Forever By Your Side

15. Out for shopping

They had decided to go for shopping and then chill at a cafe. Again, Taehyung absolutely refused to leave his bike at Jungkook's apartment. Thus, just like the last time, they had to go on bikes. 

"Ohh my god! Fortnite!!" Taehyung exclaimed as they entered the games' showroom. "Do you play Fortnite, Taehyung?" Hoseok asked, unable to mask his excitement. 

"Yeah! I used to! I don't play anymore, though" Taehyung said. "Why?" Jungkook asked. "Just cause" Taehyung mumbled as he shrugged and walked away, trying to avoid the topic. 

"Did you play PUBG, then?" Jimin asked. "Yeah. But like I said, I don't play any of them anymore" Taehyung said. 

Jimin could feel the hesitance and edge emanating from him. "Okay, then. Let's go to some other shop. It's boring here" Jimin said, trying to distract them and getting all of them out of the showroom. 

"Waito! I wanna buy a phone case" Jungkook said as the passed a shop with cases.  Hoseok walked forward, putting an arm around Jungkook's shoulders and pulling him into the shop, away from Jimin and Taehyung. 

"Buy something for him" he muttered. "What?! No!" Jungkook muttered back. 

"You jump and die somewhere. Didn't you stress yourself the whole night about not being able to take things forward? This is like the best opportunity for you. If you want, I'll take Jimin with me to some other shop until then" Hoseok said. 

"You really think this is the best chance?" Jungkook asked, looking at him with wide, doe eyes. "I really know this is the best chance" Hoseok said. "Okay. Take Jimin somewhere, then. I don't want him to feel bad about me not giving anything to you guys" Jungkook muttered. 

"Are you two hungry or what?! Why are you trying to eat away each other's ears?" Jimin asked. "We aren't" they both replied a bit too fast....faster than they should have done. The speed only helped in making Jimin suspicious. 

"Hobi wanted to search for a book or something. He was asking me if I would come with him, but I'm not really interested in books. So, do you wanna go with him?" Jungkook asked Jimin. "Okay. Let's meet at the McD then" Jimin said. 

"No, no! I'm very hungry and I wanna eat proper meal right now. Let's meet at the restaurant outside" Hoseok said. "Yeah, better" Jungkook said and pushed Hoseok towards Jimin.

"Which phone do you have, Taehyung?" Jungkook asked. "Samsung Galaxy A10" Taehyung said. Jungkook roamed for a while and selected a cover for himself and took out a cover for Taehyung's phone. 

"How's this?" he asked. "It's great! You have the same model too?" Taehyung asked. "Nah" Jungkook said and walked towards the counter before Taehyung could figure out that the cover was for him. 

"Here! It's a gift from me" Jungkook said, handing the packet to Taehyung. "What? Why?" Taehyung asked, perplexed by the action. "Just like that. Accept it, Taehyung" Jungkook said, looking at him with large puppy-dog eyes. 

Taehyung didn't have it in him to say no, not when Jungkook was giving him that look. He muttered a small thanks and put the cover to his phone. Jungkook was literally over the moon the second Taehyung put the cover on.

"Jungkook-ssi, let's go to the restaurant if you don't wanna buy anything else" Taehyung said. "Yeah, let's go! I am so hungry, I can literally eat a cow" Jungkook said. Taehyung snorted and gestured to him to keep walking. 

"So....what are you gonna have?" Taehyung asked as they stared at the menu in front of them. "Are you paying?" Jungkook asked, wiggling his eyebrows playfully. "Huh?......Sure! Order anything" Taehyung said. 

"Kidding! Kidding! We generally divide the bill. Do you wanna have steak?" Jungkook asked. "Will you cut it up for me?" Taehyung asked. "Sure!" Jungkook said. 

"Order it, then. But what about Jimin-ssi and Hoseok-ssi?" Taehyung asked. "They'll order when they come. I can't wait, I'm too hungry" Jungkook said and ordered steak for both of them.

"So, why are you soo stubborn about not dropping the honorifics?" Jungkook asked as they waited for their order to arrive. "I don't know" Taehyung shrugged. 

"Try it once. Try telling my name without the honorifics. Please" Jungkook pleaded. "Let's see" Taehyung said and chuckled awkwardly, looking away and hoping that Jungkook would drop the subject. Jungkook sighed and dropped it. 

Taehyung pushed his plate towards Jungkook the second it arrived. Jungkook looked up and realized that Taehyung hadn't been kidding earlier. 

"Not gonna lie, I really thought you were kidding when you asked me to cut your steak for you" Jungkook said, grinning as he proceeded to cut Taehyung's steak for him. 

Taehyung sighed. "How I wish that were the case" he muttered. Jungkook looked up and stared at Taehyung with sorry eyes, hoping to get some kind of explanation for that bizarre statement. 

"I can't cut it myself" Taehyung said once he noticed Jungkook staring at him . "Ohh.........why?" Jungkook asked. "Because I can't gr-" the other two entered just then and Taehyung promptly shut his mouth.

"You guys ordered already!?" Hoseok asked, making a face as if he was utterly disappointed in the two of them. "Yup" Jungkook said and continued cutting the steak. 

He was completely curious as to why Taehyung couldn't cut his own steak, but he knew that whatever it was, the reason was serious and that Taehyung wasn't about to joke. 

But he also knew that this was a one-time chance and that there was no way he would bring it up again unless they were alone and eating steak again. But he was too cowardly to ask him out alone.

Jimin sat down with a grunt and pulled the menu closer. The two of them ordered what they wanted. 

"What do you wanna do after this? There is a lot of time left, right?" Jungkook asked as they got up and paid their shares for the food. "I dunno. I'm suddenly feeling super lazy" Hoseok said. "Shall we hang out at my flat, then? We can watch a few movies" Jungkook suggested. 

"Yeah, that sounds good. What do you say, Taehyung?" Jimin asked. "I need to go back before it gets dark" Taehyung said. 

Jimin and Hoseok snorted. "Do you have scary parents or what?" Hoseok asked lightly. "I'd rather not talk about it" Taehyung deadpanned. 

Their smiles wiped clean from their faces. "Sorry. But is that why you rush out of office everyday? Cause you need to get back before it gets dark?" Hoseok asked. "Yeah" Taehyung mumbled and looked down. 

He wished they would get over the topic soon. Jungkook noticed it and immediately changed the topic back to movies. 

"Then we'll watch one movie. And then you can go back. Or if it is not a problem, you can stay the night at my flat. We keep doing that all the time, so it won't be weird" Jungkook suggested. "I-I can't do that either" Taehyung said, looking suddenly horrified. 

"Ohh, okay. Fine, then. We'll watch a movie and then you can go back" Jimin said soothingly. "Okay. Let's go to your flat then" Taehyung said and sighed, putting his helmet on and handing one to Jungkook. 

Jungkook watched as Taehyung put on the helmet and fastened the belt around his chin. 'Why does it look weird? Why is he fastening it so weirdly?' he thought. But it was beyond his smol brain's capacity. 

He couldn't understand a single thing about him. There was too much of mystery surrounding Taehyung. He climbed behind him and got lost in his thoughts as Taehyung drove towards Jungkook's flat, followed by Jimin and Hoseok.

 'What is it called?.....Arrgghhh, what is it....right! Jigsaw Puzzle!! He is not a puzzle with a single missing piece.......not at all.......there are literally too many gaping holes......too many missing pieces......too many loose threads.......I really want to fix those threads and finish this puzzle.........I hope he gives me a chance....' he thought. Again, he hesitated. He couldn't muster up enough courage to ask him out.