After they’d left the restaurant the demon dragged him to a few other shops; Yoongi following behind them at a distance, displeasure practically radiating off him. At least now Jungkook knew what his problem was. Having to watch him and Taehyung behaving… like that most likely wasn’t the most pleasant experience for him, even less so considering how incredibly oblivious Jungkook had been. He still wasn’t entirely that that was what was really going on, but he couldn’t find a better explanation. And honestly, with his luck that was probably exactly what it was.

He let Taehyung lead him around and he responded to his questions, albeit his answers mostly consisted of one word. Taehyung didn’t ask him what was wrong, but it was still clear he noticed something was off. He probably wouldn’t miss it even if he wasn’t an expert at reading people. It was unlikely anyone could miss it, not when Jungkook’s highlights included things such as avoiding walking directly into a glass wall by less than an inch, and then almost getting run over by a bicyclist (who in their right mind cycled in the middle of winter?) only a few minutes later. Taehyung pulled him out of the way by grabbing his elbow, and Jungkook couldn’t help flinching at the contact, taking a step back as soon as he safely could. 

The problem with the demon touching him was that every time he did it, it reminded Jungkook of just how telling his reactions were. His feelings for the demon had probably been obvious to just about everyone (save for himself), and he was having trouble handling that knowledge. Letting himself be so vulnerable was not something he could do easily, not when it almost certainly led to nothing good, just to more heartache and anxiety. His response was stupid and unreasonable - there was no way Taehyung didn’t already know about his feelings - but the panic that surged through him when Taehyung touched him (or came too close… or even looked at him the wrong way, really) didn’t care about reason in the slightest.  

Something flashed in Taehyung's eyes, but it was gone too quickly for Jungkook to decipher. “I think” said Taehyung, releasing his arm “we better get back before you accidentally step in front of a car.” Jungkook didn’t try to protest. The walk had taken his mind off his father’s impending visit, yes, but it did nothing to help him deal with his newfound realizations. If anything, it made things worse, considering there was nothing else to do but think and he had to stay uncomfortably close to Taehyung to avoid freezing while doing so. Lying down with a good book or a movie would probably be more productive.

They walked back the way they came, Taehyung intertwining their fingers together as soon as they passed the last house. Immediately, Jungkook’s muscles tensed and blood rushed to his cheeks, his heart speeding up. At least the former could be assigned to the cold, the latter however… He pulled his hand away as if he’d been burned, taking an automatic step back. It was no use though, his heart continuing to hammer in his chest and his breathing progressively more uneven. He took a deep breath, then another one, willing the panic clawing at his chest to at least subside if it refused to go away completely.

“Kookie...” started the demon. It seemed that he wanted to say more, but he ended up just shaking his head. Jungkook caught it with a corner of his eye while staring at the ground, completely unable to bring himself to look directly at Taehyung.

Needles to say, they walked the rest of the way to the mansion in tense silence. 

They almost reached the main gate, when Taehyung suddenly stopped. Jungkook walked two steps ahead of him before he noticed and paused as well, turning back to look at him. He could already feel the loss of warmth, and he contemplated moving closer to the demon again as he shivered. However, Taehyung didn’t pay him any attention, instead staring intently towards the mansion; Jungkook still couldn’t look directly at him for more than a second at a time. He realized he definitely wasn’t brave enough to go stand next to him. “Huh.” said Taehyung, slightly tilting his head. “This could be a problem.” 

“What?” asked Jungkook, trying to keep the alarm out of his voice. The first thing crossing his mind when Taehyung said ‘this could be a problem’ was that his father decided to pay him a visit a day early. He was not prepared for it. Not at all. Panic gripped him at the plain thought, and he wrapped his arms around his body, biting his lip.  

The demon looked at him, a small smile on his lips. It wasn’t one of his usual amused ones, Jungkook could tell as much even when he couldn’t figure out what it meant. It seemed warmer somehow, almost reassuring. “It’s not the king.” said Taehyung. His words eased the tension in Jungkook’s shoulders, and he slowly exhaled. He could deal with whatever the problem was as long as it wasn’t his father. Probably.

“Then what?” he asked.

The demon slightly tilted his head. Jungkook saw his right hand twitch, almost as if he was about to reach for him, but he seemed to have changed his mind at the last moment, letting out a soft sigh instead. “Come look.” he said, walking the rest of the way to the main gate and stepping through. He didn’t go much further, stopping after a few steps and motioning for Jungkook to come join him. Jungkook reluctantly followed, Yoongi right behind him.

Taehyung pointed at the front door. Jungkook followed his finger with his eyes, but despite squinting, he couldn’t pick out the demon’s ‘problem’. There were three people in front of the mansion, but they were too far for him to recognize. If the demon hadn’t said what he had said and pointed them out, Jungkook would have assumed they were just the Kims working on the front yard or getting some fresh air. 

“Uh.” he said, turning his head towards Taehyung. The people were what Taehyung wanted him to see, right? There was nothing else that could be perceived as unusual in front of the mansion, so it made the most sense, although it certainly didn’t explain what the problem was. The only theory he could come up with on the spot was that the Kims had guests and Taehyung somehow recognized them. He hoped that was not it. It would be a disaster, considering that the only people Taehyung could recognize were those from the academy. 

The demon quirked his eyebrow, a hint of amusement in his eyes. “Ah right,” he said “humans. Horrible vision.” Jungkook glared at him. He couldn’t maintain it for more than three seconds, but it was better than nothing. The demon got the point. 

Tahyung let out a low chuckle. “Guess we’ll have to get a bit closer.” he said, looking to the right and then to the left, before stepping off the path and hiding behind the nearest tree. He motioned for Jungkook to follow. “Probably better if we aren’t seen.” he said in response to Jungkook’s questioning look, giving him a wink. Predictably, Jungkook’s breath caught in his throat and he had to cough and hastily avert his gaze. He still had the displeasure of seeing the amused smile on Taehyung’s lips though. 

“Why is it better if we aren’t seen?” he asked quietly while they were slowly making their way towards the mansion, using the trees for cover.

“You’ll see.” said the demon, and Jungkook couldn't stop himself from staring daggers at his back. The whole situation was starting to worry him despite Taehyung’s calm demeanor, and he wished the demon would give him a direct answer for once.  

Once they were close enough for Jungkook to finally see the people's faces, he froze, biting his tongue. The demon was right; this could be a problem. Right there, in front of the mansion's main entrance, stood Mrs. Kim with her daughter and Namjoon. Jungkook could hear snippets of their conversation, but not enough to put them together. He didn't really have to though, he could understand the situation well enough without hearing what they were talking about. The trio seemed very familiar with each other, Namjoon was holding onto a suitcase, and hadn't Mrs. Kim said she had a son that helped during vacation?

“What the…” he muttered dryly, letting his voice trail off. Then he turned his head, giving Yoongi a nice and long glare. He did it despite acknowledging it might have been a bit unreasonable to expect him to know about this. Yoongi and Namjoon were all buddy buddy, yes, but it was still unlikely Namjoon would mention anything about being a scholarship student. Not with how they were treated at the academy. And certainly not with how the so-called ‘friendships’ at the academy worked. Still...

Yoongi didn't seem particularly bothered. “I didn’t know.” he said.

“Didn’t you?” whispered Taehyung, glancing over his shoulder. His lips were curled up and there was an unmistakable hint of amusement in his eyes. 

“No.” said Yoongi, giving him a level look. His voice was barely above a whisper, but Jungkook nervously glanced at the Kims regardless, strongly hoping they couldn’t hear them. This really wasn’t a good time to have a conversation - too bad the demons didn’t seem to share his opinion. 

“Such an amazing friend.” remarked Taehyung. 

“Home life isn’t something we talk about.” said Yoongi. Although he still wore a calm expression, his eyes slightly narrowed. Was Yoongi… annoyed? Granted, Jungkook had seen him irritated plenty of times, but it was usually either due to Jungkook’s and Taehyung’s behavior or someone interrupting his peace, only rarely due to something Taehyung said to him directly. It looked like Taehyung truly managed to find a weak spot this time. 

Taehyung was clearly aware of it as well, his grin widening. “What is then?” he asked. 

“Nothing too personal.” said Yoongi, pausing for a moment before adding; “I don’t like lying.” 

“Hm…” hummed the demon. He still looked mildly amused, but seemed to have decided to stop torturing Yoongi for now. “Well, guess we’ll have to use the side entrance.” he said. “It doesn't seem they're going to stop talking anytime soon.” He motioned at the Kims, who were still in the middle of the conversation, oblivious to two demons and a prince hiding behind the trees. 

The side entrance was at the back of the mansion, and to reach it, one had to walk through both the gardens and the greenhouse. While the gardens were bare at this time of the year, the greenhouse was especially beautiful, filled with an array of colorful flowers and decorative plants. There were a few sofas and armchairs as well, lifted onto a wooden podium. Everything in the greenhouse was pleasant to the eye, bright colors mixing with subdued greens and browns, winter sun filtering through the glass walls and ceiling. It was clearly something only rich people could afford, and Jungkook found the knowledge uncomfortable. Nothing reminded him of the worst years of his life quite as effectively as incessant riches. 

On the bright side, the greenhouse was warm, so he no longer had to keep close to the demon. He made sure to walk a safe distance away, doing his best to keep his eyes on the stone path under his feet. The gardener didn’t visit yet this week, his absence made clear by the half-wilted flowers lying on the ground here and there. Taehyung nonchalantly picked one up, humming something as he turned it in his hands. Jungkook averted his gaze. Something about seeing Taehyung with a flower, even a wilted one, made him feel a bit unsettled, although he couldn’t figure out why. He looked back once his brain caught up with his eyes though, since the flower was… turning back to life? The change was quick, starting at the stem before traveling up to the petals, bringing back their previous shape and color. A fragment of a second later, Taehyung was holding a flower that looked as fresh as if it’d just been picked. 

Jungkook stared at it with wide eyes. He’d seen Taehyung use magic before of course, but… not like this. He blinked when Taehyung offered him the flower, a small smile tugging at the corners of his lips as he watched him with amusement and… something else in his eyes. Jungkook took the flower, careful not to touch the demon’s fingers in the process, bringing it closer to his eyes and carefully inspecting it. It looked like an ordinary flower, its petals somewhere between blue and violet. There was nothing magical about it, at least not at first glance, but he’d have to see how long it stayed alive (if it even was alive?) to tell for sure. 

He only realized the implications behind Taehyung’s action when he saw Yoongi facepalming in the background. Jungkook didn’t need to see his face to know that he was completely done with the situation, and it was a good enough sign that Jungkook was missing something again. Blood rushed to his cheeks when it hit him, his heart skipping a beat. He risked a quick glance at the demon. That was probably not the intention, right? Taehyung didn’t give him the flower as a sort of a romantic gesture, right? The demon returned his gaze with a tilted head and a smile on his lips, and Jungkook hastily averted his gaze again. Maybe that was the intention. It didn’t look like the demon was messing with him, and the only other option was that he didn’t realize what he was doing. Considering this was Taehyung that seemed highly unlikely.

Did he really have feelings for Jungkook? It did seem so, but there was still a possibility that Jungkook had read the whole thing wrong. He couldn’t dismiss neither that Taehyung wasn’t human nor that he was old. Both were easy to forget, and he had to forcefully remind himself that the demon’s view of the world was probably different from his, as was the etiquette and the values he subscribed to. Coming to the wrong conclusion under these circumstances was easy.  

Jungkook looked back at the flower. He had no idea how to respond. His only reference were romance novels, and he doubted they were the most accurate representation. It was times like this that he wished he actually had friends, because that way he could at least ask someone more experienced than him for advice. 

Thankfully, thankfully, he was saved by Yoongi. “I’m leaving.” the other said, promptly turning his back to them and walking away. His departure was soon followed by the sound of a door slamming somewhere deeper in the greenhouse.

Taehyung stared after him with a quirked eyebrow, a hint of amusement in his eyes. He looked back at Jungkook. “You should stop torturing Yoongi.” he remarked. 

Jungkook slightly narrowed his eyes, fighting the urge to look away. “Are you sure you don’t mean; ‘I should stop torturing Yoongi’?” he asked, continuing to stare into the demon's eyes for a second or two before he had to avert his gaze again. 

Taehyung chuckled. “Maybe the right pronoun is we. We should stop torturing Yoongi.” The intensity in his gaze implied there was another meaning to his words, and Jungkook thought he knew what it was. He had no idea what to do about it though. 

Tearing his eyes away, he took a deep, somewhat shaky, breath. “Let’s go inside.” he muttered. 

Jungkook was trying to get through a chapter in his history textbook, but he couldn’t really focus. Not all that surprising considering the abundance of problems he currently had; his father would arrive tomorrow, Namjoon was somewhere in the mansion at this exact moment, and he was in love with a demon… He doubted things could get any worse. 

The demon in question was lounging in the armchair, reading one of the books Yoongi had left in the room. Jungkook only realized he was staring (and had been doing so for a while), when Taehyung looked up and quirked a brow at him. Blood rushed to his cheeks, and he hastily averted his gaze. Not fast enough to miss the amused glint in the demon’s eyes though. “Do you need something?” asked Taehyung.

Jungkook was planning to say no, but what came out of his mouth instead was; "Can you distract me?" The only thing leading him to ask this was desperation. There was no doubt in his mind that Taehyung would know exactly how to take his mind off the awful reality, but at the same time, there was no guarantee it would be particularly pleasant or enjoyable. 

If the demon was surprised by his request he didn’t show it. "Distract you?" he repeated thoughtfully, looking up while tapping his fingers on the book. "Do you want to ask another one of your questions?"

Jungkook closed the textbook, carefully laying it down on the bed. He was sure that, in different circumstances, the demon’s suggestion would work. New information on demons wasn’t something he would want to mishear or misunderstood, which meant it would force him to focus. There was a possibility he would be unsuccessful, but the effort alone would undoubtedly keep him distracted. The only problem was that he still didn’t pick the questions, and he couldn’t concentrate enough to make a good decision on the spot. Letting out a sigh, he admitted; "I can't focus." 

The demon slightly tilted his head before he closed his own book, throwing it on the other armchair. "Alright then." he said, getting up.  "Come on." 

Jungkook only realized he was planning to leave the room when he was already opening the door, sending him an expectant look. He couldn’t help wondering what the demon’s intentions were and whether he should be worried. He knew Taehyung wasn't going to do anything to hurt him, but unfortunately, that didn't mean something incredibly unpleasant was off the table. And then there was another problem... "Namjoon…" he started, letting his voice trail off.

The demon smirked. "You're forgetting something very important." he said. "I'm a demon. Namjoon can't even sneeze inside this house without me immediately knowing about it. I can definitely avoid him."

Well… he couldn't argue with that. "Okay." he said, slowly climbing off the bed. 

Taehyung gave him a wide smile before stepping into the hallway. They descended the stairs, Jungkook's eyes nervously darting around despite the demon’s reassurance that Namjoon couldn't even sneeze without him knowing. The whole thing with Namjoon was unexpected to say the least. He was the student council president, and it had never even crossed Jungkook's mind that he could be a scholarship student. Just like everyone else, he assumed Namjoon’s parents were rich. It was weird to know he'd been served by his mother for the whole time he had been at the mansion. It was even weirder to know that Namjoon must have known Kangmin. Considering he was a servant, that couldn’t have been a pleasant experience for him or his family. Kangmin was downright vicious to everyone he considered lesser, while charming and polite to those he didn’t.

The demon led him through a series of hallways and rooms, and into… a room with a swimming pool? Jungkook had had no idea the mansion even had one. He was unsurprised though - this was a royal residence, so it'd be more surprising if there wasn't a pool. 

"A swimming pool?" he asked, eyes traveling over the dark blue water. He couldn't help thinking it looked deep and cold, not inviting at all. Taehyung seemed to agree with his assessment, not moving any deeper into the room than he absolutely had to to shut the door behind them.

"Exhausting you seems like the best bet." he said, a corner of his lips curled up. Jungkook glanced at him before looking back at the pool. He was not enthusiastic, but he could recognize the demon had a good point. Physical exertion wouldn’t distract him per se, but it would most likely help him relax and stop stressing about things he couldn’t change. 

"You're probably going to need incentive to actually try." said the demon, prompting Jungkook to look back at him. There was obvious amusement in his eyes, and Jungkook had to avert his gaze again. He wondered whether he should be offended that Taehyung seemed to think he wouldn't actually try without being bribed. It was only after the next words left the demon's mouth that he started to suspect Taehyung had an ulterior motive for saying it. "Let's see. Swim a lap in under two minutes and I'll answer another question?" Something in his voice made Jungkook look at him, blinking in surprise when he noticed the odd intensity in his eyes. He needed a few moments to realize there was more to this offer than met the eye. Or at least he thought there was. 

"Honestly and without teasing?" he wondered carefully. Taehyung's eyes visibly softened, some of the intensity disappearing. He had been right then. But... why did the demon feel the need to go about it like this when he could just… directly start the conversation? Maybe he thought Jungkook would be more likely to believe him? Or, Jungkook suddenly realized, he wanted the conversation to happen on Jungkook’s terms and knew he needed to give him a way to start it because Jungkook was a coward and would sure as hell not do anything otherwise. He could say no to the proposition or he could say yes but not ask for weeks. Or never. If Jungkook needed more proof that the demon knew exactly what he had been panicking about for the past few hours, this was it. Great. While the knowledge was not unexpected, it was still mortifying. 

"I'm always honest." said Taehyung with clear amusement in his voice, and then, once Jungkook leveled a glare at him; "Fine."

Jungkook bit his lip. He wasn't sure what to do. His first instinct was to ignore his feelings, but the more he thought about it, the more he knew that was not a good idea. It had been a few hours from his realization and he was already having a hard time ignoring the whole thing. He wouldn't be able to do it for much longer. Mortifying as it was, he might as well behave like an adult for once and have an actual conversation. Besides… he could still chicken out if needed. 

"Okay." he agreed. The demon slightly tilted his head, giving him a small smile.