i. partner in crime | vkook

23. french fries and milkshakes

out of my mind, i'm not getting it,

my hair is messy and i cant keep myself up,

i'm getting short of breath,

oh babe,

i just can't get you out of my head

somi, outta my head

the checkered floors and red leather seats of the old fashioned diner was the perfect atmosphere for breakfast.

"it's not busy," jungkook noted as he shoved taehyung into a booth. "no one's gonna recognize us."

taehyung worriedly eyed the waitresses carrying around trays of bubbly colas. his hair was perfect, all untangled and shiny. he smelt like jungkook's shampoo, like some sort of cologne. jungkook had thrown an old t-shirt and a pair of black jeans at him when he got out of the bathroom. they were both a bit frumpy on him, but it was better than putting on his disgusting old clothes.

"you look nice," jungkook said, sitting opposite from taehyung and looking over at the black and white menu with red accents on the wall and going over his options. "your hair is still wet."

taehyung rested his cheek on his hand, eyeing jungkook with suspicion. "last time you commented on my appearance you said i looked "pretty bad.""

"well, you look better this time," jungkook stated, folding his hands on the table.

"you hesitated to say that," taehyung mumbled, playing with a salt shaker.

"what would you like to eat?" jungkook changed the subject, as usual. "the menu's over there."

"i already decided," taehyung muttered and then met jungkook's eyes. "french fries, please."

"french fries," jungkook cringed. "for breakfast?"

"you said i could have anything," taehyung embarrassedly looked down at his hands in his lap. "can i have a strawberry  milkshake, too?"

"of course," jungkook took a few seconds to reply, distracted by his phone in his pocket. he took it out and placed it facing up on the table, feeling less uneasy.

a waitress with pinned back hair approached their table with a yellow notepad. "what can i get you today?" she said, forcing a polite smile.

taehyung didn't want to order on his own, so jungkook did. "a strawberry milkshake and an order of fries and an eggs benedict -- wait, no, um, make that a strawberry milkshake and a chocolate milkshake and two orders of fries."

taehyung looked at him questionably after the waitress left, but decided to ignore it.

"i want to be weird like you," jungkook teased.

after a few minutes golden fries came in steaming baskets, fresh from the deep fryer, along with two milkshakes with neon cherries placed on top.

taehyung muttered a small "thanks" while looking away. jungkook immediately started inhaling his fries as taehyung picked at his while spooning whipped cream into his mouth with his straw.

suddenly, jungkook's charged phone rang, the contact name 'hoseok' flashing on the screen, catching taehyung's attention.

"ugh," jungkook grumbled, mild anger setting into his voice as he assertively stood up and finished a french fry, half expecting taehyung to start freaking out about being left alone. "stay right here, i'll be back in five minutes. i just need to take this quickly."

instead, taehyung simply nodded with his mouth full of whipped cream and hunkered down over his fries. his attention turned to the tv attached to the wall on the other side of the restauraunt, playing the local news with a report about tractors.

and then a breaking news report erupted on the screen.

"breaking news, kim taehyung is still a missing person. he has been missing for three nights and it is suspected that he is currently being held hostage by jeon jungkook, a confirmed suspect in the string of hired murders of over twenty successful businessmen in korea. security footage shows them in daejeon, but the authorities are inclined to think that they may be farther away now. it seems that the criminal has been staying in small towns that are off the grid. if you see him, do not approach him, instead call nine-one-one. please be on the look out for kim taehyung as he is in immediate danger. kim taehyung is five foot nine, has brown hair, dark eyes, and was last seen in his work uniform-"

nO NO NO NO NO. taehyung plunked his straw back into his frothy milkshake and stood up, dashing towards the door where jungkook was in a heated phone conversation, his hand placed over his opposite ear trying to hear it better.

he quickly interrupted, grabbing jungkook's hand and squeezing it to get his attention. jungkook had that familiar look of confusion on his face when he noticed him.

"we need to leave right now," taehyung's voice was full of panic. "the tv- it has my face on it, jungkook, my family is looking for me, they're looking for us, there's security footage of us, you're gonna go to jail or you're going to go back to wanting to murder me-"

"fuck, slow down," jungkook stared coolly at taehyung, which made taehyung feel like he was overreacting. "we have a... situation."

taehyung rolled his brown eyes and laughed melodramatically. "this is not a situation, this is an emergency, mr. jeon."

jungkook spoke calmly into his phone, as if none of this was even happening, saying, "talk to you later" before adding "bye."

"who was on the phone?"

"none of your business," jungkook said indifferently, slipping his phone back into his pocket.

taehyung felt his heart break and heat rise to his cheeks. "you know what, mister, you've got to start telling me things. you said we were in this together, so start acting like it."

jungkook nodded seeing how upset the boy was. "my boss. he asked if i planned on leaving and suggests we should. he knows you're with me."

"jungkook," taehyung tried to argue. "we have approximately ten seconds before one of those waitresses recognizes, you know, the giant pictures of us on the tv that's right there?"

"shit, too late," jungkook said tight lipped as the sound of police sirens wailed through the small town, making their way to the diner.