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"Huh?! Minnie, hold the fuck up!" Before Taehyung could follow Jimin once more, and with that, Jimin left the snack bar and dashed into building D. Taehyung sighed in incredulity, forgetting who had been patiently staring at him.

"You're always stuck to the hips with Jimin-Hyung, huh." Jungkook blurted, was it just Taehyung alone, or did Jungkook's shyness up and vanished? This again...Taehyung's newfound weakness.

He was smirking— or sneering?! As he questioned that with such an extensive voice, was what meant to be a mockery of some sort? Was Taehyung meant to be offended, or turned on?

"It makes me kinda jealous," Jungkook obnoxiously whined for the fun of it, jesting about. Taehyung's tummy rolled.

"What could you be jealous of, Jungkook?" Taehyung clasped his thighs together, trapping his hands in between them, blushing uncontrollably whilst afraid to form eye contact with Jungkook.

Did he say what Taehyung assumed he could be saying?

"I don't know, you seem to rely on him a lot. You guys are always seen together, but Jimin is actually very social even without you around, so I'm just wondering why you aren't."

He downright separated the honorifics title behind Jimin's name all because he was mentioning him to Taehyung, although he knew Taehyung was Jimin's best friend and Taehyung was right here! Jungkook can be so bold.

Anyways, the way Jungkook was sitting, back relaxing as his elbows were supporting his slacking position, hands once in a while came up to stroke his face as if massaging his features.

    Yep, his boldness came from nowhere, when Jimin was around, he was a reticent little thing, now that they were alone...

"What? You've been watching me?" Taehyung commented, shocked.

"I mean...you've watched me too, haven't you?" He was genuinely questioning Taehyung, leisurely doing so as if it wasn't odd that Taehyung's beady eyes expanded out of their sockets.

Jungkook leaned in, folding his arms and burying his face within them, intending to take a nap or something? After a muted while, Taehyung inhaled, bracing himself for the worse to come, learning that exposing himself by himself will lessen any yet-to-come embarrassment.

Like making a fool of yourself so no one would. Instead, Jungkook decided to make a declaration, cutting Taehyung off short as if he had listened to Taehyung's breathing, with an acute hearing. "You've always been like that, since middle school."

"What? Really? Been like what?" Middle school? They met once during middle school, during freeze-tag. Though the impression was everlasting, Taehyung thought of himself as a creep. Yet, Jungkook can recall him?!

    Were the attractions...mutual? All this time? Was this fate?

"Alone, for absolutely no reason." Jungkook assertively interjected.

"There's...a reason f-for that." Taehyung reluctantly interjected.

"Really? And what is that? I don't quite see it." God, Jungkook, stop! He was disarming Taehyung with that query, brittle voice of his!

"..." There was an utterly deplorable silence. Taehyung had no other creative ways to vouch for the propaganda, without bringing shame to himself and his family, his future, his gravestone.

    What was he to declare? Due to an appalling event, Taehyung was popular, then, he was not, as simple as that. When they played freeze-tag together, for one historical day, Taehyung was not popular.

"I think you should worry for yourself more, Kookie. You can't see it either, can you?" Yes, atlas! Taehyung had subtly chanced to slip in Jungkook's nickname he ever so yearned to use! Nor did it not matter to Jungkook? Then that's great, gave Taehyung more reasons to use it carelessly, like friends.

"I can." His sweetly muffled voice and the disheveled writhing crest of his head were so adorable, his hairline, his silky locks which were probably fragranced of shampoo and sweat.

But, there were more suitable times for simping, just not now, as now Jungkook was different, different as in him switching back and forth to his old self from middle school, stirring Taehyung's stomach to address the matter.

"I can see it because you— well, it's because you told me something I never even once
considered, with all this time to think and stuff, I really, really thought about it, Hyung." Was Jungkook sleepy? He was inside his arms, lisp activating and chit-chatting about as if they were to have a pillow-talk.

    Jungkook really, really thought about Taehyung?

"What is it?"

Jungkook slowly embossed his head from its hiding place, and instantaneously, Taehyung's chest, shoulders, and throat tensed themselves into frigid particles of a concrete.

Unimpeachably eyeing the way Jungkook glanced upwards at him with those big, Bambi-like obsidian-tinted orbs, fidgeting with himself as feverish hues decorated his cheeks, his earlobes were, too, more crimson as the blood rushing through Taehyung's system.

Taehyung cooed, detecting himself heating up at the cute sight before him.

"'Don't blame yourself for their incompetence' you said." Jungkook rephrased, gulping an audible lump down his throat, bobbing his Adam's apple in the process, hauling up the collar of his shirt to blanket half of his face in it.

    Oh my god, oh my god! Jungkook was embarrassed!

Taehyung's heart was beating vigorously as if he had consumed too much caffeine. That action, that glory action which caused all these emotions to swell within Taehyung years on end since. Jungkook was powerfully delightful.

Ever since then, Taehyung could never be the same, even after Taehyung changed for the worst. Taehyung's feeble and queer heart had been and always will belong to Jungkook.

"W-Why's that?"

Jungkook shrugged in response, alongside an apathetic expression. Taehyung decided to let Jungkook off on this.

"I don't wanna go home, though~" Jungkook forged a singsong, throwing his entire chest and arms over the tabletop as if it was a feathery bed, moaning and groaning, making Taehyung giggled via his goofiness. Jungkook dodged the close-to-love-confession sobriety by being Aegyo. "Take me somewhere, Taehyungie-Hyungie-Hyung~"

    'Taehyungie-Hyungie-Hyung'? God, this boy, Taehyung might combust and die.

"Somewhere? Shit, I don't have anywhere I can take you." That was false, there was a cafe—

"I do. Wanna come with me?" Jungkook smothered on an anticipated smile at Taehyung, the beauty mole under his plump nether lip began to seem kissable and handsome each passing time.

Taehyung felt uneasy, thanks to Jungkook's smugness, whether positively or negatively, all for him to know and the world to find out.

"I would love to come with you, but we have one more class before school ends."

"Come on, let's just do it. Let's ditch." Jungkook pleaded like a spoiled brat, a cute one, hands rubbing together, begging Taehyung.

"Ditch? I never thought you'd be the type—" Jungkook cannot be serious.

"I've always been like this! Come on!" Jungkook rushed from his seat and tugged Taehyung harshly by the wrist, utilizing so much strength that the table and chair Taehyung clung himself onto became his thread-of-hills, quavering after them.

Wait, what about Jimin?

"Ow, wait!" Taehyung gasped, attempting to walk properly and not stumble at the amount of potency that was Jeon Jungkook, that was Taehyung's muscle kink. Omitting Jimin and everything or everyone else.

    Just the two of them.

Being the one to follow behind Jungkook, with their hands sort of connected in such a romantic fashion, everything that Taehyung could do was lower his spine amidst his striding to prevent bumping into the back of Jungkook's feet, or Jungkook's back, in general.

Quietly gaping up at his favorite part of Jungkook's body, his broader and manlier back like canvas, and the trimmed tail of his ebony hair.

The gait Jungkook authorized was intimidating, still, Taehyung did not care, happily being dragged around by Jungkook, reminiscent of their memorable time together wherein Taehyung groomed his fingers along it and Jungkook allowed him to.

    Taehyung came to adore every little detail of Jungkook.

Will this be it? Was this the successful, regret-free route towards just the two of them finally inching closer, even for a little?

Actually, no. A stone-cold, solid no!

Why? Two young boys in their school uniforms with their turtle-shell-like backpacks. Jungkook had led Taehyung to an operating bus station, hopping on a random bus Taehyung wouldn't stop babbling for an exposition.

Towards somewhere Jungkook wouldn't ever intend to disclose, their destination ended up being at the center of Seoul, with fractured street signs and vandalized buildings and littered sidewalks.

Jungkook was lucky Taehyung trusted him.

Every inch of Taehyung was trembling, the sun had set a few minutes prior and it was unpleasantly dark, tugging onto Jungkook's sleeve so he wouldn't get kidnapped without the boy's notice as if they were in a haunted house.

Taehyung must've been pathetic in Jungkook's eyes, tugging onto his sleeve like that. But, wherever they were, it was shady!

They turned a certain thoroughfare, and flashing into Taehyung's deteriorating and vignette vision, were lights, neon lights, located at every corner of every shop in an alleyway, a crowded and busied alleyway.

Holy shit, did these minors seriously find themselves trespassing Itaewon?!

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✩‧₊ AUTHOR'S NOTE ★

word count : 1558 words
published date : 08/10/21

same shit since last chapter : mood

ﾟfor those of you who don't know what Itaewon is, it's a nightlife district in the center of Seoul. Most foreigners go there, but also adults, it's full of strip clubs and gay bars ﾟ