The evening before their project submission had arrived, but instead of relaxing, Jungkook found himself restless in his room. He had just stretched out on his bed, scrolling through his phone absentmindedly, when a sudden notification popped up.
It was a message from Eunwoo.
"Hey Jungkook, there's a serious problem with the project data. We need to fix it tonight or our grades might tank. Can you meet us at the café near the library?"
Jungkook sat up immediately, a sense of urgency flaring in his chest. There was no time to waste. Grabbing his notebook and laptop, he quickly shoved them into his backpack and slung it over his shoulder.
Descending the staircase, he was met with the low hum of the television playing in the living room. Taehyung was sitting on the couch, a stack of work documents spread out in front of him, glasses perched low on his nose. He looked up when he heard Jungkook's hurried footsteps.
"Heading out this late?" Taehyung asked, his voice calm but his eyes sharp, noticing the tense set of Jungkook's jaw.
"Yeah," Jungkook said with a short nod. He tried to keep his voice steady, even though worry gnawed at him. "There's a last-minute issue with the project. Eunwoo says something's wrong with the data, and we have to fix it before tomorrow."
Taehyung leaned back slightly, crossing his arms over his chest as he studied him. "Which café?"
"The one near the library," Jungkook replied quickly. "The usual spot."
Taehyung gave a slow nod, his gaze lingering. "Alright. Just... be careful," he said, his tone softening almost imperceptibly. "And don't stay out too late."
"I won't," Jungkook promised, flashing a small, grateful smile before pushing the door open and stepping into the crisp night air.
Unbeknownst to him, Taehyung's eyes remained fixed on the door long after it had closed, a faint frown creasing his forehead.
The café near the library buzzed with quiet energy — soft indie music played in the background, and a few students hunched over laptops occupied the tables.
Jungkook spotted Eunwoo immediately. He was seated with Mia and Soo-hyun at a corner table, papers and a laptop spread messily across the surface.
Their expressions were grim.
"There you are," Eunwoo said with clear relief as Jungkook approached. "Thanks for coming."
Jungkook dropped his bag into an empty chair and slid into the seat next to him. "What's going on? What happened?"
Soo-hyun exhaled heavily. "We ran into a major problem. The graphs we used for the presentation aren't matching the raw data. It's making our results look inconsistent."
Mia ran a frustrated hand through her hair. "If we don't fix it, the professors might think we fudged the numbers. It could mess up everything."
Jungkook frowned, immediately pulling out his own notes. "Let's go through it line by line. Maybe there's a mistake somewhere in the data input."
Eunwoo nodded. "Exactly what I was thinking. It's tedious, but we have to be sure."
The four of them leaned in over the laptop, the screen illuminating their focused faces in the dim lighting of the café. The room faded away as they lost themselves in the work, cross-referencing numbers, double-checking entries, searching for the elusive error.
Minutes turned into an hour.
The tension grew heavier with every line they checked that seemed fine — the error was hiding somewhere, but it remained stubbornly out of sight.
Soo-hyun finally let out an exasperated sigh, slumping back in his chair. "Everything looks fine on my side. I swear, if we have to start from scratch—"
"Wait," Mia cut in, leaning forward, her brow furrowed. "What if the problem isn't in the data itself, but the way we're calculating the final results?"
Jungkook's eyes lit up at the suggestion. "You mean like a formula error?"
"Exactly."
Without wasting a second, Eunwoo pulled up the spreadsheet formulas, scrolling carefully through the endless columns. Jungkook leaned closer, scanning the screen intently.
"Here," Eunwoo said suddenly, pointing at a cell. "See this formula? It's referencing Column C, but it should be Column D."
Mia gasped, leaning in. "That's it. That has to be it!"
Heart pounding, Jungkook quickly corrected the formula, and they all held their breath as the spreadsheet recalculated.
Slowly, the graphs on the screen shifted — and this time, the results lined up perfectly with their original data.
A chorus of relieved sighs filled the table.
"We did it!" Soo-hyun exclaimed, a wide grin breaking over his face.
Mia clapped her hands together in excitement. "Finally! Thank god for Jungkook and Eunwoo."
Jungkook chuckled, his shoulders finally relaxing. "We're a team. It's all of us."
Still, he couldn't deny the small burst of pride that warmed him.
They weren't just saving a project — they were saving their grades, their reputations, and months of hard work.
"Let's run through everything one more time, just to be sure," Eunwoo said, already pulling up the final checklist.
The group worked methodically, their earlier panic replaced with a calm, steady rhythm.
When they were finally done — triple-checking every line, every graph, every conclusion — they sat back in their chairs, exhausted but triumphant.
Jungkook glanced at the clock and blinked in surprise. It was almost midnight.
"I should head back," he said, standing and stretching his sore muscles. "We have an early day tomorrow."
"Yeah, we should all get some rest," Eunwoo agreed, standing too. He clapped Jungkook lightly on the back. "Thanks again, man. We would've been doomed without you."
Jungkook smiled, feeling a quiet satisfaction settle over him. "We've got this. Let's crush it tomorrow."
The group gathered their things, exchanging a few tired jokes as they stepped out into the cool night. The streets were mostly empty, the air crisp against Jungkook's skin as he walked home.
He didn't notice the figure standing near the window until he got closer.
Taehyung was leaning casually against the doorframe, arms crossed over his chest, watching him approach.
His face was unreadable in the shadows, but there was something unmistakable in his posture — something between relief and irritation.
"You're late," Taehyung said quietly as Jungkook stepped inside, brushing the cold off his jacket.
Jungkook offered a sheepish smile. "Got caught up. We had to double-check everything."
Taehyung studied him for a long moment, then nodded once, a barely-there gesture.
"Just don't make it a habit," he murmured, his voice soft enough that Jungkook almost missed it.
A faint smile tugged at Jungkook's lips. Maybe Taehyung wasn't as indifferent as he pretended to be.
"I won't," Jungkook promised quietly, before heading up to his room — leaving Taehyung still standing there, gazing after him with an expression Jungkook didn't see.
Something lingering.
Something dangerous.
Something Taehyung wasn't ready to name yet.