road trip.

[16] with fries on the side

jungkook focus
jungkook lines up at the counter and waits impatiently for the man in front of him to load five styrofoam boxes of fries into his arms, the man mumbling out tired apologies. thankfully, the man moves out of the way and jungkook goes forth and places an order for takeaway chicken and fries, conversing lowly with the shop worker whilst uneasily tapping his foot against the linoleum floor.

"go ahead and take a seat, sir. we'll prepare your order soon." the half dead worker utters, punching his order into the cashier with the pace of a turtle.

jungkook nods, unimpressed, and turns around to face the fridge, expecting taehyung to be there, picking a beverage of his choice.

but he's not there.
furrowing his eyebrows together, jungkook runs his gaze over the restaurant's half empty booths, mentally cursing his stupidity as he does so.

fuck, why'd you let him go? he's meant to be by your side, fuck fuck fuck. where'd he—?
as soon as the last thought comes into mind, jungkook spots taehyung's lanky figure by one of the booths, talking to someone quietly.

mild anger and the slightest bit of relief sets into jungkook as he makes his way towards taehyung, moving in and out of booths as quickly as he could before taehyung could blurt out anything to whoever he was talking to.
as he approaches the older, jungkook grits his teeth, expecting to hear taehyung desperately plead "please call the police, im kidnapped!" or "a fucking psycho is keeping me hostage, please help me!"

however instead of hearing the above distressed words, jungkook catches on to taehyung's. . . happy toned voice?
"your name's taesuk? oh wow, my name's taehyung! we're double tae! high five!"

jungkook stops in his tracks, stopping just a few metres away from taehyung who, upon closer look, is holding a giggling baby to his chest whilst he smiles beatifically, eyes crinkling and smile widening.

what the hell.

"aren't you adorable?" taehyung coos, playfully tickling taesuk under his chin. the latter nods, smiling widely behind a yellow sunflower pacifier.

jungkook watches on, speechless at taehyung's words and actions. he stares at the older with narrowed eyes. what a weirdo, he concludes before clearing his throat loudly, catching the attention of taehyung and the family he was talking to.

taehyung focus
"mr kim? shall we sit down somewhere?" jungkook asks coolly, face devoid of any telltale emotion as he waits for taehyung.
taehyung's smile drops and he sighs, nodding before turning to taesuk.

"ive gotta go now, taetae. bye bye." taehyung says almost sadly, face glum as he hands taesuk back to his mom who smiles appreciatively.
taesuk seems to catch on however, and starts to sniffle, making tiny grabby hands at taehyung and taehyung feels his heartstrings tug painfully, wanting to pick up the child again.

"say bye to tae, baby." taesuk's mom cajoles but taesuk sobs, colourful pacifier dropping from his lips and on to the ground. taehyung, feeling horrible for making the baby cry, picks up the pacifier from off the floor but before he stands up, he sees taesuk's mom's handbag that sits on the floor, zip open and revealing everything inside. eye widening, taehyung spots something poking just out of the handbag.

contemplating, taehyung bites his lip.

he looks over his shoulder at jungkook who folds his arms over his chest, looking away. making sure neither jungkook nor taesuk's mom was watching taehyung picks up the pacifier and impulsively grabs the item from taesuk's mom's handbag, hiding the item in jungkook's hoodie before standing up abruptly.