Wolves| Taekook

十七

It's been quite a few days since the injury and Taehyung is slowly healing. Eun-sang's brother had visited him two days to check up on the injury. Of course, he is a doctor first, then Jungkook's rival. Winter was already bidding its goodbye and people were patiently waiting for the arrival of spring. Few hummingbirds could be spotted, already starting their hunt for nectar. Taehyung looked outside at the oak trees, shedding the snow on the ground. He was able to walk now but still incapable of doing chores, so excluding the cooking, everything would be handled by Jungkook.

Taehyung was overjoyed about getting to cook again since he was sick of having delivery and ready-made food all the time. He decided to prepare buckwheat pasta and bruschettas since Jungkook had bought sun-dried tomatoes the other day. He knows that Jungkook is also fed up with eating beans and rice every day, so he decided to treat the other with some homemade mochi.

He flinched as he spotted two cubs playing in the melting snow. The sound of their muffled laughs could be heard through the cold window that had Taehyung's hand imprinted over it. Taehyung should be happy seeing two cute children playing but he feels a sensation of loneliness looking at them. A sigh escaped his mouth and it caught the attention of Jungkook, who had just entered the living room.

"What? Why are you sighing?" Jungkook asked although the reason wasn't worry, just curiosity. Taehyung looked at him, looking outside at the children.

"I never had a happy childhood. No one interacted with me "because I was a son of an abused woman". They told me I can't play with them because I don't even know who my dad is. And when I went home, my face full of tears, my mother would just smile and play catch with me" Taehyung said as he smiled sadly, blinking his tears away.

Jungkook didn't know how to respond to that so he just kept quiet as the two silently looked at the children playing. 

Jungkook kept side-eyeing Taehyung, his chest was eating him. He wanted to let all his bottled feelings out after listening to Taehyung, yet he still feared getting any closer to him.

"Do you express your feelings so openly to anyone?" Jungkook asked, avoiding looking in Taehyung's direction.

"It's not like I tell anyone anything. We've been living together for a long time, so I felt like I could share that with you" Taehyung spoke as he drew a smiley face on the condensation of the window.

Taehyung's words made Jungkook look at him yet no words came out of his mouth. "Whatever. It's not like we are close to each other or anything. You'll be leaving soon anyway" Jungkook spoke and quickly stood up, walking inside the kitchen to drink water. 

"Yeah. Yeah, I get it. You hate me" Taehyung rolled his eyes but Jungkook had no response to that as he stared at the steam coming from the hot water in his hand. 

Taehyung suddenly gasped and stood up, dashing towards Jungkook who was startled by the sudden action.

"Jungkook! Why didn't you tell me that there was a fair going on?! Children are roaming around with balloons and corndogs!" Taehyung exclaimed but Jungkook looked at him with his signature expressionless face. He gulped the hot water down his throat and spoke "Why should I? Fairs are not for adults".

"See, this is where you go all wrong" Taehyung huffed and suddenly grabbed both of Jungkook's hands, startling Jungkook. He just wanted to snatch them away but Taehyung had already started rambling.

"Fairs are for everyone! Children and adults. There are rides, there is food and there is so much to see! I haven't been to one but I've seen it from outside! It looks so colorful and pretty!" Taehyung cheered up.

"Wait, did you just say you've never been to a fair?" Jungkook was quite surprised, cause there's no way anyone has not been to the fair.

"Yeah. I had no money to get a ticket for one and one time, mom bought me a ticket as a present but the other children took it from me because I didn't deserve to go to a fair" Taehyung mumbled out, feeling embarrassed.

"Taehyung..." Jungkook called and Taehyung immediately whipped his head up to look at Jungkook, a big smile on his face thinking Jungkook would take him to the fair.

"My hands" Jungkook spoke and Taehyung's smile immediately dropped as he snatched his hands away from Jungkook. "Sorry. I didn't notice" He fake laughed. Maybe, he was right. Jungkook really hates him.

He was about to leave when Jungkook stopped him. "Go and change. I'll take you to the fair" Jungkook said and Taehyung's eyes immediately lit up as he jumped to hug Jungkook who was taken aback by the action. His eyes had gone wide and there was a stuffy feeling inside his chest that was bugging him. He bawled his hands into fists and gently pushed Taehyung away.

"Thank you so much, Jungkook!" Taehyung flashed him a wide smile. He would have been bothered by Jungkook pushing him away if he wasn't so happy about going to the fair.

He quickly went upstairs to change into decent clothes and Jungkook just looked at his retreating figure and sighed. "This will bring me trouble" He muttered to himself yet there was this giddy feeling in his chest that made him feel contended remembering how Taehyung smiled at him.

And that giddy feeling scares him more than falling into trouble because of Taehyung.

Taehyung looked at himself in the mirror and smiled. It was his first time going outside with someone and that too, for a hangout. He feels elated and he wants to look his best, not for anyone but for himself. He ran his fingers through his hair, styling them according to his liking and throwing finger hearts to his reflection. He quickly went down to greet Jungkook, who was sitting on the couch staring at the turned-off television.

"Jungkook. I'm ready" Taehyung spoke and Jungkook got up to go upstairs and change but as soon as he turned and looked at Taehyung, he halted his actions and stared at Taehyung.

Jungkook is the type of person who suppresses his feelings but when he saw Taehyung standing in front of him, a pastel blue pullover and black jeans as his outfit, his platinum hair styled perfectly, and a shy smile over his face Jungkook couldn't help but agree to his inner feelings, that Taehyung indeed looked breathtaking.

He cleared his throat as he averted his gaze from Taehyung and walked past him. "I'll go and get change. You wait here" He spoke, trying to maintain the flow of his straight voice, which felt like a difficult thing to do right now.

Yes, Taehyung was disappointed that his outfit, which he took so long to prepare was not complimented but it's not like he expected Jeon Jungkook to compliment him.

Jungkook shut the door of his bedroom behind him as he let his back rest over it. These days he feels very mentally tired but that's because whenever he's with Taehyung a lot of things start working inside his mind and he can't even comprehend them. He sighed, waving his thoughts away as he walked to his wardrobe and picked a random outfit.

But, when he was about to put it on, he suddenly stopped and stared at it. The plain jeans and t-shirt weren't looking wearable to him right now, and this was the first time for him, thinking about his signature clothing like that. He dumped them on the bed and dug his hand further inside the wardrobe and picked a casual but decent white shirt and black pants to wear. 

He doesn't know why he was giving it so much thought because if it was a clubbing night, he'd just throw on whatever came to his sight and go. He wore them and slipped a watch on his wrist. He put some hair gel on his hair and styled them. Normally, Jungkook would just leave like this but he suddenly turned and looked at his reflection.

He doesn't know what is going inside his mind right now, but tears escaped his eyes as he looked at himself in the mirror. For the first time, he was feeling as if he was looking handsome. He's looking at himself without feeling disgusted after 13 years. His hands were trembling and he wanted to look away but all he could do was stare at himself for as long as he could since this could be his last time feeling elated by looking at himself. He wondered if he would be able to look at himself every day and not feel scared, he wonders if this would be the night where he won't have a nightmare. 

But with everything running through his mind, he had forgotten the reason he had actually looked inside the mirror for. 

He wanted to look good for Taehyung. He wanted to put effort to make Taehyung compliment him, and he doesn't even know why. Since when did he start caring about other's opinions about him? Since when did he start caring about how he looked? 

All he knows is that he doesn't wanna feel miserable anymore. He wants someone to pull him out of the darkness.