CANDID. ᵏᵗʰ

CHAPTER 12; 𝘾𝙐𝙋𝙎, 𝘾𝙊𝙈𝙄𝘾𝙎, 𝘾𝙐𝙏𝙄𝙀𝙎

it was a cold day, the wind whipping taehyung's hair and biting his exposed skin. he'd forgotten to check the weather—though to be honest, he should've predicted it, given the past week of icy rain and grey skies—and was greatly underdressed in a printed tee over a long-sleeve shirt.

you looked up from your phone instinctively and found taehyung panting from his run towards you, his nose and cheeks pink from the cold. alarmed, you slipped your phone away and took his arm, dragging him inside. he sighed deeply at the warmth and pulled down his black mask. the people inside were far too absorbed in their comics to care about who he was.

"tae, what are you doing?" you asked in a low voice as to not disturb those reading. "you're going to catch a cold!"

"i got sidetracked," he replied with an easy grin, still shivering. "wait, what are you—i swear, i'm fine—"

you wrapped your navy-blue coat around his shoulders and did up the button at the height of his collarbone. it left you in a light grey turtleneck and dark trousers, and it was almost hilarious to see you and taehyung side by side. "you look like an e-boy. just a note."

his eyes went large as he looked up at you from staring at your hands on his shoulders. "wait, do i really?"

"yeah. i didn't think you'd be the type to like that look."

it wasn't. he hadn't dressed himself that morning. yoongi had, getting fed up with taehyung's panicked dashing around, dragged seokjin in and told him to choose some clothes for taehyung. yoongi cast his vote while seokjin rummaged through taehyung's closet.

it was why he was eight minutes late—seokjin and yoongi had been arguing about which outfit would be better, and it was funny to see seokjin so worked up over an outfit that he didn't know the purpose of. taehyung escaped while he could, sprinting to the bus to be able to make it to the cafe.

"are you warmer now?" you asked, smoothing down your coat over his shoulders. it was a size too big and looked more like a cape, which made you smile.

taehyung nodded, popping the collar up to warm his neck (and hide his blush, though he could likely pass it off as the cold if you saw it). "y-yeah, better. thanks, hyung."

"easy. how've you been?" you inquired, leading him towards the counter to order some drinks.

"good. i painted a few days ago—that was fun."

"oh, i saw that. i liked your beret."

"thank you," he grinned and admitted cheekily, "that was yours."

you turned to him, your brow creased. "i... had a beret?"

"yes, at the back of your closet in a little box. i'm sorry i stole it."

you waved his unnecessary apology away. "i didn't even know it was there. i probably wouldn't have worn it even if i had known."

"i disagree. you should wear it, and i would fight you if we weren't inside."

you just smiled fondly at him and moved up to order once the people before you stepped aside. "what do you want, tae? my treat."

"mm," he hummed, glancing across the menu behind the cashier's head quickly, "hot chocolate, please, hyung." there wasn't a point in arguing to try and pay for his own drink—he'd found over the months that you were just as stubborn as he.

you ordered your drink and his, flashing a polite smile to the young girl behind the counter. she nodded as you paid and told you to take a place at a table, and she'd personally bring the drinks out. you and taehyung thanked her and chose a spot near the bookshelves, mostly-hidden from the windows for taehyung's sake.