i. partner in crime | vkook

12. fish cakes

uncomfortably shoved into the middle seat of a cheap taxi beside jeongguk, taehyung's brown eyes watched the road signs slowly disappear as they went deeper into the rural forest down a small gravel road.

jeongguk kept his typical tough guy demeanour while quietly giving the driver angry directions and taehyung sat frozen in fear with his hands in his lap. honestly if he was going to kill him this would be the perfect opportunity.

small drops of rain dribbled down the cloudy windows and the gentle wind softly breezed through the trees, making taehyung feel even more isolated even though there was a whole ass jeon jeongguk pretty much suffocating him and a chubby taxi driver yelling dad jokes in the front seat.

"don't worry," jeongguk turned to taehyung at one point in between a really bad story. "he's dumb so he won't suspect anything."

taehyung's uncomfortableness turned into anger when he looked at jeongguk, his unbothered dark lashes and cocky grin glaring back at him like a monster.

and that's what he was. a monster.

taehyung's dainty hands trailed over the windbreaker sleeves trying to warm himself up even though the dusty heater was on. that bothered him too; they weren't his. it was the murderer criminal monster's windbreaker.

the taxi driver bumbled on about about fish cakes while carefully pulling into civilization, a remote, small town where basically the only thing to do was fish. warmly lit cabins and cottages speckled the forest and they reminded taehyung of home which made him want to bury his face into his knees and cry again.

jeongguk had his arm around the passenger seat head rest, counting down each cabin until he found the right one.

"so fish cakes, you gotta try em!" the driver chuckled pressing on the breaks. "this one?"

they were parked by a cozy wood cottage with a small driveway and double hung windows. taehyung peeked over jeongguk at the cloudy skies and wet lawn. he yearned for some feeling of comfort, heart skipping beats as he thought about all the ways jeongguk could kill him in there.

"yeah," jeongguk said under his breath and rummaged through his pocket to find the cash to pay him.

"well have a good evening!" the driver smiled and unlocked their door which made taehyung feel like he was going to throw up.

"we can go now," jeongguk said softly observing taehyung's terrified eyes glistening in the reflection of the rain.

taehyung quietly stared back at him, slouched over with his lips locked and rosy exhausted cheeks, refusing to budge. jeongguk rolled his eyes and opened the door with one hand and grabbed taehyung's wrist with the other, dragging him out of the taxi.

the taxi zoomed off down the gravel road friendlily honking to say goodbye as jeongguk dragged taehyung to the cottage, which was only a few steps away.

taehyung's legs wobbled as he yawned, quietly giving into jeongguk's grasp and going along with him as he reached on the top of the door frame for a small key.

"let's just forget about all of this for a while," jeongguk sighed when unlocking the door. "kay?"