jungkook spun the grape-flavored lollipop in his mouth, his eyes locking down onto his phone with the charcoal hood hanging over his head. his body subconsciously avoided and dodged the unwilling participants within the lunch rush hour. his hands were practically shaking in anticipation, excitement including a small pint of fear, even so, fear never held him back ⎯ not after that loss.

"jeongguk, i'm sorry... i wish things were different for me and your mother."

the speed of his strolling began to evenly decrease with every passing moment his thoughts grew louder. the sounds of businessmen chatting along with child-like laughter began to bubble out for everything started to sound as if he were underwater and everyone around him was on the surface, watching him.

"but there is still a chance for you. i know you can make it, without us."

jeongguk dug his canine teeth into the shell of the lavender colored lollipop, his body still controlling itself to go to it's destination ⎯ a wing and pizza place.

"from now on, don't be afraid.. of anything, of me, of your mother, not even the devil himself. so, stay away and stay alive, please."

at those drowning words, the young male bit deeply into his sweet treat as he furrowed his brows in a mixture of anger and sadness. he was so concentrated on his feelings to the point he hadn't realized he had been standing in the middle of the rush hour crowd, adults and children giving him looks of confusion, irritation and worry.

"hey!"

jungkook gasped in surprise at the loudness of the voice, snapping his head up causing the hood to slowly fall off his head. the 21-year old man was now making eye contact with another male, a concerned look.

"you okay?", he asked quietly, ignoring the stares from the rest of the people. his voice was deep yet soothing enough to give jungkook a bit of the chills.

"yeah, yeah. i'm just. . going through the motions, that's all.", he replies softly, immediately recognizing the daegu accent. "have you seen that pizza and wing place? i-i kinda forgot where it was."

the man in front of him chuckled, turning down to volume in his earbuds as he made a follow-me motion with his large hand. jeongguk presented a shy smile towards the stranger, following along close behind him. less than ten minutes, the duo made their way into the assigned diner/restaurant resulting a smile full of gratitude to come on jungkook's face.

a small blush heated up his cheeks since the maknae would always become flustered when it came to asking someone for help especially considering the fact  that was a thing he wouldn't normally have to do. "thank you for helping, uh..", the male trailed off, expecting a name for an answer.

with a kind chuckle, his answer soon came. "taehyung, kim taehyung."

"jeon jungkook. pleasure to meet you.", the younger grinned softly, transferring his attention over to the restaurant that lurked the  aroma of spicy buffalo sauce, oven-baked pizza and fresh vegetables that were soon being tossed into a salad. "taehyung, why don't you eat lunch with me? i'm getting tired of eating alone at diners and such.", jeongguk invited before taking in a lump of air. "oh! that depends if you're busy or not, i don't want to distract you or anything."

taehyung took a moment to respond, bringing out his phone from his jacket pocket to check the time.

1:15

'yeah, i still got time.', the elder thought to himself, patting jungkook on the head as some thick strands of his hair had gotten messy.

"sure, lunch is on me!"

yo, did any of y'all get the reference from, 'stay away and stay alive'?

by the way, didn't you wonder what taehyung actually had time for?
last but not least, what actually happened to jungkook's parents,