The town Taehyung wanted to drag him to wasn’t far, and they arrived after approximately 20 minutes of walking. The demon had originally adopted Hoseok’s form, but he turned back as soon as they could no longer be seen from the mansion. Jungkook contemplated saying something about it for a total of one second, before deciding it was probably better to let it go. It didn’t matter anyway - if someone saw Taehyung, they could explain his appearance away by claiming Hoseok was bored with his regular looks and decided to shapeshift into someone else.

The mansion was in the middle of nowhere, so it wasn’t at all surprising that the path to the town led them over a bunch of frozen fields and meadows. There was no one around, and Jungkook was eternally grateful for it because he was still walking very close to Taehyung with the demon’s fingers firmly wrapped around his wrist. Jungkook told himself the only reason he didn’t move away was because he was trying to stay warm, refusing to acknowledge the small part of him insisting that wasn’t entirely true.

Yoongi followed a few meters behind them - Jungkook suspected he would stay as far back as he could without letting them out of his sight. He was still displeased about something, his steps distinctly louder and heavier than normal. He’d begun acting like this right after Taehyung had pulled Jungkook closer, and Jungkook was tempted to believe his behavior had something to do with that. The only problem was that it made no sense at all. Why would Yoongi care about something so inconsequential?

“Why are we going to the town?” he asked, mainly to distract himself. He risked a quick glance at Taehyung before fixing his eyes back on the ground. He couldn’t look at the demon for more than a few seconds at a time. At least not while they were so close. His already too rapid heartbeat sped up every time their eyes met, and his hands were sweating despite the cold.

“Change of scenery.” replied Taehyung nonchalantly. Jungkook looked at him again, narrowing his eyes. He wasn’t entirely sure he bought the explanation - the demon sure as hell hadn’t been yearning for a change of scenery during all those months they had both been cooped up in his room, so why would he be now?

“Obviously,” said Yoongi from behind them, his voice dry “he’s trying to cheer you up.” His words made Jungkook pause in his steps, and he turned his head to look at Yoongi, not at all surprised to find his face as expressionless as ever, betraying absolutely nothing about whether he actually believed what he was saying or not. Jungkook wasn’t sure if he believed it either. He definitely wouldn’t have a few weeks ago, but now… now, things were different. The demon was behaving differently, and the idea that he might have been trying to cheer him up no longer seemed so outlandish.

Jungkook glanced over at the demon in question, but the other didn’t return his gaze. “You know Yoongi,” said Taehyung conversationally “you should really mind your own business.”

“And you should stop falling in love with humans.” retorted Yoongi without a beat. He sounded eerily calm, although there was an odd sharpness to his voice as well and his eyes were blazing. Jungkook wasn’t sure he’d ever seen him expressing quite as much emotion before, and he couldn't help but find it slightly unsettling. “I’m sure you remember how horribly it ended the last time.”

Taehyung came to an abrupt stop, forcing Jungkook to stop as well. There was a long pause, and then the demon slowly let go of Jungkook’s wrist before turning around to face Yoongi. His lips were curled into a downright chilling smile, head slightly tilted. “And you’re blaming me?” he asked in a sweet voice. Jungkook didn’t know how he managed to sound so upbeat and so terrifying at the same time, but that, combined with the still present smile, had managed to send chills down his spine. Shivering, he wrapped his arms around his body, fighting the urge to take a step - or rather ten - back. He suspected that he only succeeded at staying put because everything in him screamed that he shouldn’t remind the demons of his existence.

“No.” said Yoongi without breaking eye contact with Taehyung. Jungkook had no idea how he managed to do so when Jungkook himself wanted to hide, and Taehyung’s anger wasn’t even directed at him. “I’m just worried.”

“Well, don’t be.” said Taehyung, keeping his lips curled up even as he spoke, his voice still unnaturally cheerful. He opened his arms, the movement unnecessarily dramatic. “Things can hardly get any worse.”

Yoongi looked at Jungkook, and after a moment Taehyung’s eyes followed his gaze, his chilling smile slowly fading. Both demons’ faces were impossible to read, and the weight of their eyes on him was getting more and more unpleasant. He almost broke and said something, when Yoongi finally spoke. “They can get worse.” he said matter-of-factly.

What followed was a bit more silence and a bit more staring, and then Yoongi let out a clearly exasperated sigh. “Also, could you please do something about this.” he asked, motioning towards Jungkook.

Jungkook pushed his hands deeper into his pockets. The demons speaking about him as if he wasn’t there was uncomfortable to say the least, and he would have probably said something at this point if not for; a) the hope that letting the demons continue this ‘conversation’ would clear up at least some of his confusion, and b) Taehyung’s creepy smile and voice were still incredibly fresh in his memory. He pressed his lips together into a thin line, and kept his mouth shut.

A small frown made its way onto Taehyung’s face. “It’s not a good idea,” he said.

Yoongi gave him what could only be his exasperated look. “Too late.” he said.

“Too late.” softly agreed Taehyung, letting out a quiet sigh.

A bit more silence and a bit more staring, and then, once Jungkook realized neither demon was going to say anything else in the near future; “Are you done?”

Taehyung paused before he looked at him, a small smile tugging at the corners of his lips. “We’re done.” he confirmed before turning back towards Yoongi. “You did this on purpose, didn’t you?” he asked, a hint of amusement in his voice.

Yoongi huffed. “I’m speeding things up.” he said, walking past them without sparing either of them another look.

Jungkook blinked after him. What was he speeding up? Actually no, scratch that - what was with this whole conversation? The only definite thing he got out of it was that Taehyung apparently had a history of falling in love with humans, which was… very very unbelievable. So unbelievable in fact that he couldn’t help wondering whether it was possible that the demons were just messing with him. He wouldn’t find it particularly surprising if it was only Taehyung, but since Yoongi was involved as well… messing with people’s heads wasn’t exactly his style, and Jungkook doubted he would do something like that.

He couldn’t think about it for long though, with Taehyung successfully cutting his line of thought by wrapping his fingers back around his wrist. The moment he touched him Jungkook audibly inhaled, reflexively pulling his hand back. The demon’s skin was hot, and while it wasn’t hot enough to actually burn him, the change in temperature made him think it would for a moment.

Taehyung’s eyes widened slightly. It only lasted for a second and the demon got his expression back under control so quickly that Jungkook had to wonder if he'd only imagined it. With a creased brow, Taehyung reached for Jungkook’s wrist again, letting his fingers hover above it for a second, only grasping his hand when Jungkook didn't try to move away. Taehyung’s skin was still radiating heat, but not nearly as much as before. The contact was actually pleasant, and Jungkook barely held back a sigh of content.

“It’s fine.” he said.

“Good try, but you’d say that on your deathbed.” said Taehyung as he pulled up Jungkook’s sleeve, carefully inspecting the skin underneath. He released Jungkook’s wrist once he was satisfied, intertwining their fingers together instead. “Let’s go.” he said, pulling him after Yoongi.

The town was small with a name Jungkook couldn’t properly pronounce (probably a good sign he should brush up on his Japanese). The streets were completely empty, but Jungkook pulled his hand out of Taehyung’s as soon as they passed the first house anyways. He doubted any of the Kims were here at this time, but you could never be too careful. It would be a disaster if the news of him holding hands with a demon got to his father. Or Jimin. It would be bad if it got to Jimin.

Taehyung glanced at him before pushing his hands in his pockets, eyes unreadable.

“Did you have a specific destination in mind?” asked Jungkook after a moment or two of silence. He was still walking uncomfortably close to the demon but he had no intentions to move away, at least not until they got out of the cold. The closeness made it difficult to look at him for more than a few seconds at the time though, so Jungkook’s eyes were darting from the ground to the demon, then to the nearby building and back to the demon, and repeat.

Taehyung quirked an eyebrow, a hint of amusement in his eyes. The way he was looking at him gave Jungkook an unpleasant feeling he was missing something important. “No.” said the demon. “Any requests?”

Yes, thought Jungkook. He needed to go somewhere nice and warm. Somewhere where he could create the much needed distance between him and Taehyung without freezing half to death. He had to think about everything he’d heard calmly, and he’d found that he absolutely couldn’t do that while Taehyung was right next to him. He had been trying to make sense of everything during the rest of the walk to the town, but had been unable to stay focused for more than a few seconds at a time. “Yes.” said Jungkook. “I need more coffee. You drank half of mine.”

Taehyung’s eyebrow raised higher. “I took one sip.” he pointed out, the amusement in his voice unmistakable.

“It was a big sip.” said Jungkook.

“Right.” said the demon, his lips twitching up. “Come on then.”

They had to walk around for a while before they found the right place. It was a restaurant, but it offered coffee as well, and since it seemed unlikely they would find anything better, they entered. The inside was small but homey, with dark furniture and an abundance of Christmas decorations.

Taehyung sat down at the table in the corner, leaving Jungkook and Yoongi to make their orders. While they were waiting, Jungkook took a good look around the restaurant. It was mostly empty, with the two old ladies three tables down being the only customers apart from them. He didn’t like crowds, but this was the one time he would have almost preferred if there were more people around. It would be easier to forget about Taehyung’s presence.

He joined the demon at the table as soon as he received his coffee, leaning his head on his hand while he absentmindedly stirred it. Taehyung sat next to him, close but not too close, and Yoongi was directly opposite to him, slowly sipping his espresso. The expression on his face was as indecipherable as ever, but Jungkook didn’t miss the look he sent towards Taehyung. The other promptly returned with a small smile tugging on his lips. The demons were having one of their non verbal conversations again, and it was hard to focus while he was aware of that.

He sighed, leaning his head on the table so he didn't have to see them. He had a feeling that the waiter was giving him a weird look, but he couldn’t bring himself to care.

He’d been aware that Yoongi and Taehyung had known each other before, and had suspected they hadn’t been mere acquaintances, but he’d never given it much thought. For some reason it’d never crossed his mind that they might have been friends. Joke was on him, especially when he considered all of their past interactions; they were having conversations behind Jungkook’s back, could apparently communicate with their eyes, Yoongi wasn’t even a little bit afraid of Taehyung, and they obviously knew of each other’s pasts. There could really be no other explanation, and Jungkook felt pretty stupid for having missed it.

That revelation was nothing in comparison to the other one though. Did Yoongi think Taehyung was in love with Jungkook? His first instinct was to dismiss the whole thing as ridiculous, but he forced himself to think - really think - about it regardless. Considering how unbelievable the whole thing sounded, the only way he could get objective results was to distance himself and look at the situation from an outsider’s perspective.

He remembered Yoongi had said something along the lines of ‘no wonder he’s in love with you’ once. He’d dismissed it at the time, convinced he probably either misheard or misunderstood. After the demons’ latest conversation though, he was starting to believe he hadn’t. Yoongi had said ‘obviously, he’s trying to cheer you up’, to which Taehyung responded by telling him to mind his own business. And then Yoongi had told him he should stop falling in love with humans, which seemed like a pretty weird change of topic. Looking at the conversation as a whole, it made more sense when he assumed there was no change of topic and Yoongi was referring to Jungkook when he pointed out Taehyung should stop falling in love with humans. Not just that; some of the things Yoongi had said to him lately suddenly made sense.

The most important question was whether it was true. Everything in Jungkook screamed that there was no way, but he couldn’t exactly dismiss the fact that Yoongi thought there was, especially not when Taehyung had been behaving differently towards Jungkook. And when he thought about it - really thought about it - the way he treated him was similar to the way one would treat their crush (at least if all those romance novels he had read were any indication since he had no other references). Was it possible the demon was doing it only to mess with Yoongi though? Jungkook was tempted to say yes, but if that was the case, wouldn’t he only do it when Yoongi was around? Had he started only to mess with Yoongi, and - after realizing he enjoyed Jungkook’s reactions as well - decided to mess with both of them? Jungkook once again wanted to say yes, but he realized he didn’t really believe it. There was nothing menacing in the demon’s actions; at least not like there had been at the beginning. His behavior seemed genuine.

It couldn't be true though. It couldn't. Jungkook wasn't… anything. Definitely not important enough to be a recipient of those kinds of feelings from an ancient powerful demon. But if it wasn’t that, then what?

He slowly raised his head and took a small sip of his coffee, hardly acknowledging the burn on his tongue. He kept his eyes fixed on the table, too afraid to look at either of the demons. His hands were shaking, he probably would have spilled some of his coffee if the demon hadn’t grabbed his wrist at the last moment. Of course Jungkook’s heartbeat immediately sped up in response, his breath catching in his throat. Another realization was slowly making its way to the forefront of his mind, and it was too much. “Hey, Kookie,” the demon said very quietly. “What’s wrong?”

Jungkook flinched at the sound of his voice. “Nothing.” he muttered automatically, without thinking the response through. It was a lie, and the demon knew it - he always knew when Jungkook was lying. There was a second of silence, closely followed by a soft sigh. Then Taehyung’s fingers were on his chin, firm but not rough, forcing him to look up. The demon’s eyes were slightly narrowed, and he was frowning as he searched Jungkook’s face. Jungkook squirmed, hastily looking away.

This was horrible. It was a disaster. Having to analyze Taehyung’s behavior towards him made him realize some things about his own feelings that he really didn’t want to know. Looking back, he had no idea how he could’ve missed it… Well no, he hadn't just missed it - he’d straight up mistook it for fear. In his defense, it had been fear at first, but it had slowly turned into something else. Something he didn’t want to think about.

He could be wrong though, especially since his only references were romance novels and an occasional offhand comment on the topic from people he knew. But… he didn’t think he was wrong, and given his usual luck he probably wasn’t.

“Just leave it.” he said, grabbing Taehyung’s wrist, trying to push his hand away. It was - of course - impossible, the demon not moving a single inch. Jungkook suspected he didn’t even notice his desperate attempts to get out of his grip. His skin tingled uncomfortably where the demon touched him, and he squirmed again, leaning as far back as he could, hoping Taehyung would get the hint.

He did, pulling his hand away as if he’d been burned, something indecipherable flashing in his eyes before… nothing. It seemed as if every emotion simply drained from his face, leaving only an expressionless mask behind. It was even creepier than the cheerfulness showing its face when he was angry, although for an entirely different reason. Jungkook lowered his head, numbly staring at his coffee. His heart was hammering in his chest, and it took all he had to ignore the increasing dread in the pit of his stomach.

What now? Should he ignore the feelings and hope they would go away? Perhaps he should just dismiss Taehyung and be done with it. He entertained the thought for a second before pushing it away, realizing he probably wouldn’t have done it even if Kangmin had been safely confined in jail. Clearly, Jungkook liked making himself suffer.

Should he talk to Taehyung about it? Probably, but he couldn’t even imagine the conversation without wanting the ground to open up and swallow him on the spot. What would he even say? I think I’m in love with you? I think you’re in love with me? The second option would clearly go over well, especially if he was wrong, and the first one was just mortifying.

Then again… how possible was it that Taehyung didn't already know? With an uncomfortable tightness in his chest, he realized that the chances of that weren’t very high. The demon could read him way too easily, and that meant he'd probably known about Jungkook’s feelings even before Jungkook himself knew about them. If that was the case… why hadn’t he said anything? Or a more accurate question considering this was the demon; why hadn’t he made fun of him for it?

Jungkook risked a quick glance at Taehyung, the other returning his gaze with a barely visible twitch of his lips. It was impossible to know what he was thinking, and Jungkook looked away again. There were no answers, only more questions. He still wasn’t sure what to do, but knowing himself, he was probably going to ignore the whole thing until it either went away or he couldn't ignore it anymore.