When The Tiger Lilies Bloom | Taekook

2. Till the Dusk

The sunshine was about to spread and Jungkook gasped unknowingly. He has a lot to tell Han, a lot to show him. But time- he doesn't have that. He will have to leave before the sunrise, otherwise, people will see him and it will lead him to at most danger. Especially to Hansung. He can't afford that. Jungkook yanks the other's hand, leading them to cup his own cheeks with a red blush. Hansung didn't retract his hands and went along with the affectionate gesture. This is the farther they can go. This is their extreme of holding each other. 

"What are you thinking, hyung?" 

Jungkook whispered out only for Hansung to hear. The long eyes of the prince were on the woods in front of him, from where Jungkook runs towards him every early morning and midnight, to see him, to listen to him, to lull him to sleep, to whisper the tales of his present where Hansung can never go. The prince looked pretty without thinking anything and by just existing like that. When his eyes averted to meet the younger, Hansung passed a sweet and small smile.

"Nothing… I--- I don't know what it feels like to see the sunrise, jump around the woods and play with friends. I've been here for years but I didn't know life could be like that as you said… your stories are… " 

Hansung paused, reckoning the tales Jungkook said to him, the life of the people years away from him. He can't even imagine a world like that. But something tickled inside him as his head wandered to picture the words of the younger. The houses, the people, their smiles. Hansung waited for his breath to be normal and whispered as if he remembered something. 

"Do they ever tell you?" 

Jungkook flickered his sleepy eyes in confusion. His raised eyebrows made Hansung lower his gaze. With the gust passing hurriedly, and the leaves shuffling behind, another perfect dawn was breaking apart around the palace. 

"They who?" 

The younger asked with puzzled eyes. A small smile crept up on Hansung's face as he cupped Jungkook's face, rubbing soothing circles on them. Jungkook relaxed instantly. He wondered how every time this foreign yet affectionate touch could do so much to him. With a curious expression, he waited for Hansung to reply. 

"They from the present... The ones from your world... 

Do they ever tell you that you look like a bunny?" 

Hansung paused with a rosy blush around his cheeks. It looked like a soft fluffy cloud around the red moon glittering above them in those silent nights. In fact, everything around Hansung looks pure and aesthetic. Jungkook struggled to find words to describe what he was feeling when he heard Hansung's whisper. The smile on his lips widened and he shook his head, letting Hansung complete the unsaid feelings he had. And when Hansung held his hand tight as if he was trying his best to sink in the feeling of holding each other, Jungkook realized what it meant by bliss.  

"You... You look like a bunny with your doe eyes and... Cute teeth... You're a big bunny..." 

With a giggle, Hansung said, making Jungkook smile too. They stayed a moment like that to gaze at each other's eyes, lost in the oceans of their unknown emotions. It was beautiful. Beyond words and imagination. Jungkook breathed calmly with a soft smile. His eyes crinkled and his nose scrunched up to give him the perfect look of the bunny about which Hansung said. 

"They don't call me like that. Whenever we go out to have fun, my friends---" 

Jungkook stopped his words midway to pass a glance at the elder. He found Hansung looking down and deep in thought. The younger wanted to take back the words he said remembering that Hansung doesn't have any friends here. For him, the fun stories Jungkook said about friends are just stories because he never experienced all those. The hold on Hansung's hands tightened and Jungkook whispered a small sorry under his breath. Hansung placed a hand on Jungkook's cheeks, slowly patting him with comfort. The relaxed gesture made Jungkook forget the burdens that were disturbing his truce.