok blinked, looking up at Jimin beside him. Then he sighed before standing, stretching his arms out above his head. "I'll go back with you, need to grab some books from our room. May as well take a page from Namjoon's book and not flunk out, unlike this guy," he jabbed a thumb at Yoongi on his way out the door.
"I've still got a better GPA than you, dipshit," Yoongi called after him, though most of his attention was on his work.
"You sure you're not going to come with us?" Jin asked Jimin as he ushered Taehyung out the door.
"Yeah, someone needs to keep Suga hyung company," Jimin said, stretching out on the open couch.
Taehyung looked over his shoulder as he was shooed out of the room, looking at Jimin on the couch and Yoongi hunched over the mixing board before the door was closed. He turned his attention back to Jin with a wide smile. Whatever that had been about, was none of his business. "What recipe are we making today?" He asked, linking his arm with Jin's and setting off after Hoseok up ahead.
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