ʟᴏᴠᴇ, ᴊɪᴍɪɴ || ᴍ.ʏɢ + ᴘ.ᴊᴍ ✔️

february 19th [2]

Yoongi left the house in the middle of the afternoon, not having spoken a word to his mother since his outburst earlier that day. He took with himself a backpack. In that backpack, he had placed an envelope inside which he kept Taehyung's photos.

And he began walking to an ice cream parlor close to his house - not extremely close, but enough so that he didn't need a car or bus ride to get there. In about twenty minutes Yoongi was pushing open that parlor door.

He hadn't run there, and yet still he felt breathless. Breathless and utterly drained, all thanks to the adventure of reading Jimin's letters in one go, as well as verbally releasing all his frustration against his mother.

Once he was inside the parlor Yoongi immediately scanned the place, tearing his gaze from the ground and throwing it towards the counter first and foremost, where he hoped to see a familiar face.

And he did. Just scarcely, before the boy he had been looking for disappeared into the back room of the parlor.

"Jungkook!"

The boy in question stopped in his tracks, and through the small square window at the top of the back room door Yoongi saw him turn his head in slight confusion, then return to the counter.

Typically, doing such a thing would horribly embarrass Yoongi. Calling out someone's name so loudly in public. But right now, there were too many other things on his mind.

He approached the counter before thinking of what he would say. This would all be improv.

"I need to talk to you."

"Me?" The employee with fuzzy black hair and doe eyes pointed at himself, evidently puzzled as to what was going on. "Uhh...Yoongi, right?"

"Right. I need to talk to you."

Jungkook's co-worker who happened to be at the counter with him at the time shot him a side-glance, then nudged the boy's arm a little and said quietly, but loudly enough so that Yoongi could hear, "Just go on your lunch, Kook."

Jungkook nodded tentatively. Sliding out from behind the counter, he stepped up to Yoongi with questions in his head, but a soft smile on his face.

"Sorry," Yoongi sighed once the two of them had taken seats at an empty table. "Hopefully I won't have to use up too much of your time, it's just I-"

"You don't need to apologize," Jungkook assured him. He couldn't wipe the curiosity off his face. "I'm just a little worried, that's all." A nervous laugh. "You looked kinda panicked coming in here. And it's been a while since you stopped by."

"Yeah, well..." Yoongi paused to allow himself a few seconds to breathe. "...rough morning."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Sympathy in his voice, Jungkook scrutinized Yoongi's expression, still feeling a bit anxious as to how the boy could have any reason to speak to him. They knew each other, because Yoongi had come to this parlor with his friend a number of times, and Jungkook had been working here since he was sixteen, but they weren't close friends or anything. So he wondered. "What's wrong?"

Yoongi's mouth remained closed for a while. He stared at the small backpack which he had placed in his lap and seemed to be guarding with great care. "I know this is gonna sound strange," he began in a low, tentative voice, "but I have a question for you. It's important."

Jungkook bit his tongue. "...what is it?"

"Do you...remember anyone by the name of Taehyung?"

Hope and fear simultaneously clung to that soft-spoken question. And for a moment, Jungkook doubted his ears. But then he made eye contact with Yoongi, and some vague yet knowing connection established itself between them.