Dreaming Alone | taekook ✔️

s e v e n

"Tim, hi." Taehyung smiled as he stuck his head around the counselor's door.

"Good morning, Kim." Tim beamed back at the teen.

He had stuck to that after butchering his first name a billion times over. The man was quite fond of Taehyung, having watched him grow for the past years. They even had this inside joke about their names rhyming.

"What brings you here?"

"Um." Taehyung chuckled nervously before gesturing for Jeongguk to come forward. "New kid."

"Ahh yes." The man pushed his chair back and reached into one of the drawers under his desk, retrieving a piece of paper and a clipboard. "Help him fill it out, would ya? Give honest answers." He said before holding his hand out towards the ravenette. "What's your name, son?"

"Jeongguk." The boy spoke under his breath.

Tim visibly winced. "Jun-cuck?— I'm really sorry."

"It's Jeongguk." Taehyung repeated when the boy next to him offered no response.

"Jeongguk." His pronunciation was a little off but tolerable. "Where're you from, son?"

"LA."

"Oh we have tons of kids here from LA. What school?"

Jeongguk told him the name of his high school and Taehyung swore he had never witnessed the ravenette talk so much over a span of a minute.

Tim brightened up. "We have a couple kids here that go to that exact same school."

Jeongguk grimaced at that, unnoticed by anyone but Taehyung.

"Okay... Well, it's nice to meet you, Jeongguk. I'm Timothy. If you ever need anything, you can stop by my office any time. Kim has been here a couple summers now, so I'm sure he can help you navigate the area and make friends."

Jeongguk nodded, backing out of the office without making any eye contact.

Taehyung took the clipboard and settled down to one of the plastic chairs outside Tim's office. He looked up at the ravenette. "You can sit." He said gently, patting the empty seat next to him before flipping through the paperwork. "I won't bore you to death with all these rules. It's pretty straightforward. The gift shop is the only place with good wifi. No eating in the mini theatre. No wandering into areas that are off limits. No— um, having sex in the dormitories, or anywhere for that matter."

Jeongguk scrunched his face up. "People do that?"

"Dunno." Taehyung said, "My brother likes to call it 'no spicy hand-holding in the dark'."

He watched, almost in wonder, as a small smile tugged on the ravenette's lips. But it barely lasted a millisecond before Jeongguk turned his head towards the floor again. Maybe Taehyung was imagining things.

"I'll read you the questions?" Taehyung asked once he already filled out the obvious parts— name, age range, city of residence.

Jeongguk bobbed his head in agreement.

"Okay." The brunette scanned the paper.

The two boys spend the next ten minutes going over the questionnaire and writing down answers. Most of the questions were just for kicks— like what flavor of ice cream is your favorite, or what brand of shoes you wore.

"Hobbies." Taehyung read before glancing at the ravenette.

Jeongguk gnawed at the inside if his cheek. "I write."

"Write what?" The brunette asked, curious.

"Stuff." The boy replied with a mere shrug. "Thoughts and shit." He added when Taehyung didn't seem satisfied with the answer. "Stop staring. It's not that deep."

"Sorry."

"Whatever."

"What facilities you'll use." Taehyung twirled the pen between his fingers, then bended down to retrieve it when it fell to the floor. "Like the swimming pool. Or the beach."

Jeongguk tensed beside him. "Not a fan." He mumbled, "I'm more of a... sky person?"

"A sky person?"

"Sky... opposite of water... you know." Jeongguk sank deeper into his chair, his embarrassment apparent for uttering that nonsense.

"Um. Alright." The brunette decided not to acknowledge it. "I'll... I'll just put arts and crafts, I guess?"

He jotted it down.

"Last one." Taehyung said. "How did you find out about our campsite?"

"Uh—"

"Through family or friends." He read off the options.

"No."

"Social media."

"No."

"Webinars... networking events... blogs?"

"No."

"Okay well," Taehyung ran fingers through his brown locks of hair. "There's an others option to fill in."

Jeongguk swallowed. "You know what? Just choose the family and friends one."

"But you said no."

"Just do it." The ravenette scoffed, "It's not that deep."

Apparently this boy was limited two kinds of reactions: silent nodding and It's not that deep.

Taehyung didn't know what came over him when he crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes at Jeongguk, the same way he'd face the toddlers who didn't behave at the Children's Center. "Okay. I'll check off family and friends if you tell me the real reason why you're here." He said, "Cause neither you or your dad seem to be having a good time."

Jeongguk huffed, tongue poking at his cheek. Seeing that Taehyung wasn't backing down, he finally looked away and complied. "Well, I don't suppose there's a therapist recommendation option on there, huh?" He tutted.

Taehyung stilled at his harsh tone, wondering if he had crossed a line when the ravenette shot out of his seat.

"That's the last one right?" He said indignantly, "Good. Do me a favor and don't stick your nose in other people's business."

"Wait I'm sorry—"

Taehyung watched him storm out the building, jaw hung open for two reasons.

One. This boy went from a shy baby bird who just wanted to be fed to an angered hormonal mess in two seconds flat. And he couldn't really tell if it was his fault.

Two. Something about his voice clicked in Taehyung's mind. He recognized it.

It's just a dream, Tae.

The brunette licked his lips as his pen hovered over the clipboard, pondering over his choices. He ticked off the family and friends box, as promised.

Jeongguk's secret was safe with him, he supposed.

__________

i guess i'm a liar cause look i'm alive
i know some of y'all would yell at me for not concentrating on studies
but i really didn't like the idea of leaving you in the middle of a book
(i know how frustrating authors who don't update can be)

so here :)